The mutual distrust and fear during the Cold War gave rise to wild scenarios. For example , the United States was seriously developing a plan for a large-scale invasion of Britain and the capture of the islands. In the event of an attack by the Soviet Union on them, of course.
By the way, the British side was not going to resist and even helped in the preparation, even after long persuasions, Daily Mail writes, presenting declassified archival documents containing a huge number of detailed photographs of the coastline, diagrams and descriptions of potential landing sites, as well as data on the depth of coastal waters. Although this information was not useful for its initial purpose, ecologists, geologists, archaeologists and other scientists now have unique samples on the basis of which it is possible to track half-century environmental changes.
In 1946, the US military launched the Sandstone project (Sandstone) – but do not confuse it with a series of nuclear tests of the same name in 1948. The Pentagon seriously took the possibility of aggression from the Soviet Union, and in the event of the capture of Europe, the British Isles became the ideal base for containing the “red threat”. Therefore, in the event of the communist occupation of the United Kingdom, it was necessary to develop a detailed capture plan, similar to the landing in Normandy, only with the help of more modern means.
Together with their colleagues from the UK, the Americans shot literally every inch of the coast. Photos were taken both from the air and by experts on the ground. Since the process was time-consuming and very expensive, it dragged on until the mid-1960s. Almost all sections of the coast were subjected to a detailed description, but, as it turned out, it was completely impossible to reach some places. Nevertheless, as a result, the main bridgeheads for landing were determined, where nothing would prevent American tanks, jeeps and trucks from quickly moving inland.
Similar interesting finds following the traces of the Cold War are not uncommon. For example, in February 2020, PM wrote about a find in Germany. Archaeologists excavated an ancient Roman villa near Cologne and found a cache with a brand new Soviet spy radio station, which was hidden there shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
