British occupation zone in Germany


The British occupation zone in Germany was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. The United Kingdom – also representing the other Commonwealth countries – was one of the three major Allied powers that defeated Nazi Germany. By 1945, the Allies had divided the country into four occupation zones: British, Soviet, American and French lasting until 1949, whence the new country of West Germany was established. Out of all the four zones, the British had the largest population and contained within it the heavy industry region, the Ruhr, as well as the naval ports and Germany's coast lines.

Background

By the end of 1942, Britain was already thinking about post-war strategy, and in particular the occupation of Germany. This became more of a reality when the British Liberation Army, consisting largely of the 21st Army Group, landed in Normandy on 6 June 1944. Having fought all the way through Northern France and the Low Countries, they had reached the German borders by the end of the year.
The "Big Three" met at the Yalta Conference between 4 and 11 February 1945 to discuss Germany's post-war occupation, which included coming to a final determination of the inter-zonal borders. The three powers divided "Germany as a whole" into four occupation zones, each to be controlled by one Allied power: the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union or France. This division was ratified at the August 1945 Potsdam Conference, setting aside an earlier division into three zones proposed by the September 1944 London Protocol. Stalin agreed that France would have a fourth occupation zone in Germany and this was formed from parts of the American and the British zones.
In the final offensive the First Canadian Army wheeled left and liberated the northern part of the Netherlands and captured adjoining areas of Germany, and the British Second Army swept into and occupied much of north-west Germany. The liberation of the concentration camps such as Bergen Belsen moved the strategy of post-war Germany into a new direction; thus denazification was put at the forefront of British post-war policy in Germany.
On 4 May 1945, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of the German forces in the Netherlands, in north west Germany and Denmark. This was followed by the German Instrument of Surrender three days later.
To form the French zone the Americans ceded land south of Baden-Baden, land south of the Free People's State of Württemberg, the Lindau region on Lake Constance, and four regions in Hesse east of the Rhine. The British ceded the Saarland, the Palatinate, and territories on the left bank of the Rhine as far as Remagen. Also created was the Inner German Border: the boundary between the Western and Soviet occupation zones.

