Surrendered then de-mobbed? Not everybody. Wehrmacht in service after the surrender.

[Watchdog]

Not sure if this exactly fits here but it is certainly "After the Battle" material in many ways.

If you study the immediate post-war scenario it is obvious that there are a multitude of tasks that simply amount to "cleaning up the mess" and the first task is to identify the most appropriate resources.

This short video gives an insight to something that most people don't even give a moments thought. The war just ended and everything went back to normal right? This is the very short sighted imagining of many people who I have actually heard espouse the belief that WWII ended in 1975!!!!

It's not perfect or high brow but it is a useful publication of a little known situation.

Take it for what it is

Hitler's Army in Allied Service 1945-46 - YouTube

Regards

Mark

[HARRY THE MOLE]

The same situation also arose in the Far East, where Japanese troops were used by the Allies to police the towns and villages after Japan surrendered.

Cheers,
Steve

[Alter Musketier]

Very interesting, e.g. that the former German military police, the 'Feldgendarmerie' was under arms still in 1946. These infamous 'Kettenhunde' had been feared by retreating or dispersed German soldiers in the last weeks of war in 1945 because they had hanged soldiers by sneaking suspicion only of desertion.

With best wishes
alter musketier

[Watchdog]

Very interesting, e.g. that the former German military police, the 'Feldgendarmerie' was under arms still in 1946. These infamous 'Kettenhunde' had been feared by retreating or dispersed German soldiers in the last weeks of war in 1945 because they had hanged soldiers by sneaking suspicion only of desertion.

With best wishes
alter musketier

Yes that is true but I think that the subject of the TR military police is every bit as diverse and wide ranging as that of the SS. Ranging form the Feldgendarmerie through Feldjaeger and the Geheime Feldpolizei etc, some were total arseholes but others were just ordinary men many with pre-war experience in the Schutzpolizei. We have to assume that the Allied commanders gave the matter due consideration as history does not advise us otherwise.

Given circumstance and necessity I think it was a pretty good call and does seem to have worked well especially when you consider how some pretty nasty indiviuals higher up the food chain managed to "slip" back into their peacetime existence and did rather well for themselves.

It seems to me that the Miltary Police were disciplined and motivated in a role not that different from that which they carried out before the war.

It is a very interesting subject and one that sadly we don't have the space to discuss properly here.

At the time necessity was very much the "mother of invention"

Thanks for your input.

Regards

Mark

[thecyclist64]

Thanks for the link. I never knew any of that since I am not a great fan of Youtube, but will certainly make more effort to watch some of mark Felton's other videos.

[Watchdog]

Thanks for the link. I never knew any of that since I am not a great fan of Youtube, but will certainly make more effort to watch some of mark Felton's other videos.

Yes, I know what you mean about YouTube. Some of the "factual information" does sometimes seem a bit light on actual "facts" but like Wiki-what's-it it can be useful.

I've been aware that the war didn't just end then they simply swept up and put the lights back on (except maybe in the DDR) for as long as I have known about the war itself I think and there was a lot of this sort of thing throughout the world really.
It makes perfect sense in my opinion. So, these independantly compiled and produced videos are great for bringing a subject up rather than just waffling. To me these are the little snippets of stuff that wouldn't usually occur to you but are really fascinating. Just like the steel helmets etc being recycled into saucepans or collanders etc!

Regards

Mark