title: Operation Sea Lion

text: On 13 August 1940, Alfred Jodl, Chief of Operations in the OKW ("Oberkommando der Wehrmacht") wrote his "Assessment of the situation arising from the views of the Army and Navy on a landing in England." His first point was that "The landing operation must under no circumstances fail. A failure could leave political consequences, which would go far beyond the military ones." He believed that the "Luftwaffe" could meet its essential objectives, but if the "Kriegsmarine" could not meet the operational requirements of the Army for an attack on a broad front with two divisions landed within four days, followed promptly by three further divisions irrespective of weather, "then I consider the landing to be an act of desperation, which would have to be risked in a desperate situation, but which we have no reason whatsoever to undertake at this moment."


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The "Kriegsmarine" invested considerable energy in planning and assembling the forces for an elaborate deception plan called Operation Herbstreise or "Autumn Journey". The idea was first mooted by "Generaladmiral" Rolf Carls on 1 August proposing a feint expedition into the North Sea resembling a troop convoy heading for Scotland, with the aim of drawing the British Home Fleet away from the intended invasion routes. Initially, the convoy was to consist of about ten small cargo ships fitted with false funnels to make them appear larger, and two small hospital ships. As the plan gathered momentum, the large ocean liners , , and were added to the list. These were organised into four separate convoys, escorted by light cruisers, torpedo boats and minesweepers, some of which were obsolete vessels being used by naval training bases. The plan was that three days before the actual invasion, the troopships would load the men and equipment of four divisions in major Norwegian and German ports and put to sea, before unloading them again on the same day in quieter locations. Returning to sea, the convoys would head west towards Scotland before turning around at about 21:00 on the following day. In addition, the only heavy warships available to the "Kriegsmarine", the heavy cruisers and , would attack the British armed merchant cruisers of the Northern Patrol and convoys inbound from Canada; however, the "Scheer"'s repairs overran and if the invasion had taken place in September, would have left the "Hipper" to operate alone.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Lacking surface naval forces capable of meeting the Home Fleet of the Royal Navy in open battle, the main seaborne defence for the first wave invasion fleets would have been four massive minefields, which were intended to be laid from S minus nine onwards. The ANTON minefield (off Selsey Bill) and the BRUNO minefield (off Beachy Head), each totalling over 3,000 mines in four rows, would have blocked off the invasion beaches against naval forces from Portsmouth, while the counterpart CAESAR minefield would have blocked off beach 'B' from Dover. A fourth minefield, DORA, was to be laid off Lyme Bay to inhibit naval forces from Plymouth. By the autumn of 1940, the "Kriegsmarine" had achieved considerable success in laying minefields in support of active operations, notably in the night of 31 August 1940 when the 20th Destroyer flotilla suffered heavy losses when running into a newly laid German minefield near the Dutch coast off Texel; however no plans were made to prevent the mines being cleared by the large force of British minesweepers which were based in the area. "Vizeadmiral" Friedrich Ruge, who was in charge of the mining operation, wrote after the war that if the minefields had been relatively complete, they would have been a "strong obstacle" but that "even a strong obstacle is not an absolute barrier."


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: In 1940 the German Navy was ill-prepared for mounting an amphibious assault the size of Operation Sea Lion. Lacking purpose-built landing craft and both doctrinal and practical experience with amphibious warfare, the "Kriegsmarine" was largely starting from scratch. Some efforts had been made during the inter-war years to investigate landing military forces by sea, but inadequate funding severely limited any useful progress.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: For the successful German invasion of Norway, German naval forces (assisted in places by thick fog) had simply forced an entry into key Norwegian harbours with motor launches and E-boats against stiff resistance from the outgunned Norwegian army and navy, and then unloaded troops from destroyers and troop transports directly onto the dockfronts at Bergen, Egersund, Trondheim, Kristiansand, Arendal and Horten. At Stavanger and Oslo capture of the port was preceded by landing airborne forces. No beach landings were attempted.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The "Kriegsmarine" had taken some small steps in remedying the landing craft situation with construction of the "Pionierlandungsboot 39" (Engineer Landing Boat 39), a self-propelled shallow-draft vessel which could carry 45 infantrymen, two light vehicles or 20 tons of cargo and land on an open beach, unloading via a pair of clamshell doors at the bow. But by late September 1940 only two prototypes had been delivered.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Recognising the need for an even larger craft capable of landing both tanks and infantry onto a hostile shore, the "Kriegsmarine" began development of the 220-ton "Marinefährprahm" (MFP) but these too were unavailable in time for a landing on British soil in 1940, the first of them not being commissioned until April 1941.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Given barely two months to assemble a large seagoing invasion fleet, the "Kriegsmarine" opted to convert inland river barges into makeshift landing craft. Approximately 2,400 barges were collected from throughout Europe (860 from Germany, 1,200 from the Netherlands and Belgium and 350 from France). Of these, only about 800 were powered albeit insufficiently to cross the Channel under their own power. All barges would be towed across by tugs, with two barges to a tug in line abreast, preferably one being powered and one unpowered. On reaching the English coast, the powered barges would be cast-off, to beach themselves under their own power; the unpowered barges would be taken inshore as far as possible by the tugs and anchored, so as to settle on the falling tide, their troops unloading some hours later than those on the powered barges. Accordingly, the Sea Lion plans were prepared on the basis that the landings would take place shortly after high tide and on a date when this coincided with sunrise. Towards evening, on the following rising tide, the empty barges would have been retrieved by their tugs to receive the second echelon forces, stores and heavy equipment in the awaiting transport vessels. These transport vessels would have remained moored off the beach throughout the day. By contrast, the Allied D day landings in 1944 were timed to happen at low tide; with all troops and equipment transhipped from their transport vessels to landing craft off-shore overnight.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: All the troops intended to land at beach 'E', the westernmost of the four beaches, would cross the channel in larger transport vessels – the barges being towed loaded with equipment but empty of troops – and would then be transferred onto their barges a short distance from the beach. For the landings on the other three beaches, the first echelon of the invasion forces (and their equipment) would be loaded onto their barges in French or Belgian ports, while the second echelon force crossed the channel in associated transport vessels. Once the first echelon had been unloaded onto the beach, the barges would return to the transport vessels to transport the second echelon. The same procedure was envisaged for the second wave (unless the first wave had captured a usable port). Trials showed that this process of trans-shipment in open sea, in any circumstances other than flat calm, would likely take at least 14 hours, such that the disembarkation of the first wave might extend over several tides and several days, with barges and invasion fleet subsequently needing to be escorted together back across the Channel for repairs and reloading. Since loading of the tanks, vehicles and stores of the second wave onto the returned barges and transport ships would take at least a week, the second wave could not be expected to land much less than ten days after the first wave, and more likely longer still.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Two types of inland river barge were generally available in Europe for use in Sea Lion: the "peniche", which was 38.5 meters long and carried 360 tons of cargo, and the "Kampine", which was 50 meters long and carried 620 tons of cargo. Of the barges collected for the invasion, 1,336 were classified as "peniches" and 982 as "Kampinen". For simplicity's sake, the Germans designated any barge up to the size of a standard "peniche" as Type A1 and anything larger as Type A2.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Converting the assembled barges into landing craft involved cutting an opening in the bow for off-loading troops and vehicles, welding longitudinal I-beams and transverse braces to the hull to improve seaworthiness, adding a wooden internal ramp and pouring a concrete floor in the hold to allow for tank transport. As modified, the Type A1 barge could accommodate three medium tanks while the Type A2 could carry four. Tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery were envisaged as crossing the Channel in one of around 170 transport ships, which would be anchored off the landing beaches while the barges disembarked the first echelon of assault troops; those in powered barges disembarking soonest. The empty barges would then have been retrieved by tugs on the following rising tide, so as to have the second echelon (including tanks and other heavy equipment) loaded onto them using ship's derricks. Barges would consequently have shuttled between ships and beaches over at least two days before being assembled together for the escorted night-time return voyage across the Channel.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: This barge was a Type A altered to carry and rapidly off-load the submersible tanks ("Tauchpanzer") developed for use in Sea Lion. They had the advantage of being able to unload their tanks directly into water up to in depth, several hundred yards from shore, whereas the unmodified Type A had to be firmly grounded on the beach, making it more vulnerable to enemy fire. The Type B required a longer external ramp (11 meters) with a float attached to the front of it. Once the barge anchored, the crew would extend the internally stowed ramp using block and tackle sets until it was resting on the water's surface. As the first tank rolled forward onto the ramp, its weight would tilt the forward end of the ramp into the water and push it down onto the seabed. Once the tank rolled off, the ramp would bob back up to a horizontal position, ready for the next one to exit. If a barge was securely grounded along its full length, the longer ramp could also be used to discharge submersible tanks directly onto the beach, and beachmasters were given the option of landing tanks by this method, if the risk of loss in submersible running appeared to be too high. The Navy High Command increased its initial order for 60 of these vessels to 70 in order to compensate for expected losses. A further five were ordered on 30 September as a reserve.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The Type C barge was specifically converted to carry the Panzer II amphibious tank ("Schwimmpanzer"). Because of the extra width of the floats attached to this tank, cutting a broad exit ramp into the bow of the barge was not considered advisable as it would have compromised the vessel's seaworthiness to an unacceptable degree. Instead, a large hatch was cut into the stern, thereby allowing the tanks to drive directly into deep water before turning under their own motive power and heading towards shore. The Type C barge could accommodate up to four "Schwimmpanzern" in its hold. Approximately 14 of these craft were available by the end of September.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: During the planning stages of Sea Lion, it was deemed desirable to provide the advanced infantry detachments (making the initial landings) with greater protection from small-arms and light artillery fire by lining the sides of a powered Type A barge with concrete. Wooden slides were also installed along the barge's hull to accommodate ten assault boats ("Sturmboote"), each capable of carrying six infantrymen and powered by a 30 hp outboard motor. The extra weight of this additional armour and equipment reduced the barge's load capacity to 40 tons. By mid-August, 18 of these craft, designated Type AS, had been converted, and another five were ordered on 30 September.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The "Luftwaffe" had formed its own special command ("Sonderkommando") under Major Fritz Siebel to investigate the production of landing craft for Sea Lion. Major Siebel proposed giving the unpowered Type A barges their own motive power by installing a pair of surplus BMW aircraft engines, driving propellers. The "Kriegsmarine" was highly sceptical of this venture, but the "Heer" (Army) high command enthusiastically embraced the concept and Siebel proceeded with the conversions.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The aircraft engines were mounted on a platform supported by iron scaffolding at the aft end of the vessel. Cooling water was stored in tanks mounted above-deck. As completed, the Type AF had a speed of , and a range of unless auxiliary fuel tanks were fitted. Disadvantages of this set-up included an inability to back the vessel astern, limited manoeuvrability and the deafening noise of the engines which would have made voice commands problematic.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: By 1 October 128 Type A barges had been converted to airscrew propulsion and, by the end of the month, this figure had risen to over 200.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The "Kriegsmarine" later used some of the motorised Sea Lion barges for landings on the Russian-held Baltic islands in 1941 and, though most of them were eventually returned to the inland rivers they originally plied, a reserve was kept for military transport duties and for filling out amphibious flotillas.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: As a consequence of employing all of their available cruisers in the North Sea deception operation, there would have been only light forces available to protect the vulnerable transport fleets. The plan revised on 14 September 1940 by Admiral Günther Lütjens called for three groups of five U-boats, all seven destroyers, and seventeen torpedo boats to operate to the west of the mine barrier in the Channel, while two groups of three U-boats and all the available E-boats to operate north of it. Lütjens suggested the inclusion of the old battleships and which were used for training. They were considered too vulnerable to send into action without improvement, especially considering the fate of their sister ship, , which had blown up at the Battle of Jutland. The Blohm und Voss shipyard considered that it would take six weeks for a minimal upgrade of armour and armament and the idea was dropped, as was a suggestion that they be used as troopships. Four coasters were converted to auxiliary gunboats by the addition of a single 15 cm naval gun and another was fitted with two 10.5 cm guns, while a further twenty-seven smaller vessels were converted into light gunboats by attaching a single ex-French 75 mm field gun to an improvised platform; these were expected to provide naval gunfire support as well as fleet defence against modern British cruisers and destroyers.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Providing armour support for the initial wave of assault troops was a critical concern for Sea Lion planners, and much effort was devoted to finding practical ways of rapidly getting tanks onto the invasion beaches in support of the first echelon. Though the Type A barges could disembark several medium tanks onto an open beach, this could be accomplished only once the tide had fallen further and the barges were firmly grounded along their full length; otherwise a leading tank might topple off an unsteady ramp and block those behind from deployment. The time needed for assembling the external ramps also meant that both the tanks and the ramp assembly crews would be exposed to close-quarter enemy fire for a considerable time. A safer and faster method was needed and the Germans eventually settled on providing some tanks with floats and making others fully submersible. It was nevertheless recognised that a high proportion of these specialised tanks might be expected not to make it off the beach.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The "Schwimmpanzer" II Panzer II, at 8.9 tons, was light enough to float with the attachment of long rectangular buoyancy boxes on each side of the tank's hull. The boxes were machined from aluminium stock and filled with Kapok sacks for added buoyancy. Motive power came from the tank's own tracks which were connected by rods to a propeller shaft running through each float. The "Schwimmpanzer" II could make 5.7 km/h in the water. An inflatable rubber hose around the turret ring created a waterproof seal between the hull and turret. The tank's 2 cm gun and coaxial machinegun were kept operational and could be fired while the tank was still making its way ashore. Because of the great width of the pontoons, "Schwimmpanzer" IIs were to be deployed from specially-modified Type C landing barges, from which they could be launched directly into open water from a large hatch cut into the stern. The Germans converted 52 of these tanks to amphibious use prior to Sea Lion's cancellation.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The "Tauchpanzer" or deep-wading tank (also referred to as the "U-Panzer" or "Unterwasser Panzer") was a standard Panzer III or Panzer IV medium tank with its hull made completely waterproof by sealing all sighting ports, hatches and air intakes with tape or caulk. The gap between the turret and hull was sealed with an inflatable hose while the main gun mantlet, commander's cupola and radio operator's machine gun were given special rubber coverings. Once the tank reached the shore, all covers and seals could be blown off via explosive cables, enabling normal combat operation.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Fresh air for both the crew and engine was drawn into the tank via an 18 m long rubber hose to which a float was attached to keep one end above the water's surface. A radio antenna was also attached to the float to provide communication between the tank crew and the transport barge. The tank's engine was converted to be cooled with seawater, and the exhaust pipes were fitted with overpressure valves. Any water seeping into the tank's hull could be expelled by an internal bilge pump. Navigation underwater was accomplished using a directional gyrocompass or by following instructions radioed from the transport barge.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Experiments conducted at the end of June and early July at Schilling, near Wilhelmshaven, showed that the submersible tanks functioned best when they were kept moving along the seabed as, if halted for any reason, they tended to sink into the seabed and remain stuck there. Obstacles such as underwater trenches or large rocks tended to stop the tanks in their tracks, and it was decided for this reason that they should be landed at high tide so that any mired tanks could be retrieved at low tide. Submersible tanks could operate in water up to a depth of .


