Although as previously stated it is not intended to discuss the organisation or activities of Civil Affairs in detail in this history, mention must be made of the very considerable assistance that was rendered by them during this phase.
The thirty detachments comprising one Civil Affairs Group placed under command of Second Army were deployed either with divisions or on specific tasks of civilian importance.
They coped with the refugee problem and thereby removed any anxiety on that score from the fighting staffs, although the problem proved smaller than had been anticipated. In addition the information that they gleaned from civil sources was invaluable in discovering the limitations of live and dummy minefields.
The siting of the depots in the RMA was in many instances greatly facilitated by the co-operation they achieved with the FRENCH farmers in ensuring an early cutting and harvesting of their crops and fields.
The above are only examples of ways in which the progress of the armies was directly assisted by the work of Civil Affairs.
26 July-26 September
During this phase when towns and large territories were being liberated very rapidly, Civil Affairs proved of the greatest assistance to the fighting formations. Their detachments were always well forward and by maintaining contact with the local authorities on matters concerning curfew, blackout, restriction of movements and finance they relieved the staffs of those formations of much anxiety.
It is of interest to note that one Civil Affairs detachment under command 30 Corps was conferring with national and local authorities in BRUSSELS in the early morning of 4 September, the day after its capture.
An advanced increment of the Civil Affairs stafi was established in that city on 10 September. In all, Civil Affairs in the field was now represented by two Base Port Depots, eight Inland Depots and four Civil Affairs Groups, all of which were under command either of one of the two armies, or of HQ L of C.
During “MARKET GARDEN” three Civil Affairs detachments were included with the forward troops, to be located at NIJMEGEN, ARNHEM and APELDOORN in the event of these places being occupied.
27 September 1944—14 January 1945
Between September and January the BELGIAN Government was faced with a food crisis.
AMERICA and BRITAIN agreed to supply the BELGIANS with 4,000 tons of food which was duly delivered and distributed through the agency of Civil Affairs thus relieving the operational staffs of a heavy responsibility.
In addition they were also responsible for supervising the wholesale distribution of domestic coal in conjunction with the allocations by SHAEF and the distribution programmes of CODISEC.
This action cut down theft and pilfering which at one time seemed likely to jeopardise the requirements for public utilities, domestic consumption and military purposes.
By reducing these losses and also by their liaison with the civil population Civil Affairs helped to stave off the strikes and political disturbances which threatened and which would have had a very adverse effect on the development of the advance base.
While the difficult operation of disarming resistance groups was being carried out, Civil Affairs public security officers acted as observers for military authorities and provided timely appreciations of the situation for the general staff.
During the ARDENNES offensive Civil Affairs detachments were deployed to keep roads clear of refugees and to stop any panic movement of civilians across the MEUSE from EAST to WEST.
15 January 1945 - 8 May 1945
Civil Relief
The commitments for supplies on Civil Affairs (CA) account were increasing steadily and would become still greater as the armies liberated further portions of HOLLAND.
In order to achieve co-ordination in the shipping and handling of supplies it was therefore arranged for the Services of 21 Army Groupto assume control over all CA depots in the advance base by 15 February.
Forward estimates for CA requirements were submitted by CA, in conjunction with the SHAEF Military Mission and the National Government concerned, to SHAEF who then made allocations from stocks available, notifying CA of allocations granted.
In the case of those supplies allocated from stocks in UK, CA submitted their demands to the Services concerned who called them forward by the normal bidding procedure.
In the case of supplies allocated from stocks in the US and imported direct to the theatre, the Services had no responsibility for calling forward but CA were responsible for notifying those Services of the expected amounts and dates of arrival of the commodities.
In order to obtain the maximum use for 21 Army Group of all available transport it was also decided that the CA transport companies would become a S and T responsibility under the direction of Q (Maint). This was put into effect on 12 March and meant that the CA allied transport units, with the exception of the FRENCH MT coys, could be used either for CA/Mil Gov purposes or for normal military tasks as directed by “Q”.
Meanwhile the problem of civil relief in WEST HOLLAND was causing the gravest concern and a special organisation was formed called HQ WEST HOLLAND District. This HQ whose name was later changed to HQ NETHERLANDS District, began planning in February for their task of relief and rehabilitation immediately their area of responsibility, known as the B2 area, should be liberated. In actual fact the course of operations precluded very much of their work being carried out until after the surrender so no attempt will be made to do more than outline the tasks they carried out prior to VE day.
During April the HQ which had moved to TILBURG was placed under command First Canadian Army but retained direct access to HQ 21 Army Group on all matters affecting the civil relief of HOLLAND.
Two L of C Sub Areas, Nos 6 and 18, were placed under their command for deployment in WEST HOLLAND.
Large stocks of supplies were built up in depots for relief purposes and thirty thousand tons of food were stock piled at ANTWERP by early April under arrangements of HQ 21 Army Group.
The main CA depot was at ’s HERTOGENBOSCH and an agreement was reached with the GERMANS just before the cessation of hostilities whereby convoys of food from there passed through the GERMAN lines to RHENEN where they were met by DUTCH vehicles which collected the supplies for distribution throughout HOLLAND.
At the same time two coasters and eight LCT were pre-loaded in ANTWERP with four thousand tons of food stuifs and medical supplies, while further shipping was loaded and subsequently despatched direct from UK to ROTTERDAM.
It was also arranged for one 2,500 ton collier to be despatched from ANTWERP to ROTTERDAM every six days loaded with coal of which the first consignment would be provided from ten thousand tons already loaded in barges in ANTWERP.
Plans were made to divert for the relief of the DUTCH three million of the rations suitable for free dropping from the air that had been pre-packed in the UK and originally were designed to be dropped in PW camps in GERMANY.
This relief operation commenced before the final surrender after prolonged negotiations had taken place With the GERMAN commander.
A detailed account of the relief measures applied by the army in HOLLAND through Army Services and CA has been prepared by SHAEF G5 Historical Section and is available at the Offices of the War Cabinet.
Military Government/Civil Affairs
To bring immediate relief to liberated towns of northern HOLLAND CA detachments advanced with the forward troops of First Canadian Army and distributed medical supplies, clothing and fuel from stocks which had been previously accumulated for this purpose. In addition to thirty-six CA detachments which were employed there, the rehabilitation of the country was begun under the direction of officers who were specialists in transport, public utilities, food supplies, finance and agriculture.
Also under CA arrangements the BRITISH Red Cross and other relief societies operated hospitals, laboratories, laundries and bath units.
In other liberated countries CA continued to ad vise and help local authorities in the distribution of food and fuel, and at the same time kept HQ 21 Army Group informed of the political and economic situation. In GERMANY Military Government detachments took over the control of provinces and towns as soon as they were captured.
The control of the feeding, housing and registration of DPs was a Military Government responsibility.
For this purpose DP camps were set up in the territory occupied by 21 Army Group. The medical facilities which these camps provided for bathing and dusting with de-lousing powder, played an important part in preventing the spread of disease throughout Europe.
The importance of the work of Mil Gov/CA greatly increased in the later stages of the campaign.
It is impossible to describe them adequately in the limited space available as their activities constituted a separate and notable contribution to the campaign.
Mil Gov/CA operations from D-day to the close of this phase have been described in a series of periodic surveys compiled by Mil Gov/CA Historical Section, a summary of which is in course of preparation.