Occupation

As soon as the surrender of Germany had been announced British forces executed "Operation Eclipse": the disarmament of the German armed forces and the occupation, rehabilitation and de-nazification of Germany. Britain was responsible for north-west Germany, the Ruhr, the Netherlands and Denmark.
At the end of July 1945, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery was made military governor of the British occupation zone, with Brian Robertson as Chief of Staff and Montgomery's deputy. Both were also on the Allied Control Council. The British Army of the Rhine was formed on 25 August 1945 with the headquarters in Bad Oeynhausen and Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer serving as Director of Military Government. BAOR was made responsible for the occupation and administration of the British Zone. They requisitioned German buildings for military administration and accommodation. Some 800,000 soldiers from BAOR were in Germany by the end of 1945, and new barracks had to be built due to the intense damage done to German cities during the war, particularly Hamburg.
The Canadians had a temporary occupation force peaking at 853 officers and 16,983 other ranks. The Canadian government only made them available during the period of adjustment and disarmament following the occupation of Germany. By mid July 1946 most of the Canadians had left for home.
A number of departments were set up for various purposes. The Property Control Department took over Nazi-controlled buildings and properties including looted works of art and other valuables. These objects were held for safekeeping until returned in due course to their rightful owners, most from outside of Germany. There was also the Public Safety Department, who seized all kinds of rifles and revolvers from German troops and civilians. A law was passed forbidding German civilians
possessing arms of any kind.
The RAF were also part of the occupation and were renamed British Air Forces of Occupation on 15 July 1945. The Malcolm Clubs were set up for RAF personnel in towns and villages across the zone. Two years later however, the BAFO had shrunk to ten squadrons at three airfields, all directly under control of the Air Headquarters at Bad Eilsen.
The Control Commission for Germany was set up consisting of British civil servants as well as military personnel. It took over aspects of local government, housing, transport and policing. The CCG/BE re-established the city of Hamburg as a German state but with borders that had been drawn by the Nazi government in 1937. George Ayscough Armytage and Governor Henry V. Berry identified with the city and worked through indirect rule, asking prospective Hamburg inhabitants to resume office in the administration. The British also created three new German states in Ordinance No. 46:
In March 1946 the British zonal advisory board was established, with representatives of the states, the central offices, political parties, trade unions, and consumer organisations. As indicated by its name, the zonal advisory board had no legislative power, but was merely advisory. The Control Commission for Germany – British Element made all decisions with its legislative power.
In 1947, the American Zone of Occupation, being landlocked, had no port facilities – thus the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and Bremerhaven became exclaves within the British Zone.
;Military governors:
By 22 June 1945, of the 7,614,914 prisoners held in British and American camps, 4,209,000 were soldiers captured before the German capitulation and who were therefore considered "POWs". The rest were classed as Disarmed Enemy Forces by the Americans and Surrendered Enemy Personnel by the British. According to Allied agreements, these were supposed to be split between Britain and the United States. The British in their zone were in possession of just over 2,000,000 German POWs, but were unable to handle this manyfeeding, housing and looking after them became a logistical nightmare. The British had no choice but to renegotiate with the Americans on their split. The British reported that they did not have places to keep them or men to guard them on the continent. In addition it was thought that moving them to England would arouse public resentment and adversely affect morale.
Another problem the British faced was that they had the largest population of the four allied powers. This was exacerbated by the great number of German refugees who had come by sea fleeing the Soviets, as well as forced expulsion from Eastern Europe. German POWs from abroad also arrived by sea in their thousands, thus making the accommodation shortage even worse and also caused a reduction in the food ration in early 1946. Over the next year, however, many refugees obtained accommodation and work as the economy recovered – the vast majority were granted German citizenship. In addition to this the British had to deal with tens of thousands of displaced persons. Many of these were from Eastern European nations occupied by the Soviets, and as such many refused to go back. The British initially used them as watchman and labour units, but set up the Mixed Service Organisation, using these displaced persons as drivers, clerks, mechanics and guards. Another organisation was needed to control the flow of refugees and prevent smuggling. In 1946 the Frontier Control Service was set up, which was a civilian frontier force administered by the British Control Commission.
Many German POWs were formed into Civilian Labour unitsthey still had the status of Surrendered Enemy Personnel but they were used where help was needed such as unloading supplies. The German Civil Labour Organisation was set up on 1 August 1947, after the Labour Service units were broken up. The Germans were given the choice of either joining the GCLO or being sent to a prisoner-of-war camp until they were released into civilian life. By late 1947, over 50,000 Germans were employed and organized in units that were attached to parts of the British Army or the RAF as labourers, drivers, mechanics and in many other roles. They had a staff of between 220 and 475 men. Although the GCLO was considered a civil organisation, its members wore a kind of uniform and were incorporated into a structure that conformed to military principles. After numerous former members of the Wehrmacht had left the GCLO over time, new members were hired by the British and it used its right to forcibly recruit staff if necessary. Most German captives were released by the end of 1948. The GCLO was transferred to the German Service Organisation on 21 October 1950.
In January 1945, the basic German ration was 1,625 calories/day, and that was further reduced to 1,100 calories by the end of the war in the British zone. This remained at that level into the summer, with levels varying from 840 calories/day in the Ruhr to 1,340 calories/day in Hamburg. The German population was existing on rations that would not sustain life in the long term. In order to avert starvation in Germany, the Lord President of the Council, Herbert Morrison, negotiated a deal with the Americans whereby of grain was shipped to Germany in return for a reduction of in shipments to Britain.
The British also had to deal with active resistance groups known as Werwolfs. Violence however failed to mobilize a spirit of popular national resistance, largely due to war-weariness of the populace, and as a result Werwolf attacks were low and relatively few reprisals took place in the British zone.
At the end of October 1946, the British Zone had a population of:
North Rhine-Westphalia11.7 million
Lower Saxony6.2 million
Schleswig-Holstein2.6 million
Hamburg1.4 million