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The "Kriegsmarine" initially expected to use 50 specially-converted motor coasters to transport the submersible tanks, but testing with the coaster "Germania" showed this to be impractical. This was due to the ballast needed to offset the weight of the tanks, and the requirement that the coasters be grounded to prevent them from capsizing as the tanks were transferred by crane onto the vessel's wooden side ramps. These difficulties led to development of the Type B barge.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: By the end of August the Germans had converted 160 Panzer IIIs, 42 Panzer IVs, and 52 Panzer IIs to amphibious use. This gave them a paper strength of 254 machines, about an equivalent number to those that would otherwise have been allocated to an armoured division. The tanks were divided into four battalions or detachments labelled "Panzer-Abteilung" A, B, C and D. They were to carry sufficient fuel and ammunition for a combat radius of 200 km.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: As part of a "Kriegsmarine" competition, prototypes for a prefabricated "heavy landing bridge" or jetty (similar in function to later Allied Mulberry Harbours) were designed and built by Krupp Stahlbau and Dortmunder Union and successfully overwintered in the North Sea in 1941–42. Krupp's design won out, as it only required one day to install, as opposed to twenty-eight days for the Dortmunder Union bridge. The Krupp bridge consisted of a series of 32m-long connecting platforms, each supported on the seabed by four steel columns. The platforms could be raised or lowered by heavy-duty winches in order to accommodate the tide. The German Navy initially ordered eight complete Krupp units composed of six platforms each. This was reduced to six units by the autumn of 1941, and eventually cancelled altogether when it became apparent that Sea Lion would never take place.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: In mid-1942, both the Krupp and Dortmunder prototypes were shipped to the Channel Islands and installed together off Alderney, where they were used for unloading materials needed to fortify the island. Referred to as the "German jetty" by local inhabitants, they remained standing for the next thirty-six years until demolition crews finally removed them in 1978–79, a testament to their durability.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The German Army developed a portable landing bridge of its own nicknamed "Seeschlange" (Sea Snake). This "floating roadway" was formed from a series of joined modules that could be towed into place to act as a temporary jetty. Moored ships could then either unload their cargo directly onto the roadbed or lower it down onto waiting vehicles via their heavy-duty booms. The "Seeschlange" was successfully tested by the Army Training Unit at Le Havre in France in the autumn of 1941 and later chosen for use in "Operation Herkules", the proposed Italo-German invasion of Malta. It was easily transportable by rail.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: A specialised vehicle intended for Sea Lion was the "Landwasserschlepper" (LWS), an amphibious tractor under development since 1935. It was originally intended for use by Army engineers to assist with river crossings. Three of them were assigned to Tank Detachment 100 as part of the invasion; it was intended to use them for pulling ashore unpowered assault barges and towing vehicles across the beaches. They would also have been used to carry supplies directly ashore during the six hours of falling tide when the barges were grounded. This involved towing a "Kässbohrer" amphibious trailer capable of transporting 10–20 tons of freight behind the LWS. The LWS was demonstrated to General Halder on 2 August 1940 by the Reinhardt Trials Staff on the island of Sylt and, though he was critical of its high silhouette on land, he recognised the overall usefulness of the design. It was proposed to build enough tractors that one or two could be assigned to each invasion barge, but the late date and difficulties in mass-producing the vehicle prevented this.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Operation Sea Lion would have been the first ever amphibious invasion by a mechanised army, and the largest amphibious invasion since Gallipoli. The Germans had to invent and improvise much of equipment to be used, also proposing to use some new weapons and use upgrades of their existing equipment for the first time. These included:


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The German Army High Command (, "OKH") originally planned an invasion on a vast scale, envisioning landing over forty divisions from Dorset to Kent. This was far in excess of what the "Kriegsmarine" could supply, and the final plans were more modest, calling for nine divisions to make an amphibious assault on Sussex and Kent with around 67,000 men in the first echelon and a single airborne division of 3,000 men to support them. The chosen invasion sites ran from Rottingdean in the west to Hythe in the east.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The "Kriegsmarine" wanted the front to be as short as possible, as it regarded this as more defensible. Admiral Raeder wanted a front stretching from Dover to Eastbourne and stressed that shipping between Cherbourg/Le Havre and Dorset would be exposed to attacks from the Royal Navy based in Portsmouth and Plymouth. General Halder rejected this: "From the army's point of view I regard it as complete suicide, I might just as well put the troops that have landed straight through the sausage machine".


