153-575: The Geheime Feldpolizei ( German: [ɡəˈhaɪmə ˈfɛltpoliˌtsaɪ] ; transl. "Secret Field Police" ), shortened to GFP , was the secret military police of the German Wehrmacht until the end of the Second World War (1945). Its units carried out plainclothes and undercover security work in the field. Their operations included clandestine operations, counterpropaganda, counterinsurgency, counterintelligence, creation of
306-781: A camp run by SOE in Oshawa in Canada. In early 1942, Donovan's organisation became the Office of Strategic Services . SOE and OSS worked out respective areas of operation: OSS's exclusive sphere included China (including Manchuria ), Korea and Australia, the Atlantic islands and Finland. SOE retained India, the Middle East and East Africa, and the Balkans. While the two services both worked in Western Europe, it
459-836: A joint campaign with the Italian Army , and may be considered a separate theatre . More than 6,000,000 soldiers were wounded during the conflict, while more than 11,000,000 became prisoners. In all, approximately 5,318,000 soldiers from Germany and other nationalities fighting for the German armed forces—including the Waffen-SS , Volkssturm and foreign collaborationist units—are estimated to have been killed in action, died of wounds, died in custody or gone missing in World War II. Included in this number are 215,000 Soviet citizens conscripted by Germany. According to Frank Biess, German casualties took
612-506: A blind eye to some of SOE's questionable activities. With other military headquarters and commands, SOE cooperated fairly well with Combined Operations Headquarters during the middle years of the war, usually on technical matters as SOE's equipment was readily adopted by commandos and other raiders. This support was lost when Vice Admiral Louis Mountbatten left Combined Operations, though by this time SOE had its own transport and had no need to rely on Combined Operations for resources. On
765-460: A branch office, formally titled " British Security Coordination ," and headed by Canadian businessman Sir William Stephenson . Their office, located at Room 3603, 630 Fifth Avenue , Rockefeller Center , coordinated the work of SOE, SIS, and MI5 with the American FBI and the Office of Strategic Services . As with its leadership and organisation, the aims and objectives of SOE changed throughout
918-642: A certain death as a result. Segments of doctrine about combating potential partisans, guidelines which directed the actions of both the SD and the Geheime Feldpolizei stated that, "The enemy must be completely annihilated...The constant decision between life and death for partisans and suspicious persons is difficult even for the hardest soldier. It must be done. He acts correctly who fights ruthlessly and mercilessly with complete disregard for any personal surge of emotion." Eliminating so-called "security" threats entailed
1071-527: A clandestine cadre of air force officers in the early 1920s. These officers saw the role of an air force as winning air superiority, strategic bombing, and close air support. That the Luftwaffe did not develop a strategic bombing force in the 1930s was not due to a lack of interest, but because of economic limitations. The leadership of the Navy led by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder , a close protégé of Alfred von Tirpitz ,
1224-470: A commando and parachute training school numbered STS 102 at Ramat David near Haifa . This school trained agents who joined SOE from among the armed forces stationed in the Middle East, and also members of the Special Air Service and Greek Sacred Squadron . A commando training centre similar to Arisaig and run by Fairbairn was later set up at Oshawa , for Canadian members of SOE and members of
1377-521: A counterinsurgency intelligence network, detection of treasonable activities, infiltration of resistance movements, gathering intelligence and destroying targets, protecting military installations, assisting the German Army ( Heer ) in courts-martial investigations, tracking and raiding targets to capture or kill, and setting-up security checkpoints in high-risk areas. GFP personnel, who were also classed as Abwehrpolizei , operated as an executive branch of
1530-470: A large number of training, research and development or administrative centres. It was a joke that "SOE" stood for "Stately 'omes of England" , after the large number of country houses and estates it requisitioned and used. The establishments connected with experimentation and production of equipment were mainly concentrated in and around Hertfordshire and were designated by roman numbers. The main weapons and devices research establishments were The Firs ,
1683-570: A major part in MI(R)'s and SOE's early operations. He also put into practice many of the lessons he learned from the IRA during the Irish War of Independence . The organisation of SOE continually evolved and changed during the war. Initially, it consisted of three broad departments: SO1 (formerly Department EH, which dealt with propaganda); SO2 (formerly Section D, operations); and SO3 (formerly MI R, research). SO3
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#17328545866961836-508: A propaganda organisation known as Department EH (after Electra House , its headquarters), run by Canadian newspaper magnate Sir Campbell Stuart . Later that month, the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, also known as MI6) formed a section known as Section D (the "D" apparently standing for "Destruction") under Major Lawrence Grand, to investigate the use of sabotage, propaganda, and other irregular means to weaken an enemy. In
1989-702: A regular appointment in the Royal Engineers . (Both Grand and Holland eventually attained the rank of major-general .) However, Holland's former deputy at MI(R), Brigadier Colin Gubbins , returned from command of the Auxiliary Units to be Director of Operations of SOE. One department of MI(R), MI R(C), which was involved in the development of weapons for irregular warfare, was not formally integrated into SOE but became an independent body codenamed MD1 . Directed by Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Millis Jefferis , it
2142-860: A result of his hard work, and appointed Sir Charles Hambro , head of Hambros Bank , to replace him. He also transferred Jebb back to the Foreign Office. Hambro had been a close friend of Churchill before the war and had won the Military Cross in the First World War . He retained several other interests, for example remaining chairman of Hambros and a director of the Great Western Railway . Some of his subordinates and associates expressed reservations that these interests distracted him from his duties as director. Selborne and Hambro nevertheless cooperated closely until August 1943, when they fell out over
2295-408: A single Joint Chief of Staff, Hitler refused. Even after the defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler refused, stating that Göring as Reichsmarschall and Hitler's deputy, would not submit to someone else or see himself as an equal to other service commanders. However, a more likely reason was Hitler feared it would break his image of having the "Midas touch" concerning military strategy. With the creation of
2448-589: A single sabotage organisation. On 16 July, Hugh Dalton , the Minister of Economic Warfare , was appointed to take political responsibility for the new organisation, which was formally created on 22 July 1940. Dalton recorded in his diary that on that day the War Cabinet agreed to his new duties and that Churchill had told him, "And now go and set Europe ablaze." Dalton used the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during
2601-467: A special GFP camp at Danzig in present-day Poland . By 1944, the camp held 400 prisoners. Many were brutally beaten, starved, tortured, interrogated and subsequently executed. The Geheime Feldpolizei was commanded by the Heerespolizeichef (Chief of Army Police), who initially had the equivalent military rank of major . Subordinate to the Heerespolizeichef , but equivalent to the rank of major,
2754-740: A sudden jump with the defeat of the Sixth Army at Stalingrad in January 1943, when 180,310 soldiers were killed in one month. Among the 5.3 million Wehrmacht casualties during the Second World War, more than 80 per cent died during the last two years of the war. Approximately three-quarters of these losses occurred on the Eastern front (2.7 million) and during the final stages of the war between January and May 1945 (1.2 million). Jeffrey Herf wrote that: Whereas German deaths between 1941 and 1943 on
2907-639: A time frame of 10 years for remilitarization, but soon shortened it to four years. With the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the Anschluss , the German Reich's territory increased significantly, providing a larger population pool for conscription. Recruitment for the Wehrmacht was accomplished through voluntary enlistment and conscription, with 1.3 million being drafted and 2.4 million volunteering in
