Top secret D-Day plans found hidden under UK hotel's floorboards

Top secret documents about the D-Day landings have been found under the floorboards of a New Forest hotel.

Staff at the Balmer Lawn Hotel found the crumpled set of orders for the Normandy invasion more than 70 years after the establishment was used as an army staff college.

The hotel's website says: "As part of the current refurbishment, we have been replacing some floorboards on the 1st floor and we have found some letters from 1944.

"In the Second World War, the hotel was transformed into an Army Staff College and some of the "Orders for the Day" were issued from the hotel for the D-Day invasion.

"We were so excited to read through the letters that we found, which is all 'on His Majesty's Service'. Many of the documents mentioned for the contents to be kept 'secret'."

One of the notes even detailed the problems associated with rigging up a 10-mile phone cable for advancing troops on 'D-Day 1' - 7 June 1944, the day after D-Day.

According to the Daily Mail, the hotel's owner Chris Wilson said: "We've found spent ammunition under floorboards before, but never this quantity of documents. It ties the hotel to its history.

"They are quite detailed and specific orders to be followed by troops on the ground.

"They're in a delicate condition and unscrunching them will have to be done very carefully. After that I imagine we'll put them on display."

The Daily Telegraph reports a hotel spokesman added: "We are still in the process of evaluating the papers but some seem to include code on while others are more to do with the day-to-day organisation of the soldiers. One includes an invite to all personnel to attend a musical variety show.

"Perhaps of most interest are the documents that refer to the D-Day landings.

"One document refers to D-Day1 - June 7 1944 - and mentions difficulties in setting up a ten-mile telephone cable as troops continued advancing into northern France."

See more at balmerlawnhotel.com.