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: One complication was the tidal flow in the English Channel, where high water moves from west to east, with high water at Lyme Regis occurring around six hours before it reaches Dover. If all the landings were to be made at high water across a broad front, they would have to be made at different times along different parts of the coast, with the landings in Dover being made six hours after any landings in Dorset and thus losing the element of surprise. If the landings were to be made at the same time, methods would have to be devised to disembark men, vehicles and supplies at all states of the tide. That was another reason to favour landing craft.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: With Germany's occupation of the Pas-de-Calais region in northern France, the possibility of closing the Strait of Dover to Royal Navy warships and merchant convoys by the use of land-based heavy artillery became readily apparent, both to the German High Command and to Hitler. Even the "Kriegsmarine"'s Naval Operations Office deemed this a plausible and desirable goal, especially given the relatively short distance, , between the French and English coasts. Orders were therefore issued to assemble and begin emplacing every Army and Navy heavy artillery piece available along the French coast, primarily at Pas-de-Calais. This work was assigned to the "Organisation Todt" and commenced on 22 July 1940.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: By early August, four traversing turrets were fully operational as were all of the Army's railway guns. Seven of these weapons, six 28 cm K5 pieces and a single K12 gun with a range of , could only be used against land targets. The remainder, thirteen 28 cm and five pieces, plus additional motorised batteries comprising twelve 24 cm guns and ten 21 cm weapons, could be fired at shipping but were of limited effectiveness due to their slow traverse speed, long loading time and ammunition types.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Better suited for use against naval targets were the four heavy naval batteries installed by mid-September: "Friedrich August" with three barrels; "Prinz Heinrich" with two 28 cm guns; "Oldenburg" with two 24 cm weapons and, largest of all, "Siegfried" (later renamed "Batterie Todt") with a pair of guns. Fire control for these weapons was provided by both spotter aircraft and by DeTeGerät radar sets installed at Blanc Nez and Cap d’Alprech. These units were capable of detecting targets out to a range of , including small British patrol craft inshore of the English coast. Two additional radar sites were added by mid-September: a DeTeGerät at Cap de la Hague and a FernDeTeGerät long-range radar at Cap d’Antifer near Le Havre.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: To strengthen German control of the Channel narrows, the Army planned to quickly establish mobile artillery batteries along the English shoreline once a beachhead had been firmly established. Towards that end, 16th Army's "Artillerie Kommando 106" was slated to land with the second wave to provide fire protection for the transport fleet as early as possible. This unit consisted of twenty-four and seventy-two guns. About one third of them were to be deployed on English soil by the end of Sea Lion's first week.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The presence of these batteries was expected to greatly reduce the threat posed by British destroyers and smaller craft along the eastern approaches as the guns would be sited to cover the main transport routes from Dover to Calais and Hastings to Boulogne. They could not entirely protect the western approaches, but a large area of those invasion zones would still be within effective range.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The British military was well aware of the dangers posed by German artillery dominating the Dover Strait and on 4 September 1940 the Chief of Naval Staff issued a memo stating that if the Germans "…could get possession of the Dover defile and capture its gun defences from us, then, holding these points on both sides of the Straits, they would be in a position largely to deny those waters to our naval forces". Should the Dover defile be lost, he concluded, the Royal Navy could do little to interrupt the flow of German supplies and reinforcements across the Channel, at least by day, and he further warned that "…there might really be a chance that they (the Germans) might be able to bring a serious weight of attack to bear on this country". The very next day the Chiefs of Staff, after discussing the importance of the defile, decided to reinforce the Dover coast with more ground troops.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The guns started to fire in the second week of August 1940 and were not silenced until 1944, when the batteries were overrun by Allied ground forces. They caused 3,059 alerts, 216 civilian deaths, and damage to 10,056 premises in the Dover area. However, despite firing on frequent slow moving coastal convoys, often in broad daylight, for almost the whole of that period (there was an interlude in 1943), there is no record of any vessel being hit by them, although one seaman was killed and others were injured by shell splinters from near misses. Whatever the perceived risk, this lack of ability to hit any moving ship does not support the contention that the German coastal batteries would have been a serious threat to fast destroyers or smaller warships.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: During the summer of 1940, both the British public and the Americans believed that a German invasion was imminent, and they studied the forthcoming high tides of 5–9 August, 2–7 September, 1–6 October, and 30 October – 4 November as likely dates. The British prepared extensive defences, and, in Churchill's view, "the great invasion scare" was "serving a most useful purpose" by "keeping every man and woman tuned to a high pitch of readiness". He did not think the threat credible. On 10 July, he advised the War Cabinet that the possibility of invasion could be ignored, as it "would be a most hazardous and suicidal operation"; and on 13 August that "now that we were so much stronger", he thought "we could spare an armoured brigade from this country". Over-riding General Dill, Churchill initiated Operation Apology by which a series of troop convoys, including three tank regiments and eventually the entire 2nd Armoured Division, were sent around the Cape of Good Hope to reinforce General Wavell in the Middle East in support of operations against Italian colonial forces (Italy had declared war on 10 June). Furthermore, on Churchill's urging, on 5 August the War Cabinet approved Operation Menace, in which a substantial proportion of the Home Fleet – two battleships, an aircraft carrier, five cruisers, and twelve destroyers, together with five out of six battalions of Royal Marines, were dispatched to Dakar on 30 August in an attempt to neutralise the battleship Richelieu and detach French West Africa from Vichy France to the control of the Free French. Overall, these actions demonstrated Churchill's confidence that the immediate danger of a German invasion was now over.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The Germans were confident enough to film a simulation of the intended invasion in advance. A crew turned up at the Belgian port of Antwerp in early September 1940 and, for two days, they filmed tanks and troops landing from barges on a nearby beach under simulated fire. It was explained that, as the invasion would happen at night, Hitler wanted the German people to see all the details.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: In early August, the German command had agreed that the invasion should begin on 15 September, but the Navy's revisions to its schedule set the date back to 20 September. At a conference on 14 September, Hitler praised the various preparations, but told his service chiefs that, as air superiority had still not been achieved, he would review whether to proceed with the invasion. At this conference, he gave the Luftwaffe the opportunity to act independently of the other services, with intensified continuous air attacks to overcome British resistance; on 16 September, Göring issued orders for this new phase of the air attack. On 17 September 1940, Hitler held a meeting with "Reichsmarschall" Hermann Göring and "Generalfeldmarschall" Gerd von Rundstedt during which he became convinced the operation was not viable. Control of the skies was still lacking, and co-ordination among three branches of the armed forces was out of the question. Later that day, Hitler ordered the postponement of the operation. He ordered the dispersal of the invasion fleet in order to avert further damage by British air and naval attacks.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The postponement coincided with rumours that there had been an attempt to land on British shores on or about 7 September, which had been repulsed with large German casualties. The story was later expanded to include false reports that the British had set the sea on fire using flaming oil. Both versions were widely reported in the American press and in William L. Shirer's "Berlin Diary", but both were officially denied by Britain and Germany. Author James Hayward has suggested that the whispering campaign around the "failed invasion" was a successful example of British black propaganda to bolster morale at home and in occupied Europe, and convince America that Britain was not a lost cause.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: On 12 October 1940, Hitler issued a directive releasing forces for other fronts. The appearance of preparations for Sea Lion was to be continued to keep political pressure on Britain, and a fresh directive would be issued if it was decided that invasion was to be reconsidered in the spring of 1941. On 12 November 1940, Hitler issued Directive No. 18 demanding further refinement to the invasion plan. On 1 May 1941, fresh invasion orders were issued under the codename "Haifische" (shark), accompanied by additional landings on the southwest and northeast coasts of England codenamed "Harpune Nord" and "Harpune Süd" (harpoon north and south), although commanders of naval stations were informed that these were deception plans. Work continued on the various amphibious warfare developments such as purpose-built landing craft, which were later employed in operations in the Baltic.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: While the bombing of Britain intensified during the Blitz, Hitler issued his Directive No. 21 on 18 December 1940 instructing the Wehrmacht to be ready for a quick attack to commence his long planned invasion of the Soviet Union. lapsed, never to be resumed. On 23 September 1941, Hitler ordered all Sea Lion preparations to cease, but it was 1942 before the last of the barges at Antwerp were returned to trade. Hitler's last recorded order with reference to Sea Lion was on 24 January 1944, reusing equipment that was still stockpiled for the invasion and stating that twelve months' notice would be given of its resumption.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: "Reichsmarschall" Hermann Göring, Commander-in-Chief of the "Luftwaffe", believed the invasion could not succeed and doubted whether the German air force would be able to win unchallenged control of the skies; nevertheless, he hoped that an early victory in the Battle of Britain would force the UK government to negotiate, without any need for an invasion. As early as July 1939, Beppo Schmid, the Luftwaffe's intelligence chief, had concluded that air attack alone could not defeat Britain and a land invasion would be required Adolf Galland, who became commander of fighters later in the war, claimed invasion plans were not serious and that there was a palpable sense of relief in the when it was finally called off. "Generalfeldmarschall" Gerd von Rundstedt also took this view and thought that Hitler never seriously intended to invade Britain; he was convinced that the whole thing was a bluff to put pressure on the British government to come to terms following the Fall of France. He observed that Napoleon had failed to invade and the difficulties that confounded him did not appear to have been solved by the Sea Lion planners. In fact, in November 1939, the German naval staff produced a study on the possibility of an invasion of Britain and concluded that it required two preconditions, air and naval superiority, neither of which Germany ever had. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz believed air superiority was not enough and admitted, "We possessed neither control of the air or the sea; nor were we in any position to gain it." Grand Admiral Erich Raeder thought it would be impossible for Germany to attempt an invasion until the spring of 1941; he instead called for Malta and the Suez Canal to be overrun so German forces could link up with Japanese forces in the Indian Ocean to bring about the collapse of the British Empire in the Far East, and prevent the Americans from being able to use British bases if the United States entered the war.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: As early as 14 August 1940, Hitler had told his generals that he would not attempt to invade Britain if the task seemed too dangerous, before adding that there were other ways of defeating the UK than invading.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: In his history of World War II, Churchill stated, "Had the Germans possessed in 1940 well trained [and equipped] amphibious forces their task would still have been a forlorn hope in the face of our sea and air power. In fact they had neither the tools or the training". He added, "There were indeed some who on purely technical grounds, and for the sake of the effect the total defeat of his expedition would have on the general war, were quite content to see him try."