3060-515: A traitor, but he was exonerated by a war crimes court, and some have claimed he was acting under secret orders from SOE or MI6. SOE was also far ahead of contemporary attitudes in its use of women in armed combat. Although women were first considered only as couriers in the field, or as wireless operators or administrative staff in Britain, those sent into the field were trained in the use of weapons and in unarmed combat. Most were commissioned into either
3213-610: A trial was conducted in Vitebsk against four former Soviet POWs who had previously been assigned to a Geheime Feldpolizei ; they had apparently taken part in the execution of Soviet citizens from 1941 through 1942 in Nevel, Polotsk, Smolensk, and Shumilino (Vitebsk oblast). Ten more former members of the Geheime Feldpolizei were brought to trial in Gomel during November and December 1967 and were alleged to be living in (then) West Germany ; another trial
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#17328545866963366-697: The Abwehr (German armed forces military intelligence), detecting resistance activity in Germany and in occupied France . They were known to torture and execute prisoners. The need for a secret military police developed after the German annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938 and the occupation of Bohemia in 1939. Although SS Einsatzgruppen units originally under the command of the Sicherheitspolizei ("Security Police"; SiPo) had been used during these operations,
3519-575: The Luftwaffe was given its own version of GFP. This resulted in another reorganisation of the ranks structure. Although the GFP was a distinct military organisation, from its inception it generally carried out the same duties as the Gestapo and Kripo . Operations directed against populations in occupied countries employed methods similar to the SD and SS. This earned it the nickname " Gestapo der Wehrmacht ". In 1944
3672-500: The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, " German High Command") felt that it needed a specialist intelligence agency with police functions – one that could operate with the military, but act like a security service to arrest potential opponents and eliminate any resistance. After studying data collected in Spain, Austria and Czechoslovakia, Generaloberst Wilhelm Keitel , commander in chief of
3825-726: The Polnische Wehrmacht ('Polish Wehrmacht', 'Polish Defense Force') in German. In January 1919, after World War I ended with the signing of the armistice of 11 November 1918 , the armed forces were dubbed Friedensheer (peace army). In March 1919, the national assembly passed a law founding a 420,000-strong preliminary army, the Vorläufige Reichswehr . The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were announced in May, and in June, Germany signed
3978-513: The Reichswehr , was established on 23 March 1921. General conscription was abolished under another mandate of the Versailles treaty. The Reichswehr was limited to 115,000 men, and thus the armed forces, under the leadership of Hans von Seeckt , retained only the most capable officers. The American historians Alan Millet and Williamson Murray wrote "In reducing the officers corps, Seeckt chose
4131-609: The SS and their Einsatzgruppen death squads, the German armed forces committed numerous war crimes (despite later denials and promotion of the myth of the clean Wehrmacht ). The majority of the war crimes took place in the Soviet Union, Poland, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Italy, as part of the war of annihilation against the Soviet Union, the Holocaust and Nazi security warfare . During World War II about 18 million men served in
4284-675: The Allied invasion of Italy , personnel from Massingham established forward stations in Brindisi and near Naples . A subsidiary headquarters, initially known as "Force 133," was later set up in Bari in Southern Italy , under the Cairo headquarters, to control operations in the Balkans, including Greece , and Northern Italy . An SOE station, first called the "India Mission," and subsequently known as "GS I(k),"
4437-595: The Balkans , the GFP used constantly escalating terror against partisans , Jews and arbitrary "suspects". One particular event, which illustrates the complicity of the GFP in atrocities, was recorded by Lieutenant Colonel Helmuth Groscurth in August 1941. Near Kiev lies the town of Belaya Tserkov ; it was here between 20 and 22 August 1941 that Groscurth learned from two chaplains that the GFP had turned over ninety children to Sonderkommando 4a, who were then placed under guard outside
4590-673: The Battle of Moscow , the Siege of Leningrad , Stalingrad , Tunis in North Africa , and the Battle of Kursk . The German Army was managed through mission-based tactics (rather than order-based tactics) which was intended to give commanders greater freedom to act on events and exploit opportunities. In public opinion, the German Army was, and sometimes still is, seen as a high-tech army. However, such modern equipment, while featured much in propaganda,
4743-1026: The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) or the Women's Auxiliary Air Force . Women often assumed leadership roles in the field. Pearl Witherington became the organiser (leader) of a highly successful resistance network in France. Early in the war, American Virginia Hall functioned as the unofficial nerve center of several SOE networks in Vichy France . Many women agents such as Odette Hallowes or Violette Szabo were decorated for bravery, posthumously in Szabo's case. Of SOE's 41 (or 39 in some estimates) female agents serving in Section F (France) sixteen did not survive with twelve killed or executed in Nazi concentration camps. Most of
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4896-841: The French police's intelligence service , specialised in tracking down so-called "internal enemies" (e.g. the French Resistance , the Comet Line that aided shot down Allied aircrews), Jews and those evading work conscription . The Special Brigades were based in room 35 of the Paris police headquarters . The Brigade Spéciale N°2 was notorious for using torture as well as leading investigations, manhunts, surveillance and interviews of suspects in Occupied France . The Geheime Feldpolizei first began their pacification and security duties in 1939 following
5049-604: The Government Code and Cipher School , until in November 1940 it was decided that it was unwise to conduct codebreaking and explosives experiments on the same site. The establishment moved to Aston House near Stevenage in Hertfordshire and was renamed Station XII . It originally conducted research and development but from 1941 it became a production, storage and distribution centre for devices already developed. Station XV, at
5202-442: The Irish War of Independence as a model for the organisation. Sir Frank Nelson was nominated by SIS to be director of the new organisation, and a senior civil servant , Gladwyn Jebb , transferred from the Foreign Office to it, with the title of Chief Executive Officer. Campbell Stuart left the organisation, and the flamboyant Major Grand was returned to the regular army. At his own request, Major Holland also left to take up
5355-751: The Iron Gate on the River Danube . MI(R) meanwhile produced pamphlets and technical handbooks for guerrilla leaders. MI(R) was also involved in the formation of the Independent Companies , autonomous units intended to carry out sabotage and guerrilla operations behind enemy lines in the Norwegian Campaign , and the Auxiliary Units , stay-behind commando units based on the Home Guard which would act in
5508-505: The Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber. The planes cooperated closely with the ground forces. Overwhelming numbers of fighters assured air-supremacy, and the bombers would attack command- and supply-lines, depots, and other support targets close to the front. The Luftwaffe would also be used to transport paratroopers, as first used during Operation Weserübung . Due to the Army's sway with Hitler,
5661-427: The Luftwaffe was often subordinated to the Army, resulting in it being used as a tactical support role and losing its strategic capabilities. The Western Allies' strategic bombing campaign against German industrial targets (particularly the round-the-clock Combined Bomber Offensive ) and Germany's Defence of the Reich deliberately forced the Luftwaffe into a war of attrition. With German fighter force destroyed,
5814-445: The Nazi rise to power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler 's most overt and bellicose moves was to establish the Wehrmacht , a modern offensively-capable armed force, fulfilling the Nazi regime's long-term goals of regaining lost territory as well as gaining new territory and dominating its neighbours. This required the reinstatement of conscription and massive investment and defence spending on the arms industry . The Wehrmacht formed
