Top Secret Omaha Beach Invasion Maps to Auction

Rare maps made for Operation Bigot in World War II go under the hammer today in Heritage Auctions' Arms & Armor auction.

On June 6, 1944, the Allies secured a section of the beachhead at Normandy in German-occupied France dubbed Omaha Beach. Among the most closely guarded secrets of World War II, Operation Bigot designated those cleared to know the precise details of the Normandy invasion, an intelligence level above Top Secret. This auction offers a pair of invasion maps printed for the commander of Task Force 122 in the weeks before D-Day, delineating the exact landing zones at Omaha Beach, East and West. 

Compiled from aerial reconnaissance and Resistance intelligence, they record contours, tidal gradient, and German defense. On the reverse, sunlight and moonlight tables guided the critical timing of the assault, ensuring the invasion struck under ideal conditions of tide, darkness, and surprise. The consignor indicates that these maps were from the estate of Harold W. Hurd who was a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy during WWII.

"These maps would have been as secret as they come, given only to high-ranking officials," says David Carde, Director for Arms & Armor at Heritage Auctions. "There were months of planning and briefings, and then shortly before the invasion, they would print them. These are obviously in the public now, but during the war they would have been guarded so only a few people would have introduced them on a table or the back of a jeep. Maps like these were to be guarded or destroyed at all costs, and most were collected, classified and stored in national archives after the war."

Also offered in the auction will be the archive of Flight Officer James C. Ramsey of the 332nd Fighter Group, 302nd Fighter Control Squadron, comprising more than 60 pages of letters and documents related to his life and training in the Tuskegee Air Pilot Program from October 1942 to December 1944. 

Additionally, there is an Abraham Lincoln-signed retirement endorsement. President Lincoln adds his endorsement to the verso of Lieutenant Colonel James Edelin's application for retirement from the Marines. He writes, in full: "Let Lieut. Col. of Marines, James Edelin, be placed on the retired list, on his own application, according to the law within referenced to." Signed, "A. Lincoln," and dated November 15, 1861.