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Although Operation Sea Lion was never attempted, there has been much speculation about its hypothetical outcome. The great majority of military historians, including Peter Fleming, Derek Robinson and Stephen Bungay, have expressed the opinion that it had little chance of success and would have most likely resulted in a disaster for the Germans. Fleming states it is doubtful whether history offers any better example of a victor so nearly offering his vanquished foe an opportunity of inflicting on him a resounding defeat. Len Deighton and some other writers have called the German amphibious plans a "Dunkirk in reverse". Robinson argues the massive superiority of the Royal Navy over the "Kriegsmarine" would have made Sea Lion a disaster. Dr Andrew Gordon, in an article for the "Royal United Services Institute Journal" agrees with this and is clear in his conclusion the German Navy was never in a position to mount Sealion, regardless of any realistic outcome of the Battle of Britain. In his fictional alternate history "Invasion: the German invasion of England, July 1940", Kenneth Macksey proposes that the Germans might have succeeded if they had swiftly and decisively begun preparations even before the Dunkirk evacuations, and the Royal Navy for some reason had held back from large-scale intervention, though in practice the Germans were unprepared for such a speedy commencement of their assault. The German official naval war historian, Vice Admiral , wrote in 1958: "Had the German Air Force defeated the Royal Air Force as decisively as it had defeated the French Air Force a few months earlier, I am sure Hitler would have given the order for the invasion to be launched – and the invasion would in all probability been smashed".


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: An alternative, and very much a minority, perspective was advanced in 2016 by Robert Forczyk in "We march against England". Forczyk claims to apply a much more realistic assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses of both German and British forces, and challenges the views advanced by previous writers that the Royal Navy might easily have overwhelmed the German naval units protecting the first wave invasion fleet. His assessment concurs with that emerging from the 1974 Sandhurst Sea Lion wargame (see below) that the first wave would likely have crossed the Channel and established a lodgement around the landing beaches in Kent and East Sussex without major loss, and that the defending British forces would have been unlikely to have dislodged them once ashore. He proposes though, that the westernmost German landing at beach 'E' could not have been sustained for long against counterattacking British ground, naval and air forces, and that accordingly these German units would have had to fight their way eastwards, abandoning any aspiration to hold Newhaven. In the absence of access to a major port and with continued losses of German troop transport vessels from submarine attack, Forczyk argues that proposed arrangements for landing the second wave onto the beaches would have been wholly impractical once autumn and winter weather set into the Channel, so the first wave would be stranded in Kent as a 'beached whale' without substantial armour, transport or heavy artillery – unable to break out and threaten London. Nevertheless, Forczyk does not accept that they would necessarily have surrendered, pointing to the determined resistance of surrounded German forces at Stalingrad and Demyansk. He suggests they could possibly have held on into 1941, sustained by a small-ship fast night-time resupply operation into Folkestone (and maybe Dover), holding the possibility of negotiating their withdrawal in Spring 1941 under a truce agreed with the British government.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Four years later, the Allied D-Day landings showed just how much materiel had to be landed continuously to maintain an amphibious invasion. The problem for the Germans was worse, as the German Army was mostly horse-drawn. One of its prime headaches would have been transporting thousands of horses across the Channel. British intelligence calculated that the first wave of 10 divisions (including the airborne division) would require a daily average of 3,300 tons of supplies. In fact, in Russia in 1941, when engaged in heavy fighting (at the end of a very long supply line), a single German infantry division required up to 1,100 tons of supplies a day, though a more usual figure would be 212–425 tons per day. The smaller figure is more likely due to the very short distances the supplies would have to travel. Rations for two weeks were to be provided to the German troops of the first wave because the armies had been instructed to live off the land as far as possible in order to minimise supply across the Channel during the initial phase of the battle. British intelligence further calculated that Folkestone, the largest harbour falling within the planned German landing zones, could handle 150 tons per day in the first week of the invasion (assuming all dockside equipment was successfully demolished and regular RAF bombing raids reduced capacity by 50%). Within seven days, maximum capacity was expected to rise to 600 tons per day, once German shore parties had made repairs to the quays and cleared the harbour of any blockships and other obstacles. This meant that, at best, the nine German infantry and one airborne division landed in the first wave would receive less than 20% of the 3,300 tons of supplies they required each day through a port, and would have to rely heavily on whatever could be brought in directly over the beaches or air-lifted into captured airstrips.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The successful capture of Dover and its harbour facilities might have been expected to add another 800 tons per day, raising to 40% the amount of supplies brought in through ports. However, this rested on the rather unrealistic assumption of little or no interference from the Royal Navy and RAF with the German supply convoys which would have been made up of underpowered (or unpowered, i.e. towed) inland waterways vessels as they shuttled slowly between the Continent to the invasion beaches and any captured harbours.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: From 19 to 26 September 1940, sea and wind conditions on and over the Channel where the invasion was to take place were good overall, and a crossing, even using converted river barges, was feasible provided the sea state remained at less than 4, which for the most part it did. Winds for the remainder of the month were rated as "moderate" and would not have prevented the German invasion fleet from successfully depositing the first wave troops ashore during the ten days needed to accomplish this. From the night of 27 September, strong northerly winds prevailed, making passage more hazardous, but calm conditions returned on 11–12 October and again on 16–20 October. After that, light easterly winds prevailed which would have assisted any invasion craft travelling from the Continent towards the invasion beaches. But by the end of October, according to British Air Ministry records, very strong south-west winds (force 8) would have prohibited any non-seagoing craft from risking a Channel crossing.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: At least 20 spies were sent to Britain by boat or parachute to gather information on the British coastal defences under the codename "Operation Lena"; many of the agents spoke limited English. All agents were quickly captured and many were convinced to defect by MI5's Double-Cross System, providing disinformation to their German superiors. It has been suggested that the "amateurish" espionage efforts were a result of deliberate sabotage by the head of the army intelligence bureau in Hamburg, Herbert Wichmann, in an effort to prevent a disastrous and costly amphibious invasion; Wichmann was critical of the Nazi regime and had close ties to Wilhelm Canaris, the head of the "Abwehr", the German military intelligence agency.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: While some errors might not have caused problems, others, such as the inclusion of bridges that no longer existed and misunderstanding the usefulness of minor British roads, would have been detrimental to German operations, and would have added to the confusion caused by the layout of Britain's cities (with their maze of narrow roads and alleys) and the removal of road signs.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: A 1974 wargame was conducted at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The controllers of the game assumed that the had not diverted its daytime operations into bombing London on 7 September 1940, but had continued its assault against RAF airbases in the South East. Consequently, the German High Command, relying on grossly overstated claims of RAF fighters shot down, were under the erroneous impression that by 19 September RAF front-line fighter strength had fallen to 140 (as against a true figure of over 700); and hence that effective German air superiority might shortly be achieved. In the Game, the Germans were able to land almost all their first echelon forces on 22 September 1940, and established a beachhead in south-east England, capturing Folkestone, and Newhaven, even though the British had demolished the facilities of both ports. The British army forces, delayed in moving units from East Anglia to the South East by bomb damage to the rail network south of London, were nevertheless able to hold onto positions in and around Newhaven and Dover, sufficient to deny their use by German forces. Both the RAF and the Luftwaffe lost nearly a quarter of their available forces on the first day, after which it finally became apparent to the German command that British airpower was not, after all, on the point of collapse. On the night of 23/24 September a Royal Navy force of cruisers and destroyers was able to reach the Channel from Rosyth, in time to intercept and destroy most of the barges carrying the second and third echelon of German amphibious landings with the crucial tanks and heavy artillery (for the game, these follow-up echelons had been held back from crossing the Channel on S minus one with the first echelon, instead sailing across on the night of S plus one). Without the second and third echelons, the forces ashore were cut off from reserves of artillery, vehicles, fuel and ammunition supplies; and blocked from further reinforcements. Isolated and facing fresh regular troops with armour and artillery, the invasion force was forced to surrender after six days.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: One of the primary German foreign policy aims throughout the 1930s had been to establish a military alliance with the United Kingdom, and despite anti-British policies having been adopted as this proved impossible, hope remained that the UK would in time yet become a reliable German ally. Hitler professed an admiration for the British Empire and preferred to see it preserved as a world power, mostly because its break-up would benefit other countries far more than it would Germany, particularly the United States and Japan. Britain's situation was likened to the historical situation of the Austrian Empire after its defeat by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866, after which Austria was formally excluded from German affairs but would prove to become a loyal ally of the German Empire in the pre-World War I power alignments in Europe. It was hoped that a defeated Britain would fulfill a similar role, being excluded from continental affairs, but maintaining its Empire and becoming an allied seafaring partner of the Germans.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The continued military actions against the UK after the fall of France had the strategic goal of making Britain 'see the light' and conduct an armistice with the Axis powers, with 1 July 1940 being named the "probable date" for the cessation of hostilities. On 21 May 1940, Chief of Army Staff Franz Halder, after a consultation with Hitler on the war aims regarding Britain, wrote in his diary: "We are seeking contact with Britain on the basis of partitioning the world". Even as the war went on Hitler hoped in August 1941 for the eventual day when "England and Germany [march] together against America", and in January 1942 he still daydreamed that it was "not impossible" for Britain to quit the war and join the Axis side. Nazi ideologist Alfred Rosenberg hoped that after the victorious conclusion of the war against the USSR, Englishmen would be among the Germanic nationalities who would join the Germanic settlers in colonising the conquered eastern territories.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Other evidence suggests that in the case of a successful invasion of Great Britain the occupiers treatment of the British population may not have been as sympathetic. According to captured German documents, the commander-in-chief of the German Army, Walther von Brauchitsch, directed that "The able-bodied male population between the ages of 17 and 45 will, unless the local situation calls for an exceptional ruling, be interned and dispatched to the Continent". The remaining population would have been terrorised, including civilian hostages being taken and the death penalty immediately imposed for even the most trivial acts of resistance, with the UK being plundered for anything of financial, military, industrial or cultural value. After the war Otto Bräutigam of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories wrote in his book that he had encountered a personal report by General Eduard Wagner regarding a discussion with Heinrich Himmler from February 1943, in which Himmler had expressed the intention for "Einsatzgruppen" to kill about 80% of the populations of France and England after the German victory. At another point, Hitler had on one occasion described the English lower classes "racially inferior".