5967-537: The OKH became the de facto Eastern Theatre higher-echelon command-organization for the Wehrmacht , excluding Waffen-SS except for operational and tactical combat purposes. The OKW conducted operations in the Western Theatre. The operations by the Kriegsmarine in the North and Mid-Atlantic can also be considered as separate theatres, considering the size of the area of operations and their remoteness from other theatres. The Wehrmacht fought on other fronts, sometimes three simultaneously; redeploying troops from
6120-425: The Partisans and Chetniks . However, in 1944 SOE and OSS successfully pooled their personnel and resources to mount Operation Jedburgh , providing large scale support to the French Resistance following the Normandy landings . SOE had some nominal contact with the Soviet NKVD , but this was limited to a single liaison officer at each other's headquarters. After working from temporary offices in Central London,
6273-424: The SS and Wehrmacht , many SS officers were former army officers, which ensured continuity and understanding between the two. Throughout the war, army and SS soldiers worked together in various combat situations, creating bonds between the two groups. Guderian noted that every day the war continued the Army and the SS became closer together. Towards the end of the war, army units would even be placed under
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6426-501: The SS was to be "procured from the Wehrmacht upon payment", however "in peacetime, no organizational connection with the Wehrmacht exists." The army was however allowed to check the budget of the SS and inspect the combat readiness of the SS troops. In the event of mobilization, the Waffen-SS field units could be placed under the operational control of the OKW or the OKH. All decisions regarding this would be at Hitler's personal discretion. Though there existed conflict between
6579-445: The SS were stepped up as well. Following the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943, fitness and physical health standards for Wehrmacht recruits were drastically lowered, with the regime going so far as to create "special diet" battalions for men with severe stomach ailments. Rear-echelon personnel were more often sent to front-line duty wherever possible, especially during the final two years of the war where, inspired by constant propaganda,
6732-466: The Soviet Union , including the Caucasian Muslim Legion , Turkestan Legion , Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians and Russians, Cossacks , and others who wished to fight against the Soviet regime or who were otherwise induced to join. Between 15,000 and 20,000 anti-communist White émigrés who had left Russia after the Russian Revolution joined the ranks of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS , with 1,500 acting as interpreters and more than 10,000 serving in
6885-424: The Spanish Civil War . The effectiveness of officer training and recruitment by the Wehrmacht has been identified as a major factor in its early victories as well as its ability to keep the war going as long as it did even as the war turned against Germany. As the Second World War intensified, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe personnel were increasingly transferred to the army, and "voluntary" enlistments in
7038-483: The Thatched Barn near Borehamwood , was devoted to camouflage , which usually meant equipping agents with authentic local clothing and personal effects. Various sub-stations in London were also involved in this task. Station XV and other camouflage sections also devised methods of hiding weapons, explosives or radios in innocuous-seeming items. Agents also needed identity papers, ration cards, currency and so on. Station XIV, at Briggens House near Roydon in Essex,
7191-519: The Wehrmacht . By the time the war ended in Europe in May 1945, German forces (consisting of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine , the Luftwaffe , the Waffen-SS , the Volkssturm , and foreign collaborator units ) had lost approximately 11,300,000 men, about 5,318,000 of whom were missing, killed or died in captivity. Only a few of the Wehrmacht ' s upper leadership went on trial for war crimes, despite evidence suggesting that more were involved in illegal actions. According to Ian Kershaw , most of
7344-427: The invasion of Poland , oftentimes directed by SS personnel since they were integrated into the administrative fold of the other police organizations under control of the SS. Logistical support for these police units was frequently supplied by the local military commanders, which helped the GFP facilitate the process of transporting civilian prisoners "to places where they could be murdered." Original jurisdiction between
7497-459: The " battle of annihilation ", the Wehrmacht managed many lightning quick victories in the first year of World War II, prompting foreign journalists to create a new word for what they witnessed: Blitzkrieg . Germany's immediate military success on the field at the start of the Second World War coincides the favorable beginning they achieved during the First World War, a fact which some attribute to their superior officer corps. The Heer entered
7650-408: The "German Wehrmacht ", consisting of the Seemacht (sea force) and the Landmacht (land force). In 1919, the term Wehrmacht also appears in Article 47 of the Weimar Constitution , establishing that: "The Reich's President holds supreme command of all armed forces [i.e. the Wehrmacht ] of the Reich". From 1919, Germany's national defense force was known as the Reichswehr , a name that
7803-432: The "Group 6/10" which contained the Kommando für Kapitalverbrechen (Capital crimes unit). It ran the infamous Balard shooting range at Issy-les-Moulineaux in the 15e arrondissement which was used to torture and execute 143 prisoners (though at the hands of the SS rather than the GFP). The GFP oversaw the work done by the French Brigades Spéciales part of the Renseignements généraux . These units, which were part of
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#17328545866967956-509: The "security" enterprise of the GFP was that they were given the task of "general supervision of the population" but this understatement cannot conceal the murderous operations in which they engaged. Persons simply found wandering in the occupied regions of Russia were turned over to the Geheime Feldpolizei or the SD since even the elderly, as well as women and children were suspected of conducting enemy reconnaissance. Anyone caught walking around and not promptly vouched-for by local authorities met
8109-482: The Armed Forces, retaining the position until his suicide on 30 April 1945. The title of Commander-in-Chief was given to the Minister of the Reichswehr Werner von Blomberg , who was simultaneously renamed the Reich Minister of War. Following the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair , Blomberg resigned and Hitler abolished the Ministry of War. As a replacement for the ministry, the Wehrmacht High Command Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), under Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel ,
8262-432: The Axis and occupied nations, such as Operation Anthropoid , the assassination in Prague of Reinhard Heydrich . In general also, SOE's objectives were to foment mutual hatred between the population of Axis-occupied countries and the occupiers, and to force the Axis to expend manpower and resources on maintaining their control of subjugated populations. Dalton's initial statement about outline of methods to be used by SOE's
8415-414: The Axis. It employed known homosexuals, people with criminal records (some of whom taught skills such as picking locks), those with bad conduct records in the armed forces, Communists, and anti-British nationalists. Some of them might have been considered a security risk, but no known case exists of an SOE agent wholeheartedly going over to the enemy. The Frenchman, Henri Déricourt , is widely regarded as
8568-573: The Axis. The organisation directly employed or controlled more than 13,000 people, of whom 3,200 were women. Both men and women served as agents in Axis-occupied countries. The organisation was dissolved in 1946. A memorial to those who served in SOE was unveiled in 1996 on the wall of the west cloister of Westminster Abbey by the Queen Mother , and in 2009 on the Albert Embankment in London, depicting Violette Szabo . The Valençay SOE Memorial honours 91 male and 13 female SOE agents who lost their lives while working in France. The Tempsford Memorial
8721-470: The British. Karl Doenitz , the U-Boat Chief, began unrestricted submarine warfare which cost the Allies 22,898 men and 1,315 ships. The U-boat war remained costly for the Allies until early spring of 1943 when the Allies began to use countermeasures against U-Boats such as the use of Hunter-Killer groups, airborne radar, torpedoes and mines like the FIDO . The submarine war cost the Kriegsmarine 757 U-boats, with more than 30,000 U-boat crewmen killed. In