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: According to the most detailed plans created for the immediate post-invasion administration, Great Britain and Ireland were to be divided into six military-economic commands, with headquarters in London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Glasgow and Dublin. Hitler decreed that Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home of Winston Churchill, was to serve as the overall headquarters of the German occupation military government. The OKW, RSHA, and Foreign Ministry compiled lists of those they thought could be trusted to form a new German-friendly government along the lines of the one in occupied Norway. The list was headed by British fascist leader Oswald Mosley. The RSHA also felt that Harold Nicolson might prove useful in this role. It appears, based on the German police plans, that the occupation was to be only temporary, as detailed provisions for the post-occupation period are mentioned.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Some sources indicated that the Germans only intended to occupy Southern England, and that draft documents existed on the regulation of the passage of British civilians back and forth between the occupied and unoccupied territories. Others state that Nazi planners envisaged the institution of a nationalities policy in Western Europe to secure German hegemony there, which entailed the granting of independence to various regions. This involved detaching Scotland from the United Kingdom, the creation of a United Ireland, and an autonomous status for Western England.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: After the war rumours also emerged about the selection of either Joachim von Ribbentrop or Ernst Wilhelm Bohle, for the "viceregal" office of "Reichskommissar für Großbritannien" ("Imperial Commissioner for Great Britain"). However, no establishment by this name was ever approved by either Hitler or the Nazi government during the war, and was also denied by Bohle when he was interrogated by the victorious Allies (von Ribbentrop not having been questioned on the matter). After the Second Armistice at Compiègne with France, when he expected an imminent British capitulation, Hitler did however assure Bohle that he would be the next German ambassador to the Court of St. James's "if the British behave[d] sensibly".


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: The German Government used 90% of James Vincent Murphy's rough draft translation of Mein Kampf to form the body of an edition to be distributed in the UK once Operation Sea Lion was completed. This 'Operation Sea Lion Edition' was finalised and printed in the summer of 1940. Once the invasion was called off by Adolf Hitler most copies were distributed to English speaking POW camps. Original copies are very rare and highly sought after by serious book collectors interested in military history.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: A Channel 5 documentary broadcast on 16 July 2009 repeated the claim that the Germans intended to restore Edward VIII to the throne in the event of a German occupation. Many senior German officials believed the Duke of Windsor to be highly sympathetic to the Nazi government, a feeling that was reinforced by his and Wallis Simpson's 1937 visit to Germany. However, the Foreign Office maintains that despite German approaches; "The Duke never wavered in his loyalty to Great Britain during the war".


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Had Operation Sea Lion succeeded, Franz Six was intended to become the "Sicherheitsdienst" (SD) Commander in the country, with his headquarters to be located in London, and with regional task forces in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, and Edinburgh. His immediate mission would have been to hunt down and arrest the 2,820 people on the "Sonderfahndungsliste G.B." ("Special Search List Great Britain"). This document, which post-war became known as "The Black Book", was a secret list compiled by Walter Schellenberg containing the names of prominent British residents to be arrested immediately after a successful invasion. Six would also have been responsible for handling the large population of British Jews, over 300,000 at that time.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: Six had also been entrusted with the task of securing "aero-technological research result and important equipment" as well as "Germanic works of art". There is also a suggestion that he toyed with the idea of moving Nelson's Column to Berlin. The RSHA planned to take over the Ministry of Information, to close the major news agencies and to take control of all of the newspapers. Anti-German newspapers were to be closed down.


title: Operation Sea Lion

text: There is a large corpus of works set in an alternate history where the Nazi invasion of Great Britain is attempted or successfully carried out.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Dawoodi Bohras are a religious denomination within the Ismā'īlī branch of Shia Islam. Their largest numbers reside in India, Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa, and the Middle East, with a growing presence across Europe, North America, South East Asia, and Australia. Most estimates put the worldwide population to be one million.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Dawoodi Bohras are known to be a close-knit community who, like all Muslims, follow the tenets of Islam; namely reciting the Quran, observing the five daily prayers, fasting during the month of Ramadan, performing the pilgrimages of Hajj and Umra and offering Zakat. Whilst adherence to traditional values is important for the community, they are also known for their mercantilism and having a modernist approach to their lifestyles.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The cultural heritage of this denomination is found in the traditions of the Fatimid Imams; direct descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima. The Fatimids ruled over North Africa between 10th and 11th century CE.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Mostly self-reliant, the Bohras are typically traders, businesspersons, and entrepreneurs. The word "Bohra", in fact, comes from the Gujarati word "vohrvu" or "vyavahar", meaning "to trade".


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Dawoodi Bohras are a subset of Taiyebi, Musta'li, Isma'ili, Shia Islam. The Bohras trace their heritage to the Fatimid Caliphate, named after Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, and so veneration of the Fatimid Imams and Muhammad's family is central to their faith.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Fatimids, from the lineage of the Hashimites of Mecca, ruled over North Africa and Egypt, Hejaz, and Levant between the 10th and 11th centuries. The Fatimids flourished during what Maurice Lombard called the Golden age of Islam, and were patrons of arts, learning, and scientific discovery. The 14th Imam, al-Mui’zz, founded what is the modern day city of Cairo and established Al-Azhar University, which is one of the oldest universities in the world.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Before the empire's decline, Al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah, the 20th Fatimid Imam, directed his grand emissary, Arwa bint Ahmad, the Sulayhid queen of Yemen, to establish the office of the "Da'i al-Mutlaq" () to act as vicegerent of his son, the 21st Imam At-Tayyib Abu'l-Qasim while he was in occultation, and to lead "al-Da'wah al-Hadiyah". Arwa bint Ahmad appointed Zoeb bin Musa as the first "Da'i al-Mutlaq".


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Succession to the office of "al-Da'i al-Mutlaq" happens through "nass", whereby each Da'i—inspired and guided by the Imam al-Zamaan—appoints a successor in his own lifetime, and this chain of succession continues uninterrupted to this day. The present incumbent to the office is the 53rd "Da'i al-Mutlaq", Mufaddal Saifuddin.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The roots of the community's establishment in India go back to the Fatimid era, when Al Mustansir Billah, the 18th Imam, sent a Dai named Abd Allah from Yemen to initiate the Da’wah on his behalf. Abd Allah arrived in Cambay (modern day Khambhat, Gujarat) in AD 1067/ H 460 and soon won many converts, including local rulers.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The seclusion of al-Tayyeb led to the establishment of the office of al-Dai al-Mutlaq in Yemen. Subsequently, the Indian community which had pledged allegiance to the Fatimids continued to remain loyal to the Dais in Yemen. This resulted in a secession with the Hafizis, led by Al-Tayyeb's uncle, Abd al-Majid. Twenty three Dais operated from their mountain bases in Yemen for nearly four centuries, preserving the faith and authoring seminal works. The 19th Dai, Idris Imaduddin wrote numerous works, including a comprehensive and detailed history of the Fatimid faith.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Meanwhile, the community in Gujarat had maintained ties with their leaders in Yemen, who closely supervised their affairs and regularly welcomed Bohra delegations from Gujarat. During this time, the community grew in size, especially in Cambay, Patan, Sidhpur, and Ahmedabad.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Yusuf bin Sulayman Najmuddin, originally from Sidhpur, a town in Gujarat, was one of the  Bohras who travelled to Yemen to seek knowledge from the Dai. Najmuddin arrived in Yemen while still in his youth and first studied under Hasan bin Nuh al-Bharuchi. He was eventually nominated by the twenty-third Dai as his successor and became the first from the Indian community to lead the Tayyibi Da’wa as the twenty-fourth al-Dai al-Mutlaq. When Najmuddin died in CE 1567/H 974, the central headquarters of the Da’wa were transferred from Yemen to Gujarat by his Indian successor, Jalal bin Hasan, who established residence at Ahmedabad.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: When the 26th al-Dai al-Mutlaq died in CE 1589 /H 997, he was succeeded by his deputy, Dawood bin Qutubshah. However, three years later, Sulayman bin Hasan, a high-ranking dignitary in Yemen, claimed the succession to the leadership of the community for himself. This succession dispute was brought before the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1597. A special tribunal decided in favour of Dawood bin Qutubshah. However, this did not dissolve tensions, leading to a schism in the community. A majority of  Bohras acknowledged Dawood bin Qutubshah as the rightful successor and henceforth came to be known as Dawoodis (or Da’udis.)


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Over the next few centuries, the Bohra headquarters moved within India with the changing location of the Dai. The centre of the Da’wah has shifted six times: Ahmedabad (eight Dais, from 1567/974 to 1655/1065); Jamnagar in the Kathiawar region of Gujarat (five Dais, from 1655/1065 to 1737/1150); Ujjan in present day state of Madhya Pradesh (two Dais, from 1737/1150 to 1779/1193); Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh (one Dai, from 1779/1193 to 1785/1200); Surat in present day state of Gujarat (eight Dais, from 1785/1200 to 1933/1351) and Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra where the current Dai resides.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Beginning from the early 19th century, several community members emigrated to different lands in search for better livelihoods. The first wave of Bohra traders migrating to East Africa took place in the aftermath of a severe drought in Kathiawar. The 43rd Dai, Abdeali Saifuddin, invited 12,000 of his followers to Surat, and provided food, work and lodgings for all of them. His only conditions were that they learn and practice vocational skills, and he gave them their earnings when it was time for them to leave Surat. Many from this group decided to use this capital to venture forth to trade in East Africa.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: A century on from Abdeali Saifuddin, Taher Saifuddin succeeded him to the office of al-Dai al-Mutlaq as the 51st Dai, and his leadership was challenged almost immediately upon assuming the office. Taher Saifuddin is credited with revitalising the community by restructuring its organisation on modern lines.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: He shifted the community headquarters from Surat to Mumbai, which had become a major centre of trade and commerce in India. His emphasis on acquiring higher education across disciplines saw many young Dawoodi Bohras go on to settle in different parts of the globe resulting in thriving new communities.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: During the seclusion of the imam, al-dai al-mutlaq is the vicegerent of the imam appointed to lead the community and administer with complete authority, its secular and religious affairs.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The dai preaches Quranic precepts, which are the foundation of the faith, and guides the community upon the path of salvation. Over the last nine centuries that this office has been in existence, each dai has played an important role in shaping the community’s social and economic progress. Community members seek and abide by his counsel in different aspects of life. Their disciplined life, piety, scholarship and judicious guidance have defined the office of al-dai al-mutlaq.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The first dai, Dhu'ayb bin Musa, was appointed in 532/1138 in Yemen by Queen Arwa bint Ahmed when the 21st Imam went into seclusion. Since then, 23 dais, one following the other, established the Dawat in Yemen over the next 400 years. After nearly four centuries, the seat of the Dawat was transferred from Yemen to India, where the 24th dai, Yusuf bin Sulayman Najmuddin, became the first dai to assume office from this region. Despite territorial and political upheavals through different periods, the dais persevered and continued to lead the faithful and preserve the faith.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The current leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community is the 53rd al Dai al Mutlaq, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin who lives in India.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: As Muslims, the Dawoodi Bohras believe in Tawhid, Islam's central monotheistic concept of a single, indivisible God, Allah. They recite the Shahada stating there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Walayah, which is devotion to Allah, Muhammad, his family, and his descendants, is the central of the seven pillars of the Dawoodi Bohra faith. The other six are tahaarat (purity in body and thought), salaat (daily ritual prayers), zakaat (offering a portion of one's income in the cause of Allah), sawm (fasting, particularly in the month of Ramadan), hajj (a ritual pilgrimage to Mecca), and jihad (striving in the way of Allah). The Bohras build mosques wherever they live to congregate for prayers and "majalis" (religious occasions) for the "zikr" of Allah and his prophets, imams, and da'is.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Islam prohibits riba () and interest, and so the Dawoodi Bohras follow the practice of "Qardan Hasana" (), which are essentially interest-free loans. Based on the ideal of being advantageous to the borrower (as opposed to the lender), this model has played an important role in the economic growth within the community.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Bohras voluntarily contribute to an institutionally-maintained loan corpus on a regular basis, which is seeded by a substantial contribution from the Da'i al-Mutlaq themself. This corpus is managed by respective city-wise committees appointed by the office of the Da'i al-Mutlaq. The Bohras use these loans to buy houses, pay for education, and fund businesses.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The central rite of initiation and adoption for the Bohras is the "mithaq". This ceremony is a covenant between the believer and God, effected through God's representative on earth. The "mithaq" binds a believer to the duties owed to Allah, including an oath of allegiance: a vow to accept the spiritual guidance of the "Da'i al-Mutlaq" wholeheartedly and without reservation. This ceremony, akin to baptism in Christianity, is mandatory to enter the fold of the faith.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The mithaq is first taken at whatever age a child is deemed to have reached maturity: most commonly, thirteen years for girls, fourteen or fifteen for boys. These vows are renewed over a period of Bohra's adult life: In one such instance, on the eighteenth day of the Islamic month of Zil Hijjah, Bohras renew their mithaq vows together.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Dawoodi Bohra follow Fatimid-era tabular calendar which matches exactly with the lunar cycle of 354 days and hence requires no adjustments. The odd-numbered months have 30 days and the even-numbered months have 29 days, except in a leap year when the final month, the 12th month Zil Hajj, has 30 days. This contrasts with other Muslim communities, which base the beginnings of specific Islamic months on sightings of the moon crescent.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: During Ramadan, the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, the Dawoodi Bohras observe mandatory fast from dusk to dawn. The Bohras congregate in their local mosques for daily prayers, but particularly for the evening prayers, and break the day-long fast and have the "iftaar" () meal together. Like in the rest of Islamic world, Ramadan is a month of heightened devotional activity for the Bohras, which ends with Eid al-Fitr.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: In the month of Zil Hajj al-Haram, the Bohras undertake "hajj" and celebrate Eid al-Adha at its conclusion. In line with Shi'a traditions, on the 18th of Zil Hajj, the day Muhammad publicly anointed Ali ibn Abi Talib his successor, the Bohras celebrate Eid al-Ghadir, observe fast, and offer special prayers. Special prayers and congregations are also held during other major events such as the day Muhammad first began his "Da'wah" (), the night of Isra and Mi'raj, the birthday of Muhammad, the "urs mubarak" () of prominent community leaders, and the birthday of the current Da'i al-Mutlaq.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Husayn ibn Ali was martyred along with his family and companions in the plains of Karbala while on a journey from Mecca, through the deserts of modern-day Iraq, to Kufa, the seat of the erstwhile Rashidun caliphate. The Bohras believe that Husayn's sacrifice was foretold by Muhammad, and that he was destined to change the course of Islam as a result of his martyrdom. Remembrance of the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, often linked to the hagiography of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, is among the most important events of the year for the Bohras.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Known as "ʿAshara Mubāraka" (), a series of ten "majālis" () that happen in the beginning of the month of Muharram al-Haram, is a source of blessing and a means to spiritual purification for the Bohras. For them, Husayn ibn Ali's martyrdom epitomizes the values of humanity, justice, and truth. That his stand against tyranny, even at the cost of great personal sacrifice, offers lessons in bravery, loyalty, and compassion. These values, they believe, inculcate in them a spirit of self-sacrifice, forbearance, and adherence to their faith.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: During the "ʿAshara Mubāraka", the Bohra communities all over the world host a series of "majālis" twice a day, one each in the morning and in the evening, recounting Husayn ibn Ali's sacrifice, which forms the central theme of the discourse amidst regular prayers. The "majālis" led by the "Da'i al-Mutlaq" on occasion attract hundreds of thousands of followers.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: In 2020, in accordance with government regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the community observed "ʿAshara Mubāraka" remotely from their homes. Audio and video recording of sermons delivered in the preceding years by Taher Saifuddin, Mohammed Burhanuddin, and Mufaddal Saifuddin were broadcast to the community worldwide. While volunteers of community kitchens, "Faiz al-Mawaid al-Burhaniyah", prepared and distributed cooked meals to every home; members of local "Jami'ats", especially the young, ensured senior members had access to sermons and prayers broadcast online.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The office of the Da'i al-Mutlaq, known as "Alvazartus Saifiyah", oversees "Dawat-e-Hadiyah", which in turn governs secular and religious affairs of the close-knit Dawoodi Bohra community through a distributed network of "Jamaat committees". "Dawat-e-Hadiyah" head office is at "Badri Mahal" in Fort, Mumbai.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Several sub-committees and trusts administering different aspects of a local Bohra community operate under the purview of respective "Jamiat" (also called "Jamaat" or "Anjuman"). Setup anywhere where Bohras live and work, a "jamiat" usually numbers around hundred to tens of thousands of Bohras. A resident "Amil", appointed by "Dawat–e-Hadiyah", is the de facto president of a given "jamiat". The appointed Amil administers and manages socio-religious affairs of a "jamiat". At the local mosque or "markaz" under their jurisdiction, the Amil leads daily prayers, and presides over sermons and discourses on various religious occasions.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: As of 2021, there are an estimated two to five million Dawoodi Bohras that reside in over 100 countries. The majority reside in the Indian state of Gujarat and in the Pakistani city of Karachi. A sizeable diaspora is spread across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and East Africa.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Bohras are primarily traders and businesspersons, while some are industrialists and skilled professionals.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The word "Bohra" takes root in the Gujarati word "vohrvu", in reference to their traditional occupation as traders. The prefix "Dawoodi" is in reference to Dawood Bin Qutubshah, the 27th "Da'i al-Mutlaq", who was the leader of the majority following a schism in 1588.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Dawoodi Bohras are a blend of Yemeni, Egyptian, African, Pakistani, and Indian cultures. Their common tongue, Lisan al-Dawat, written in Perso-Arabic script, derives from Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Sanskrit, and Gujarati. When the Fatimid "Dawah" () first came to Gujarat, Lisan al-Dawat, which takes its basic structure from Gujarati and a vast majority of vocabulary from Arabic, developed as a medium to articulate Islamic values and heritage. Though Arabic remains community's dominant liturgical language, Lisan al-Dawat is its language of sermons and its medium of official and day to day communication.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Dawoodi Bohras wear a distinct form of attire. The men traditionally dress in a predominantly white, three-piece outfit: "kurta", a form of tunic; "saaya", an overcoat of equal length; and "izaar", loose-fit trousers; with "topi", a white cap usually laced in a golden arabesque design. Men, adhering to the customs of Muhammad, are expected to grow a full beard.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The women wear a two piece dress called "rida" distinct from hijab, purdah, and chador. The bright colors, decorative patterns and lace, and the fact that it does not cover a woman's face are its distinguishing features. The "rida" is of any colour except black. A flap called "pardi" is folded to one side to allow a woman's face to be visible but it can be worn over the face when desired.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Joining each other for meals is a well-known Dawoodi Bohra custom. Families and friends gather around sharing the meal from a single large raised circular tray called "thaal". The "thaal" is raised upon a "kundali" or "tarakti" made of wood or metal, on top of a "safra", a large cloth that covers the floor. Each course of meal is served one after the other for those at the "thaal" to share.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The meal begins and ends with a taste of salt, which per their tradition, cleanses the palette and prevents diseases. Bohras usually cover their heads during the meal with a "topi", a cap; and eat with their hands. A common etiquette is for the host to offer to clean their guests' hands using a "chilamchi lota" (basin and jug). At community feasts, the Bohras first eat (sweet dish), followed by (savoury dish), and then the main course. Leftovers are a cultural faux pas. Those seated at the "thaal" are encouraged to take smaller portions and expected to finish those.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Bohra cuisine, influenced by Gujarati, Persian, Yemeni, and Egyptian cuisines, is known for its unique taste and dishes such as bohra-style biryani, "dal chaawal palidu" (rice, lentils, and curry), "kheema samosa", "dabba gosht", and "masala bateta".