8874-672: The Eastern Front. From mid-1943 onwards, the GFP was ordered to track down and capture all deserters after some Wehrmacht soldiers in France and the Soviet Union had begun joining partisan groups. By 1944, desertion rates rapidly rose following the major retreats after the Soviet Operation Bagration offensive and the destruction of German forces in the Falaise pocket in France. The Geheime Feldpolizei arrested 3,142 Wehrmacht personnel for desertion from Army Group Centre in 1944. But many troops were victims of increasingly confused rear areas where competing, often overlapping responsibilities of many military departments meant soldiers did not have
9027-471: The GFP and the Einsatzgruppen death squads in the Eastern theater was supposed to be clearly delineated and mutually reciprocal, but when the final negotiations about identified areas of responsibility took place in May 1941 between Generalquartiermeister Eduard Wagner and Gestapo chief Heinrich Müller , there was serious disagreement. Due to his expertise in matters of protocol, Walter Schellenberg replaced Müller and subsequently made important changes to
9180-414: The GFP units were put under the command of the RSHA. At the end of the war, Heinrich Himmler , head of the SS , posed as a member of the GFP named Heinrich Hitzinger in an attempt to avoid capture, but unbeknownst to him, the GFP was on the Allied list of criminal organizations so he was detained at a checkpoint and handed over to British. He committed suicide the same day while in British custody. After
9333-412: The GFP was to help establish a new political administration in occupied Russia, which implied a political purge of Russian candidates and the "extermination" of an entire societal layer. Due in part to the expediencies of German war policy, the GFP operated outside the constraints of legal norms: their dealings with Bolsheviks and Commissars were not brought before military courts but were handled instead by
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#17328545866969486-423: The German armed forces prior to 1941. With the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the government's positions changed. German propagandists wanted to present the war not as a purely German concern, but as a multi-national crusade against the so-called Jewish Bolshevism . Hence, the Wehrmacht and the SS began to seek out recruits from occupied and neutral countries across Europe: the Germanic populations of
9639-418: The German army's early success. In the strategies of the Blitzkrieg , the Wehrmacht combined the mobility of light tanks with airborne assault to quickly progress through weak enemy lines, enabling the German army to quickly take over Poland and France. These tanks were used to break through enemy lines, isolating regiments from the main force so that the infantry behind the tanks could quickly kill or capture
9792-422: The Jews serving in the Reichswehr given an automatic and immediate dishonorable discharge . Again, on his own initiative Blomberg had the armed forces adopt Nazi symbols into their uniforms in May 1934. In August of the same year, on Blomberg's initiative and that of the Ministeramt chief General Walther von Reichenau , the entire military took the Hitler oath , an oath of personal loyalty to Hitler. Hitler
9945-435: The Middle East and Balkans were controlled from a headquarters in Cairo , which became notorious for poor security, infighting and conflicts with other agencies. It was eventually named, in April 1944, "Special Operations (Mediterranean)," or SO(M). Shortly after the Allied landings in North Africa , a station code named "Massingham" was established near Algiers in late 1942, which operated into Southern France . Following
10098-441: The Netherlands and Norway were recruited largely into the SS , while "non-Germanic" people were recruited into the Wehrmacht . The "voluntary" nature of such recruitment was often dubious, especially in the later years of the war when even Poles living in the Polish Corridor were declared "ethnic Germans" and drafted. After Germany's defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad , the Wehrmacht also made substantial use of personnel from
10251-920: The OKW, Hitler solidified his control over the Wehrmacht . Showing restraint at the beginning of the war, Hitler also became increasingly involved in military operations at every scale. Additionally, there was a clear lack of cohesion between the three High Commands and the OKW, as senior generals were unaware of the needs, capabilities and limitations of the other branches. With Hitler serving as Supreme Commander, branch commands were often forced to fight for influence with Hitler. However, influence with Hitler not only came from rank and merit but also who Hitler perceived as loyal, leading to inter-service rivalry, rather than cohesion between his military advisers. The German Army furthered concepts pioneered during World War I , combining ground ( Heer ) and air force ( Luftwaffe ) assets into combined arms teams. Coupled with traditional war fighting methods such as encirclements and
10404-443: The OKW, issued the " Dienstvorschrift für die Geheime Feldpolizei " ("Regulations for the secret field police"), and the GFP was formed on 21 July 1939. Although officially part of the Wehrmacht, the GFP mainly recruited its personnel from the Kriminalpolizei , the criminal investigation police who had been assigned to the armed forces. They were assigned the legal status of Wehrmachtsbeamte auf Kriegsdauer ("military officials for
10557-436: The Western Allies had air supremacy over the battlefield, denying support to German forces on the ground and using its own fighter-bombers to attack and disrupt. Following the losses in Operation Bodenplatte in 1945, the Luftwaffe was no longer an effective force. The Treaty of Versailles disallowed submarines, while limiting the size of the Reichsmarine to six battleships, six cruisers, and twelve destroyers. Following
10710-446: The army that existed in World War I. In the 1920s, Seeckt and his officers developed new doctrines that emphasized speed, aggression, combined arms and initiative on the part of lower officers to take advantage of momentary opportunities. Though Seeckt retired in 1926, his influence on the army was still apparent when it went to war in 1939. Germany was forbidden to have an air force by the Versailles treaty; nonetheless, Seeckt created
10863-426: The autumn of the same year, the War Office expanded an existing research department known as GS (R) and appointed Major J. C. Holland as its head to conduct research into guerrilla warfare . GS (R) was renamed MI(R) in early 1939. These three departments worked with few resources until the outbreak of war. There was much overlap between their activities. Section D and EH duplicated much of each other's work. On
11016-454: The beginning, there was friction between the SS and the army, as the army feared the SS would attempt to become a legitimate part of the armed forces of Nazi Germany, partly due to the fighting between the limited armaments, and the perceived fanaticism towards Nazism. However, on 17 August 1938, Hitler codified the role of the SS and the army in order to end the feud between the two. The arming of
11169-527: The city awaiting execution. After some delay, since Groscurth wanted the decision to kill the children to come from his superiors in the Sixth Army, they were shot . Joint pacification programs were carried-out in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine during the summer and fall of 1941 by combined units of SS and Wehrmacht Security Divisions. Participating in this campaign were Geheime Feldpolizei units 708, 721, and 730; their mission included pacification of areas behind
11322-585: The civilian police services, working alongside the military authorities to combat acts of resistance , the British Special Operations Executive , and sabotage. It used terror tactics such as detentions, deportations and the execution of hostages . Following the defeat of France in 1940, the GFP established its main headquarters at the Hôtel Bradford on the rue Saint Philippe du Roule in Paris (8ème arrondissement) . Other sections for
11475-635: The coast of Norway, which had been occupied since 1940, convoys from North America to the Soviet port of Murmansk could be intercepted though the Tirpitz spent most of her career as fleet in being . After the appointment of Karl Dönitz as Grand Admiral of the Kriegsmarine (in the aftermath of the Battle of the Barents Sea ), Germany stopped constructing battleships and cruisers in favor of U-boats. Though by 1941,