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: In 2012, Mohammed Burhanuddin II, the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq, established "Faiz al-Mawaid al-Burhaniyah" (FMB) community kitchens in Mumbai to deliver at least one meal per day to all Bohra families in the city, and to ensure no one goes to bed hungry. FMB proved beneficial to women in particular as household work reduced, freeing up time to pursue other productive activities. Meals are delivered in tiffin containers daily, and has a rotating menu. As of 2021, FMB community kitchens, usually built near mosques, are operational in every Bohra community throughout the world.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Whilst FMB has substantially increased food security within the Bohra community, in times of wider crisis (such as the flooding in Texas or the COVID-19 pandemic), it has also supplied meals and provisions to the wider society. Bohras consider "Niyaz", feeding their brethren and those less fortunate, an obligation.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: To subsidize costs and facilitate marriages among the Dawoodi Bohra, Taher Saifuddin, the 51st Da'i al-Mutlaq, started "Rasm-e Saifee" in Jamnagar and later institutionalised it . "Rasm-e Saifee" is a singular occasion when multiple "Nikah" are solemnized at the hands of the Da'i al-Mutlaq and his representatives.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Later, Mohammed Burhanuddin, Saifuddin's son and successor, founded "International Taiyseer al-Nikah Committee" (ITNC), which now organizes "Rasm-e Saifee" throughout the year at various "miqaat" (). Burhanuddin's successor, Mufaddal Saifuddin, continues to uphold the tradition.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: While a Dawoodi Bohra mosque is primarily a place of worship and congregation, it forms an important socio-cultural hub for the community. Besides sermons and discourses, the mosques are also a center for education and special religious lessons, keeping in line with Fatimid traditions. A mosque complex usually houses several administrative offices along with ceremonial halls. The mosques are built in a distinct Neo-Fatimid style, with the names of Allah and verses from the Quran engraved on its walls. The mosques are multi-storied structures; the main prayer hall in the ground floor, a voluminous space, is used by men while women congregate in the upper floors. The centre of the prayer hall is left as a void making it possible for the women to hear and follow religious liturgy and sermons from the floors above.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The first Dawoodi Bohra mosque in the Middle East was inaugurated in Dubai, UAE in 1983, by Mohammed Burhanuddin. Later, mosques in Sharjah, Dubai, and Ajman were opened in 2003, 2004, and 2006 respectively. Middle East is home to an estimated 60,000 Bohras who first migrated there in the .


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: In 1988, Burhanuddin inaugurated "Burhani Masjid" in Farmington Hills, Michigan, the first Dawoodi Bohra mosque in North America, and a year later, in 1990, the first Canadian mosque in Toronto.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Bohras first moved to London in the from East Africa and settled around Ealing. A community center was later set up at Fulham. Decades later, in 1996, Burhanuddin presided over the opening of the first Bohra mosque in Europe in Northolt. Burhanuddin's wife, Amatullah Aaisaheba, is buried within its premises. On 8 July 2007, the first Bohra mosque in France in Paris was inaugurated.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Bohras migrated to the erstwhile British colony of Ceylon from Gujarat . An estimated 2,500 Bohras live in Sri Lanka and the capital city of Colombo is their largest settlement. In 2000, Burhanuddin inaugurated "Masjid al-Hussaini" at Glen Aber Place, Colombo, the largest Dawoodi Bohra mosque in Sri Lanka, which was the venue of "Ashara Mubaraka" in 2008, 2009, and 2019. The masjid is part of a bigger complex called "Burhani Park", which has a community centre and a school.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Burhanuddin commemorated the 2001 "Ashara" in Houston, where the Bohras have been since the . Burhanuddin's son, Mufaddal Saifuddin inaugurated "Mohammedi Masjid", the largest Bohra mosque complex in North America, at Katy Area, Houston during the 2015 "Ashara", which was, at the time, the largest Bohra community event held in the West. The same year, in March 2015, Saifuddin inaugurated four more mosques in California in Los Angeles, San Jose, Bakersfield, and Orange County.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: In 2014, as his first official act as the 53rd Da'i al-Mutlaq, Mufaddal Saifuddin inaugurated "Masjid Mansoor al-Yemen" in the Haraaz region of Sanaa governorate. Burhanuddin had built the masjid in memory of Amatullah, his wife.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: A bohra community (or "jamaat") is centered around a "markaz" when there is no existing mosque nearby.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Communal meals are served in dining halls called the "jamaat khaana", which are generally part of the mosque complex.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: It is customary among the Bohras to visit mausoleums, mosques, and other places of religious importance in Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, and India. In most places, a community-administered complex ("mazaar") provides accommodation, business centers, dining, and various recreational activities to the traveling Bohras.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: A Bohra mausoleum typically has white exteriors with a golden finial at the apex of the dome. The interior is usually lit up in incandescent light and Quranic verses are inscribed on its walls. These mausoleums embody several meanings in the form of its structure and build. As an example, Raudat Tahera, an austere structure, has a range of intricacies deliberated into its design. The inner height of Raudat Tahera is 80 feet above the plinth: the number signifies the age of Taher Saifuddin, who is buried there. The sanctum of the mausoleum is 51 × 51 feet, which symbolises Saifuddin's position as the 51st Dai al-Mutlaq. The entire Quran is inscribed in gold on its walls, whilst "Bismillah" is engraved 113 times in precious stones, and four doors, one on each side of the wall, are made of silver. The inner side of the dome proclaims, "Allah holds the sky and earth together which none else can."


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: In line with Islamic traditions, the Bohras seek both religious and secular education. Women education is actively encouraged. In the modern day, higher education is commonplace in the community.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Community-run Madrasah Saifiyah Burhaniyah (MSB) chain of international co-ed schools teach sciences, humanities, and arts, in addition to theological subjects. In 1984, Mohammad Burhanuddin established the first MSB in Nairobi and Mumbai. As of 2021, 24 MSB schools in Asia and Africa operate affiliated to IGCSE and ICSE boards.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Al Jamea tus Saifiyah ("Jamea") is community's primary educational and cultural institute. Select students go through rigorous Islamic and Arabic studies for up to 11 years, and are trained to subsequently lead various institutions run by "Dawat-e-Hadiyah". Jamea precedes "Dars-e-Saifee", an Islamic theology school established by the 43rd Da'i al-Mutlaq Abdeali Saifuddin, in 1814 in Surat, Gujarat. A century later, the 51st Da'i al-Mutlaq Taher Saifuddin renovated and institutionalized it as a University. His son and successor, Mohammed Burhanuddin, further expanded its reach and scope, opening up campuses in three more cities and establishing a dedicated center for Qur'anic sciences, "Mahad al-Zahra". The second campus was founded in 1983 in Karachi, Pakistan. A third campus was established in Nairobi, Kenya in 2011, with a fourth in 2013 in Mumbai, India. The libraries of Jamea preserve some of the oldest known Arabic manuscripts. Other departments of Jamea specialize in the art of Quran recitation, Arabic calligraphy, and Arabesque design.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: A significant volume of treatises, discourses, and sermons of the Dua't Mutlaqeen are part of the Jamea curriculum. Per tradition, the current Da'i al-Mutlaq presides over annual examinations ("al-Imtihan al-Sanawi") every year. Senior Jamea students additionally undergo a public viva voce examination ("Shafahi Imtihan") where they are questioned by rectors of the institute and occasionally by the Da'i al-Mutlaq, as well.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Bohras are politically neutral. The community's stance, in line with sunnah, has been to be loyal to one's country of residence. A migratory race, they participate in the culture and society they live in, but stay conservative enough to preserve their own identity. The Bohra philosophy and way of life is informed by the Aristotelian and Neo-Platonic Epistles of Ikhwan al-Safa. Such that, they believe every religion is related to one another, that all creation share the same purpose. and that true fulfillment is in achieving balance between religious and societal duties, in resourcefulness and philanthropy.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Bohras actively participate in environmental activism and consider it their religious duty. Since "Nazafat" () is an integral component of Islamic faith, the Bohras engage in clean-up drives, tree planting, and other such initiatives wherever they reside.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: In 1991, Mohammed Burhanuddin established "Burhani Foundation," a charitable trust with the object to promote and foster concern for environmental security, the conservation of the biological diversity of the planet and the green movement through fuel conservation, optimum utilisation of resources, pollution management and related measures. In 2017, Mufaddal Saifuddin, Burhanuddin's successor, initiated a worldwide program to plant 200,000 saplings. In 2018, the Bohras, together with "Champions of the Earth", launched "Turning the Tide", a campaign to remove plastic from oceans, rivers, and beaches in India.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Under the aegis of FMB, "Dana Committee" () is charted to eliminate food wastage. As of 2021, the committee has 6000 volunteers across 40 countries. After congregations, these volunteers collect leftovers and distribute it to the deprived. To prevent wastage of food due to over-cooking or poor turnout, the committee uses custom web and mobile RSVP apps. Before a meal commences, volunteers are on-hand to remind attendees of their responsibility as Muslims in ensuring no food goes waste. The Bohras also participate in the United Nations annual World Food Day campaigns.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: In September 2019 over 24,000 who gathered in Colombo to commemorate "Ashara Mubaraka" with Mufaddal Saifuddin, the 53rd Da'i al-Mutlaq, followed "a zero food waste policy". The "Dana Committee" volunteers helped with portion control and distributed leftover food to the disadvantaged. This policy was first adopted at the 2018 "Ashara" in Indore attended by over 150,000 people.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: In June 2018, the Bohra community launched "Project Rise", a philanthropy focused on the marginalized and the poor. Their first initiative, undertaken in collaboration with Action Against Hunger, sought to address malnutrition among those living in Palghar and Govandi districts. During the 2019 floods, volunteers sent aid to the Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Gujarat; while during the 2020 lockdown in India, volunteers distributed food packets among the poor. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, acknowledged community's charity and service. The same year, just like a year before in 2019, volunteers in North America marked United Nations World Food Day by donating to local food banks.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Since then, based on Islamic traditions of philanthropy, Project Rise widened its scope with "upliftment" programs that focus on healthcare, nutrition, sanitation and hygiene, and environmental conservation. Annually, as part of these "upliftment" drives, volunteers attempt to raise the standard of living of the elderly and the disadvantaged through revamped housing, access to food, and improved physical and spiritual well-being.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: In 2009, Mohammed Burhanuddin, the 52nd Da'i al-Mutlaq, founded Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT). Work on its first initiative, "Saifee Burhani Upliftment Project" (SBUP), to rebuild Bhendi Bazaar—a decrepit, under-developed, and dense Bohra-majority locale in South Bombay—commenced shortly after. Within a year of its formation, the trust which is composed of members of the Bohra community had acquired 70% of the identified land. 250 existing buildings, 1250 shops, and 3200 families in over 16.5 acres of land will make way for 13 new buildings, better infrastructure, open spaces, with designated commercial areas. Relocated tenants will own their new premises at no cost to them. Divided into 9 clusters, the project is expected to complete in 2025. 7 of the 9 clusters, representing over 80% of the project, are reserved for existing tenants and the government-run housing board, MHADA. Due to the scope of SBUP, the largest "cluster redevelopment" project in India at an estimated cost of $550 million (₹4000 crores), it has been subject to logistical and regulatory challenges, resulting in several delays.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Starting in 2010, the trust began building transit homes near Mazgaon. In 2012 the trust relocated tenants and demolished buildings it had acquired. More transit homes were built in Sion, Ghodapdeo, and Sewri. In early 2016 Mufaddal Saifuddin laid foundation for Clusters I and III. In 2020, 600 residents and 128 shop owners relocated to the completed twin towers "Al Saadah", marking completion of the "Phase I" of the project.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Bohra community run over 25 hospitals and clinics in India, as well as a number of facilities in Pakistan and across the world.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: Established in Mumbai in 1948, Saifee Hospital is the principal healthcare undertaking of the Bohra community. After it was rebuilt by Mohammed Burhanuddin, Manmohan Singh the then Prime Minister of India inaugurated it in 2005. The award-winning hospital is among the most sought after in the country.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: V K Singh praised the role of the Dawoodi Bohra community in help with "Operation Rahat" carried out by the Indian Navy to evacuate civilians during the Yemeni Civil War of 2015.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The status of women in the Bohra community underwent a major change in the latter half of the 20th century. According to Jonah Blank, women of the Bohra faith are among the best-educated women in the Indian subcontinent. Female Bohra in the U.S. and Europe have become


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: business owners, lawyers, doctors, teachers and leaders in a range of professions. At an interfaith celebration of Eid al-Fitr hosted by the Dawoodi Bohra community of Detroit, Michigan, United States on 7 June 2019, U.S. Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (Democrat, Michigan's 14th congressional district) praised the Bohras for having "used their voices to make progress on countless issues including gender equality and the environment."


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: The Dawoodi Bohra practice what they call "khatna", "khafd", or "khafz", a practice critics consider female genital mutilation (FGM). The procedure is for the most part performed without anaesthesia by a traditional circumciser when girls reach their seventh year. Non-Bohra women who seek to marry into the community are also required to undergo it. There are no authoritative studies on the extent of the practice among the Bohra. A 1911 Bombay census of unknown reliability noted that they were performing clitorectomy. According to a 1991 article in "Manushi", the Bohra remove either the clitoral hood or the tip of the clitoris. Supporters of the practice say that the Bohra remove only the clitoral hood or perform symbolic nicking, and that it should be referred to as "female circumcision", not FGM.


title: Dawoodi Bohra

text: A qualitative study in 2018 carried out by WeSpeakOut, a group opposed to FGM, concluded that most Bohra girls experience Type I FGM, removal of the clitoral hood or clitoral glans. A gynaecologist who took part in the study examined 20 Bohra women and found that both the clitoris and clitoral hood had been cut in most cases. According to the Dawoodi Bohra Women's Association for Religious Freedom, the study's conclusions did not reflect the views of most Bohra women. In Australia in 2018, the convictions of three members of the Bohra community, related to performing FGM on two girls, were overturned when the appeal court accepted that the tip of each girl's clitoris was still visible and had not been "mutilated"; the defence position was that only "symbolic khatna" had been performed. The High Court of Australia overturned that decision in October 2019, ruling that the phrase "otherwise mutilates" in Australian law does encompass cutting or nicking the clitoris. As a result, the convictions were upheld, and the defendants received custodial sentences of at least 11 months.


title: Coombs test

text: A Coombs test, also known as antiglobulin test (AGT), is either of two blood tests used in immunohematology. They are the direct and indirect Coombs tests. The direct Coombs test detects antibodies that are stuck to the surface of the red blood cells. Since these antibodies sometimes destroy red blood cells, a person can be anemic and this test can help clarify the condition. The indirect Coombs detects antibodies that are floating freely in the blood. These antibodies could act against certain red blood cells and the test can be done to diagnose reactions to a blood transfusion.


title: Coombs test

text: The direct Coombs test is used to test for autoimmune hemolytic anemia—that is, a condition where the immune system breaks down red blood cells, leading to anemia. The direct Coombs test is used to detect antibodies or complement proteins attached to the surface of red blood cells. To perform the test, a blood sample is taken and the red blood cells are washed (removing the patient's own plasma and unbound antibodies from the red blood cells) and then incubated with anti-human globulin ("Coombs reagent"). If the red cells then agglutinate, the direct Coombs test is positive, a visual indication that antibodies or complement proteins are bound to the surface of red blood cells and may be causing destruction of those cells.


title: Coombs test

text: The indirect Coombs test is used in prenatal testing of pregnant women and in testing prior to a blood transfusion. The test detects antibodies against foreign red blood cells. In this case, serum is extracted from a blood sample taken from the patient. The serum is incubated with foreign red blood cells of known antigenicity. Finally, anti-human globulin is added. If agglutination occurs, the indirect Coombs test is positive.


title: Coombs test

text: The two Coombs tests are based on anti-human antibodies binding to human antibodies, commonly IgG or IgM. These anti-human antibodies are produced by plasma cells of non-human animals after immunizing them with human plasma. Additionally, these anti-human antibodies will also bind to human antibodies that may be fixed onto antigens on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs). In the appropriate test tube conditions, this can lead to agglutination of RBCs and allowing for visualisation of the resulting clumps of RBCs. If clumping is seen, the Coombs test is positive; if not, the Coombs test is negative.


title: Coombs test

text: Common clinical uses of the Coombs test include the preparation of blood for transfusion in cross-matching, atypical antibodies in the blood plasma of pregnant women as part of antenatal care, and detection of antibodies for the diagnosis of immune-mediated haemolytic anemias.


title: Coombs test

text: Coombs tests are performed using RBCs or serum (direct or indirect, respectively) from venous whole blood samples which are taken from patients by venipuncture. The venous blood is taken to a laboratory (or blood bank), where trained scientific technical staff do the Coombs tests. The clinical significance of the result is assessed by the physician who requested the Coombs test, perhaps with assistance from a laboratory-based hematologist.


title: Coombs test

text: The direct Coombs test, also referred to as the direct antiglobulin test (DAT), is used to detect if antibodies or complement system factors have bound to RBCs surface antigens. The DAT is not currently required for pre-transfusion testing but may be included by some laboratories. Pre-transfusion, patients often have an "indirect" Coombs test.


title: Coombs test

text: The direct Coombs test is used clinically when immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (antibody-mediated destruction of RBCs) is suspected. A positive Coombs test indicates that an immune mechanism is attacking the patient's RBCs. This mechanism could be autoimmunity, alloimmunity or a drug-induced immune-mediated mechanism.


title: Coombs test

text: (A memory device to remember that the "DAT" tests the RBCs and is used to test infants for "haemolytic disease of the newborn" is:


title: Coombs test

text: The patient's RBCs are washed (removing the patient's own serum) and then centrifuged with antihuman globulin (also known as Coombs reagent). If immunoglobulin or complement factors have been fixed on to the RBC surface in-vitro, the antihuman globulin will agglutinate the RBCs and the direct Coombs test will be positive. (A visual representation of a positive direct Coombs test is shown in the upper half of the schematic).