11628-559: The command of the SS , in Italy and the Netherlands. The relationship between the Wehrmacht and the SS improved; however, the Waffen-SS was never considered "the fourth branch of the Wehrmacht ." The Wehrmacht directed combat operations during World War II (from 1 September 1939 – 8 May 1945) as the German Reich 's armed forces umbrella command-organization. After 1941
11781-595: The complaints over impropriety at SOE's Cairo headquarters during 1941 and partly because both the supreme command in the Mediterranean and SOE's establishments were split in 1942 and 1943, leading to divisions of responsibility and authority. There was tension between SOE and SIS, which the Foreign Office controlled. Stewart Menzies , the chief of SIS, was aggrieved to lose control of Section D. Where SIS preferred placid conditions in which it could gather intelligence and work through influential persons or authorities, SOE
11934-571: The control of the Allied theatre commands. Relationships with Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force in north-west Europe (whose commander was General Dwight D. Eisenhower ) and South East Asia Command (whose commander was Admiral Louis Mountbatten, already well known to SOE) were generally excellent. However, there were difficulties with the Commanders in Chief in the Mediterranean, partly because of
12087-603: The correct papers or were in the wrong locations. Convicted soldiers were either shot or sent to Strafbattalione . The GFP also investigated any claims of defeatism talk in ordinary infantry. Another specialist unit called Gruppe 729 was created to interrogate all Wehrmacht soldiers who had managed to escape from Soviet captivity. The general fear was that the NKVD may have "re-educated" these former captives to spread defeatism and anti-fascist propaganda (see Wehrkraftzersetzung ). Soldiers suspected of being Soviet spies were sent to
12240-456: The creation of secret armies which would rise up to assist the liberation of their countries when Allied troops arrived or were about to do so. It was recognised that acts of sabotage would bring about reprisals and increased Axis security measures which would hamper the creation of underground armies. As the tide of war turned in the Allies' favour, these underground armies became more important. At
12393-541: The creation of the Wehrmacht , the navy was renamed the Kriegsmarine . With the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement , Germany was allowed to increase its navy's size to be 35:100 tonnage of the Royal Navy, and allowed for the construction of U-boats. This was partly done to appease Germany, and because Britain believed the Kriegsmarine would not be able to reach the 35% limit until 1942. The navy
12546-402: The criminal underworld. Some of them were recruited by word of mouth among the acquaintances of SOE's officers, others responded to routine trawls of the armed forces for people with unusual languages or other specialised skills. In most cases, the primary quality required of an agent was a deep knowledge of the country in which he or she was to operate, and especially its language, if the agent
12699-668: The departments of Nord and Pas de Calais were based at rue de la Traversière in Brussels . Despite their small numbers, the GFP constituted the "root" of the German police organ which terrorized the French people for four years of occupation. Each GFP Gruppe consisted of a fifty-man unit until May 1942 when the entire command was restructured by SS - Brigadeführer Karl Oberg , the Higher SS and Police Leader ( Höhere SS-und Polizeiführer , HSSPF) "Frankreich" (France). This reorganisation created
12852-526: The detection of enemy agents. In practice, GFP activity depended on the region in which it operated. Work in occupied northern and western Europe differed markedly from operations conducted on the Eastern Front . In the Netherlands , Denmark and Norway , GFP actions mainly concentrated on the secret-police protection of senior Wehrmacht officers. In Belgium and France the GFP became an executive part of
13005-606: The duration of the war") and retained the authority of other police agencies as well as of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the intelligence organisation of the Nazi Party. Initially the Geheime Feldpolizei were exclusively Wehrmacht security units, but in 1942 the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) absorbed them. GFP agents could wear either civilian clothes or uniforms in the course of their duties. GFP officials had
13158-605: The early stage of Operation Barbarossa in the Soviet Union (June 1941). After Hitler declared war on the United States in December 1941, the Axis powers found themselves engaged in campaigns against several major industrial powers while Germany was still in transition to a war economy. German units were then overextended, undersupplied, outmaneuvered, outnumbered and defeated by its enemies in decisive battles during 1941, 1942, and 1943 at
13311-602: The enemy troops. Originally outlawed by the Treaty of Versailles, the Luftwaffe was officially established in 1935, under the leadership of Hermann Göring . First gaining experience in the Spanish Civil War , it was a key element in the early Blitzkrieg campaigns (Poland, France 1940, USSR 1941). The Luftwaffe concentrated production on fighters and (small) tactical bombers, like the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and
13464-505: The event of an Axis invasion of Britain, as seemed possible in the early years of the war. On 13 June 1940, at the instigation of newly appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill , Lord Hankey (who held the Cabinet post of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster ) persuaded Section D and MI(R) that their operations should be coordinated. On 1 July, a Cabinet level meeting arranged the formation of
13617-1003: The field underwent commando training at Arisaig in Scotland, where they were taught armed and unarmed combat skills by William E. Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes , former Inspectors in the Shanghai Municipal Police . Those who passed this course received parachute training by STS 51 and 51a situated near Altrincham , Cheshire with the assistance of No.1 Parachute Training School RAF, at RAF Ringway (which later became Manchester Airport ). They then attended courses in security and Tradecraft at Group B schools around Beaulieu in Hampshire. Finally, depending on their intended role, they received specialist training in skills such as demolition techniques or Morse code telegraphy at various country houses in England. SOE's Cairo branch established
13770-572: The former diplomat Fitzroy Maclean or the classicist Christopher Woodhouse ) were commissioned only during wartime. Several of SOE's agents were from the Jewish Parachutists of Mandate Palestine , some of whom were émigrés from countries in Europe. Thirty-two of them served as agents in the field, seven of whom were captured and executed. Exiled or escaped members of the armed forces of some occupied countries were obvious sources of agents. This
13923-475: The front, and protecting military installations and transportation routes. Additional activities consisted of pursuing the enemy into remote locations, carrying out arrests and reprisals, and executing partisans. Such actions were directly related to Operation Barbarossa and the infamous Commissar Order and as time went on increasing numbers of Security Divisions like the Geheime Feldpolizei contributed to more comprehensive "cleansing operations." Another task of
14076-519: The government level, SOE's relationships with the Foreign Office were often difficult. On several occasions, various governments in exile protested at operations taking place without their knowledge or approval, provoking Axis reprisals against civilian populations, or complained about SOE's support for movements opposed to the exiled governments. SOE's activities also threatened relationships with neutral countries. SOE nevertheless generally adhered to
14229-670: The guard force of the Russian Protective Corps . In the beginning, women in Nazi Germany were not involved in the Wehrmacht , as Hitler ideologically opposed conscription for women, stating that Germany would " not form any section of women grenade throwers or any corps of women elite snipers. " However, with many men going to the front, women were placed in auxiliary positions within the Wehrmacht , called Wehrmachtshelferinnen ( lit. ' Female Wehrmacht Helper ' ), participating in tasks as: They were placed under
14382-631: The headquarters of SOE was moved on 31 October 1940 into 64 Baker Street (hence the nickname "the Baker Street Irregulars " ). Ultimately, SOE occupied much of the western side of Baker Street. "Baker Street" became the euphemistic way of referring to SOE. The precise nature of the buildings remained concealed; it had no entry in the telephone directories, and correspondence to external bodies bore service addresses; MO1 (SP) (a War Office branch), NID(Q) (Admiralty), AI10 (Air Ministry), or other fictitious bodies or civilian companies. SOE maintained
14535-508: The heart of Germany's politico-military power. In the early part of the Second World War , the Wehrmacht employed combined arms tactics (close-cover air-support, tanks and infantry) to devastating effect in what became known as Blitzkrieg (lightning war). Its campaigns in France (1940) , the Soviet Union (1941) and North Africa (1941/42) are regarded by historians as acts of boldness. At
14688-409: The help of collaborators, the GFP also mounted operations to systematically burn down homes and entire villages. The GFP was also responsible for summarily executing prisoners before they could be liberated by the advancing Red Army. For example, in 1943 a GFP report to SS and Police Leader William Krichbaum stated that 21,000 people had been killed "some in combat, and many shot after interrogation" on
14841-501: The home of MD1, formerly MIR(C), near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire (although this was not formally part of SOE), and Station IX at The Frythe , a country house (and former private hotel) outside Welwyn Garden City where, under the cover name of ISRB (Inter Services Research Bureau), SOE developed radios, weapons, explosive devices and booby traps . Section D originally had a research station at Bletchley Park , which also held
14994-855: The intensifying theatre in the East to the West after the Normandy landings caused tensions between the General Staffs of both the OKW and the OKH ;– as Germany lacked sufficient materiel and manpower for a two-front war of such magnitude. Major campaigns and battles in Eastern and Central Europe included: For a time, the Axis Mediterranean Theatre and the North African Campaign were conducted as
15147-552: The murder of captured Jews; 10,000 of whom GFP unit 721 killed from October 1941 through January 1942 in the Ukrainian areas around Khmil’nyk, Lityn, and Brailov. To this end—in some places in Ukraine—the GFP operated independently in shooting Jews. The anti-Semitism of GFP members is typified by the observation of Unteroffizier Bergmayer, who in late March 1944, witnessing the deportations of Jews in northwestern Greece wrote, With
15300-464: The name " Wehrmacht "; the Reichswehr was officially renamed the Wehrmacht on 21 May 1935. Hitler's proclamation of the Wehrmacht ' s existence included a total of no less than 36 divisions in its original projection, contravening the Treaty of Versailles in grandiose fashion. In December 1935, General Ludwig Beck added 48 tank battalions to the planned rearmament program. Hitler originally set
15453-411: The navy had already lost a number of its large surface ships, which could not be replenished during the war. The Kriegsmarine ' s most significant contribution to the German war effort was the deployment of its nearly 1,000 U-boats to strike at Allied convoys. The German naval strategy was to attack the convoys in an attempt to prevent the United States from interfering in Europe and to starve out
15606-403: The new leadership from the best men of the general staff with ruthless disregard for other constituencies, such as war heroes and the nobility." Seeckt's determination that the Reichswehr be an elite cadre force that would serve as the nucleus of an expanded military when the chance for restoring conscription came essentially led to the creation of a new army, based upon, but very different from,
15759-456: The newly created American organisation, the Office of Strategic Services . A variety of people from all classes and pre-war occupations served SOE in the field. The backgrounds of agents in F Section, for example, ranged from aristocrats such as Polish-born Countess Krystyna Skarbek , and Noor Inayat Khan , the daughter of an Indian Sufi leader, to working-class people such as Violette Szabo and Michael Trotobas , with some even reputedly from
15912-621: The next decade until the Germans finally left in September 1933. However, the arms buildup was done in secrecy, until Hitler came to power and it received broad political support. After the death of President Paul von Hindenburg on 2 August 1934, Adolf Hitler assumed the office of President of Germany , and thus became commander in chief. In February 1934, the Defence Minister Werner von Blomberg , acting on his own initiative, had all of
16065-556: The oldest and youngest were being recruited and driven by instilled fear and fanaticism to serve on the fronts and, often, to fight to the death, whether judged to be cannon fodder or elite troops. Prior to World War II, the Wehrmacht strove to remain a purely ethnic German force; as such, minorities within and outside of Germany, such as the Czechs in annexed Czechoslovakia , were exempted from military service after Hitler's takeover in 1938. Foreign volunteers were generally not accepted in
16218-650: The opening year of the war. No aircraft carrier was operational, as German leadership lost interest in the Graf Zeppelin which had been launched in 1938. Following the loss of the German battleship Bismarck in 1941, with Allied air-superiority threatening the remaining battle-cruisers in French Atlantic harbors, the ships were ordered to make the Channel Dash back to German ports. Operating from fjords along
16371-564: The original draft, alterations which allowed the Einsatzgruppen to operate in both the rear areas of the army group and in the corps areas of the front. At the end of May 1941, Wagner and Reinhard Heydrich signed the agreement between the SS and the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH, "Army High Command"), sealing the cooperative arrangement between the two organizations. Throughout Eastern Europe and
16524-406: The other half performed obligatory services connected to the war effort ( German : Kriegshilfsdienst ). Legally, the commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht was Adolf Hitler in his capacity as Germany's head of state, a position he gained after the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in August 1934. With the creation of the Wehrmacht in 1935, Hitler elevated himself to Supreme Commander of
16677-568: The other hand, the Admiralty objected to SOE developing its own underwater vessels, and the duplication of effort this involved. The Royal Air Force, and in particular RAF Bomber Command under "Bomber" Harris were usually reluctant to allocate aircraft to SOE. Towards the end of the war, as Allied forces began to liberate territories occupied by the Axis and in which SOE had established resistance forces, SOE also liaised with and to some extent came under
16830-690: The other hand, the heads of Section D and MI(R) knew each other and shared information. They agreed to a rough division of their activities; MI(R) researched irregular operations that could be undertaken by regular uniformed troops, while Section D dealt with truly undercover work. During the early months of the war, Section D was based first at St Ermin's Hotel in Westminster and then the Metropole Hotel near Trafalgar Square . The Section attempted unsuccessfully to sabotage deliveries of vital strategic materials to Germany from neutral countries by mining
16983-498: The outbreak of war), the rest were various civil servants , lawyers, or business or industrial experts. Most of the members of the council, and the senior officers and functionaries of SOE generally, were recruited by word of mouth among public school alumni and Oxbridge graduates, although this did not notably affect SOE's political complexion. Several subsidiary SOE stations were set up to manage operations that were too distant for London to control directly. SOE's operations in
17136-586: The period 1935–1939. The total number of soldiers who served in the Wehrmacht during its existence from 1935 to 1945 is believed to have approached 18.2 million. The German military leadership originally aimed at a homogeneous military, possessing traditional Prussian military values. However, with Hitler's constant wishes to increase the Wehrmacht ' s size, the Army was forced to accept citizens of lower class and education, decreasing internal cohesion and appointing officers who lacked real-war experience from previous conflicts, especially World War I and
17289-557: The question of whether SOE should remain a separate body or coordinate its operations with those of the British Army in several theatres of war. Hambro felt that any loss of autonomy would cause a number of problems for SOE in the future. At the same time, Hambro was found to have failed to pass on vital information to Selborne. He was dismissed as director, and became head of a raw materials purchasing commission in Washington, D.C. , which
17442-452: The resistance networks which SOE formed or liaised with were controlled by radio directly from Britain or one of SOE's subsidiary headquarters. All resistance circuits contained at least one wireless operator, and all drops or landings were arranged by radio, except for some early exploratory missions sent "blind" into enemy-occupied territory. SOE wireless operators were also known as "The Pianists". At first, SOE's radio traffic went through
17595-456: The right to pass through any military roadblocks and to enter military buildings. They could use military signals and communications equipment, commandeer military vehicles, and procure military supplies and accommodation wherever necessary in execution of their duty. In occupied areas the GFP provided personal escort to military VIPs, assistance to state-security agencies in counter-espionage, interrogation of suspects, prevention of sabotage and
17748-510: The rule, "No bangs without Foreign Office approval." Early attempts at bureaucratic control of Jefferis's MIR(c) by the Ministry of Supply were eventually foiled by Churchill's intervention. Thereafter, the Ministry co-operated, though at arm's length, with Dudley Newitt's various supply and development departments. The Treasury were accommodating from the start and were often prepared to turn
17901-630: The same authority as ( Hiwis ), auxiliary personnel of the army ( German : Behelfspersonal ) and they were assigned to duties within the Reich, and to a lesser extent, in the occupied territories, for example in the general government of occupied Poland , in France , and later in Yugoslavia , in Greece and in Romania . By 1945, 500,000 women were serving as Wehrmachtshelferinnen , half of whom were volunteers, while
18054-424: The same time, the extent of advances strained the Wehrmacht's capacity to the breaking point, culminating in its first major defeat in the Battle of Moscow (1941); by late 1942, Germany was losing the initiative in all theatres. The German operational art proved no match to that of the Allied coalition , making the Wehrmacht's weaknesses in strategy, doctrine, and logistics apparent. Closely cooperating with
18207-416: The selection and training of agents. Sections, usually referred to by code letters or groups of letters, were assigned to a single country. Some enemy-occupied countries had two or more sections assigned to deal with politically disparate resistance movements. (France had no less than six). For security purposes, each section had its own headquarters and training establishments. This strict compartmentalisation
18360-552: The terms. Germany helped the Soviet Union with industrialization and Soviet officers were to be trained in Germany. German tank and air-force specialists could exercise in the Soviet Union and German chemical weapons research and manufacture would be carried out there along with other projects. In 1924 a fighter-pilot school was established at Lipetsk , where several hundred German air force personnel received instruction in operational maintenance, navigation, and aerial combat training over
18513-470: The three million Wehrmacht soldiers who invaded the USSR participated in war crimes. The German term "Wehrmacht " stems from the compound word of German : wehren , "to defend" and Macht , "power, force". It has been used to describe any nation's armed forces; for example, Britische Wehrmacht meaning "British Armed Forces". The Frankfurt Constitution of 1849 designated all German military forces as
18666-412: The treaty that, among other terms, imposed severe constraints on the size of Germany's armed forces. The army was limited to one hundred thousand men with an additional fifteen thousand in the navy. The fleet was to consist of at most six battleships , six cruisers , and twelve destroyers . Submarines , tanks and heavy artillery were forbidden and the air-force was dissolved. A new post-war military,
18819-592: The troops, with OKW approval. As a Nazi security warfare group, the GFP collaborated with the SD to execute and torture captured fighters and civilians suspected of helping the Soviet resistance . Officers in the Red Army and commissars were handed over to the SD, while known Communist party members and Jews were used by the Wehrmacht to clear minefields. One of the more innocuous sounding bureaucratic expressions used to describe
18972-507: The unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force). The designation " Wehrmacht " replaced the previously used term Reichswehr ( Reich Defence ) and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted. After
19125-480: The war with a minority of its formations motorized ; infantry remained approximately 90% foot-borne throughout the war, and artillery was primarily horse-drawn . The motorized formations received much attention in the world press in the opening years of the war, and were cited as the reason for the success of the invasions of Poland (September 1939), Denmark and Norway (April 1940), Belgium, France, and Netherlands (May 1940), Yugoslavia and Greece (April 1941) and
19278-454: The war, although they revolved around sabotaging and subverting the Axis war machines through indirect methods. SOE occasionally carried out operations with direct military objectives, such as Operation Harling , originally designed to cut one of the Axis supply lines to their troops fighting in North Africa. They also carried out some high-profile operations aimed mainly at the morale both of
19431-641: The war, the police organizations of Nazi Germany like the Gestapo and the Order Police battalions were classified as criminal in their general disposition for the wide array of crimes they committed. Despite the fact that the GFP dealt with security matters within the occupied territory for the army, during which they committed war crimes and even crimes against humanity to a wide degree, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg could not prove it
19584-402: The western front had not exceeded three per cent of the total from all fronts, in 1944 the figure jumped to about 14 per cent. Yet even in the months following D-day, about 68.5 per cent of all German battlefield deaths occurred on the eastern front, as a Soviet blitzkrieg in response devastated the retreating Wehrmacht. Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive ( SOE )
19737-461: Was "industrial and military sabotage, labor agitation and strikes, continuous propaganda, terrorist attacks against traitors and German leaders, boycotts and riots." Dalton's early enthusiasm for fomenting widespread strikes, civil disobedience and sabotage in Axis-occupied areas had to be curbed. Thereafter, there were two main aims, often mutually incompatible; sabotage of the Axis war effort, and
19890-642: Was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage , sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local resistance movements during World War II . SOE personnel operated in all territories occupied or attacked by the Axis powers , except where demarcation lines were agreed upon with Britain's principal Allies , the United States and the Soviet Union . SOE made use of neutral territory on occasion, or made plans and preparations in case neutral countries were attacked by
20043-590: Was also prioritized last in the German rearmament scheme, making it the smallest of the branches. In the Battle of the Atlantic , the initially successful German U-boat fleet arm was eventually defeated due to Allied technological innovations like sonar , radar , and the breaking of the Enigma code. Large surface vessels were few in number due to construction limitations by international treaties prior to 1935. The "pocket battleships" Admiral Graf Spee and Admiral Scheer were important as commerce raiders only in
20196-461: Was appointed director, he formalised some of the administrative practices which had grown in an ad hoc fashion and appointed an establishment officer to oversee the manpower and other requirements of the various departments. The main controlling body of SOE was its council, consisting of around fifteen heads of departments or sections. About half of the council were from the armed forces (although some were specialists who were only commissioned after
20349-533: Was conducted against six members of the 57th Police Battalion during which ninety four witnesses appeared and named the German officers who committed the crimes. In 1973, an additional trial against seven members of the same battalion was conducted, and while no explicit crimes against Jews were mentioned, the defendants "were accused of having exterminated peaceful Soviet citizens." Wehrmacht The Wehrmacht ( German pronunciation: [ˈveːɐ̯maxt] , lit. ' defence force ' ) were
20502-422: Was dedicated to the idea of reviving Tirpitz's High Seas Fleet. Officers who believed in submarine warfare led by Admiral Karl Dönitz were in a minority before 1939. By 1922, Germany had begun covertly circumventing the conditions of the Versailles treaty. A secret collaboration with the Soviet Union began after the Treaty of Rapallo . Major-General Otto Hasse traveled to Moscow in 1923 to further negotiate
20655-535: Was dropped in favor of Wehrmacht on 21 May 1935. While the term Wehrmacht has been associated, both in the German and English languages, with the German armed forces of 1935–45 since the Second World War, before 1945 the term was used in the German language in a more general sense for a national defense force. For instance, the German-aligned formations of Poles raised during the First World War were known as
20808-505: Was expected that SOE would be the leading partner. In the middle of the war, the relations between SOE and OSS were not often smooth. They established a joint headquarters in Algiers but the officers of the two organisations working there refused to share information with each other. In the Balkans, and Yugoslavia especially, SOE and OSS several times worked at cross-purposes, reflecting their governments' differing (and changing) attitudes to
20961-516: Was intended to create unrest and turbulence, and often backed anti-establishment organisations, such as the Communists , in several countries. At one stage, SIS actively hindered SOE's attempts to infiltrate agents into enemy-occupied France . Even before the United States joined the war, the head of the newly formed Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI), William J. Donovan , had received technical information from SOE and had arranged for some members of his organisation to undergo training at
21114-405: Was involved in the exchange of nuclear information. As part of the subsequent closer ties between the Imperial General Staff and SOE (although SOE had no representation on the Chiefs of Staff Committee ), Hambro's replacement as director from September 1943 was Gubbins, who had been promoted to Major-general . Gubbins had wide experience of commando and clandestine operations and had played
21267-510: Was located at The Firs in Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire and nicknamed "Churchill's Toyshop" from the Prime Minister's close interest in it and his enthusiastic support. The director of SOE was usually referred to by the initials "CD". Nelson, the first director to be appointed, was a former head of a trading firm in India, a back bench Conservative Member of Parliament and Consul in Basel , Switzerland, where he had also been engaged in undercover intelligence work. In February 1942 Dalton
21420-412: Was most surprised at the offer; the popular view that Hitler imposed the oath on the military is false. The oath read: "I swear by God this sacred oath that to the Leader of the German empire and people, Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces, I shall render unconditional obedience and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared to give my life for this oath". By 1935, Germany
21573-477: Was often only available in relatively small numbers. Only 40% to 60% of all units in the Eastern Front were motorized, baggage trains often relied on horse-drawn trailers due to poor roads and weather conditions in the Soviet Union, and for the same reasons many soldiers marched on foot or used bicycles as bicycle infantry . As the fortunes of war turned against them, the Germans were in constant retreat from 1943 and onward. The Panzer divisions were vital to
21726-487: Was openly flouting the military restrictions set forth in the Versailles Treaty: German rearmament was announced on 16 March with the "Edict for the Buildup of the Wehrmacht " ( German : Gesetz für den Aufbau der Wehrmacht ) and the reintroduction of conscription. While the size of the standing army was to remain at about the 100,000-man mark decreed by the treaty, a new group of conscripts equal to this size would receive training each year. The conscription law introduced
21879-567: Was originally the home of STS38, a training facility for Polish saboteurs, who set up their own forgery section. As the work expanded, it became the central forgery department for SOE and the Poles eventually moved out on 1 April 1942. The technicians at Station XIV included a number of ex-convicts. The training establishments, and properties used by country sections, were designated by Arabic numbers and were widely distributed. The initial training centres of SOE were at country houses such as Wanborough Manor , Guildford . Agents destined to serve in
22032-432: Was part of the Gestapo. This meant the organization (while under suspicion) did not come "within the charge of criminality contained in the Indictment, except such members as may have been transferred to Amt IV of the RSHA or were members of organisations declared criminal by this Judgment." For a number of years, many former members of the GFP were able to return to a normal life, but this changed for some, as in April 1966,
22185-451: Was particularly true of Norway and the Netherlands. In other cases (such as Frenchmen owing loyalty to Charles de Gaulle and especially the Poles), the agents' first loyalty was to their leaders or governments in exile, and they treated SOE only as a means to an end. This could occasionally lead to mistrust and strained relations in Britain. The organisation was prepared to ignore almost any contemporary social convention in its fight against
22338-431: Was put in its place. Placed under the OKW were the three branch High Commands: Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), Oberkommando der Marine (OKM), and Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL). The OKW was intended to serve as a joint command and coordinate all military activities, with Hitler at the top. Though many senior officers, such as von Manstein , had advocated for a real tri-service Joint Command, or appointment of
22491-448: Was quickly overloaded with paperwork and was merged into SO2. In August 1941, following quarrels between the Ministry of Economic Warfare and the Ministry of Information over their relative responsibilities, SO1 was removed from SOE and became an independent organisation, the Political Warfare Executive . Thereafter, a single, broad "Operations" department controlled the Sections operating into enemy and sometimes neutral territory, and
22644-427: Was removed as the political head of SOE (possibly because he was using SOE's phone tapping facility to listen to conversations of fellow Labour ministers, or possibly because he was viewed as too "communistically inclined" and a threat to SIS). He became President of the Board of Trade and was replaced as Minister of Economic Warfare by Lord Selborne . Selborne in turn retired Nelson, who had suffered ill health as
22797-487: Was set up in India late in 1940. It subsequently moved to Ceylon so as to be closer to the headquarters of the Allied South East Asia Command and became known as " Force 136 ." A "Singapore Mission" was set up at the same time as the India Mission but was unable to overcome official opposition to its attempts to form resistance movements in Malaya before the Japanese overran Singapore . Force 136 took over its surviving staff and operations. New York City also had
22950-591: Was so effective that in mid-1942 five governments in exile jointly suggested that a single sabotage organisation be created, and were startled to learn that SOE had been in existence for two years. Four departments and some smaller groups were controlled by the director of scientific research, Professor Dudley Maurice Newitt , and were concerned with the development or acquisition and production of special equipment. A few other sections were involved with finance, security, economic research and administration, although SOE had no central registry or filing system. When Gubbins
23103-435: Was the Feldpolizeidirektor who was in charge of a GFP unit or Gruppe . On 24 July 1939, the title of Heerespolizeichef was upgraded to the military rank of Oberst . A GFP unit in the Wehrmacht consisted of 50 personnel. This included: However, after 1941, units sent to the Soviet Union were strengthened to 95 personnel. All groups were fully motorized. Their armaments were limited to light infantry weapons. In 1943,
23256-474: Was to pass as a native of the country. Dual nationality was often a prized attribute. This was particularly so of France. In other cases, especially in the Balkans, a lesser degree of fluency was required as the resistance groups concerned were already in open rebellion and a clandestine existence was unnecessary. A flair for diplomacy combined with a taste for rough soldiering was more necessary. Some regular army officers proved adept as envoys, and others (such as
23409-401: Was unveiled in 2013 by the Prince of Wales in Church End, Tempsford, Bedfordshire , close to the site of the former RAF Tempsford . The organisation was formed from the merger of three existing secret departments, which had been formed shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Immediately after Germany annexed Austria (the Anschluss ) in March 1938, the Foreign Office created
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