Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

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narikis
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Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#1

Post by narikis » 25 Sep 2020, 18:53

Hello. As the western Allies landed and pushed in to continental Europe, did they make any use of local civilians for non-combatant support work, similar to what the Germans did with their "hilfswillige" on the eastern front? For example, medical aides, drivers, labourers, cooks, and so on?

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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#2

Post by Aber » 25 Sep 2020, 19:36

Yes

Extract from Admin History 21st Army Group
AdminHistory Labour.PNG
AdminHistory Labour.PNG (35.65 KiB) Viewed 4824 times


narikis
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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#3

Post by narikis » 25 Sep 2020, 20:08

Thank you Aber. Does your source have any information on what wages these workers were paid, or specifics on what sort of duties they carried out?

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Sheldrake
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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#4

Post by Sheldrake » 25 Sep 2020, 22:59

The British drew on civilian labour across the world. The pay conditions and role depended on circumstances. For example, The Union of South Africa would not arm black south africans, who carried out many of the tasks the Germans assigned to Hilfswillinge. The British recruited pioneer companies from Botswana - who ended up manning AA guns. The British employed Cypriot and Palestinian mule teams in Italy, as well as Italian civilians and co-belligerents.

The worlds third largest carrier fleet is another grey area. The twenty MAC carriers were merchant ships with merchant skippers and crew, but carrying a fleet air arm contingent and a DEMS crew of marines soldiers or sailors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_ ... tlantic%20.

What is your interest in pay and conditions?

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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#5

Post by narikis » 25 Sep 2020, 23:25

Thank you Sheldrake. That mention of the Merchant Aircraft Carriers is something I didn't expect to find, I had never heard of anything like that. Will have to do a bit of digging.
Sheldrake wrote:
25 Sep 2020, 22:59
What is your interest in pay and conditions?
Curiosity, and also to contrast with how the Axis treated their auxiliaries (the ones that weren't slaves anyway).

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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#6

Post by Carl Schwamberger » 27 Sep 2020, 21:21

narikis wrote:
25 Sep 2020, 23:25
Thank you Sheldrake. That mention of the Merchant Aircraft Carriers is something I didn't expect to find, I had never heard of anything like that. Will have to do a bit of digging.
Sheldrake wrote:
25 Sep 2020, 22:59
What is your interest in pay and conditions?
Curiosity, and also to contrast with how the Axis treated their auxiliaries (the ones that weren't slaves anyway).
Not exactly auxiliaries but, New Zeeland dockworkers Unions struck when the US was trying to embark Marines for operations. None were shot. In contrast I recall a story about a train load of SS who were stopped by a mined railroad track in France, Feb or March 1944. They shot a group of men nearby in reprisal, including part of the repair crew approaching the damaged track site.

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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#7

Post by narikis » 27 Sep 2020, 22:07

Sorry to all if I caused confusion with my wording, but when I referred to "local civilians" I meant people living in the regions of Europe that the western Allies were fighting through. So New Zealanders, South Africans, or Palestinians would not be the type of people I'm asking about in this case. Aber's mention of people like French, Belgians, and Dutch employed as auxiliaries was the kind of thing I had in mind, the local workforce.

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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#8

Post by Sheldrake » 28 Sep 2020, 00:20

narikis wrote:
25 Sep 2020, 18:53
Hello. As the western Allies landed and pushed in to continental Europe, did they make any use of local civilians for non-combatant support work, similar to what the Germans did with their "hilfswillige" on the eastern front? For example, medical aides, drivers, labourers, cooks, and so on?
The short answer is that of course the allies made use of local resources of newly liberated Europe, including the grateful population.

The situation varied with the region.

The first allied landings were in Sicily while Italy was an Axis power. The landings on mainland of Italy coincided with the Italian Armistice making the Italians co-belligerents. The 15th Army Group encyclopedia includes a section on Civilian Labor in the chapter on Allied Military Government. This does have some answers. Possibly not in the detail you seek, but the flavour shows how the allies approached the probl;em and sought to differentiate themselves from Nazi German methods.
Section 2 Formulation of a Civilian Labor Policy
From the very. beginning of the Italian Campaigns, the employment of large numbers' of civilians proved necessary to move supplies, maintain lines of communication, and repair materiel. During the early months of the operation the recruiting of civilian labor was haphazard,; the various elements of the Fifth Army hired civilians on whatever basis they could manage. Common labor was easy to obtain. Such workers were satisfied with little or no pay,. and. often labored long hours for the 'reward of a mere chance to scavenge food at company kitchens.

There was a good deal of competition for skilled labor. As a result, the disparity in wages paid and food provided by military agencies and by civilian employers could have resulted.in political and economic unrest. Many essential civilian industries were unable to hold even old employees. As long as no=control over them was exercised, some units sometimes. exceeded their real needs in employing civilians.

It was soon realized that a definite policy had to be-formulated for the hiring of civilians by US forces. The Army Quartermaster was instructed to prepare directives concerning-the employment of civilians by all elements of the Fifth Army. At that time, when the British X Corps and other units-were a part of the Fifth Army, a British Increment was included.in the Fifth Army Headquarters. The British Army had a fixed civilian labor policy; and an established framework for its administration.
The Army Quartermaster held a series of conferences with the Deputy Assistant Director of Labor of the British Increment and with officials of the Allied Military Government. From these conferences he was able to obtain a guide to the planning of the Fifth Army labor policy and to assure its coordination with the others.
A Labor Officer was designated to serve with the Army Quartermaster to assist him in developing and administering: the policy . eventually developed, the. Fifth Army, civilian labor policy set up a systematic procedure for the employment classification, payment, feeding, and clothing of civilian employees. Comprehensive job classifications and attendant wage scales were established; they recognized local customs of wage differentials among men, women, and minors. The hiring of labor was standardized so that all. procure-ment would normally be processed through the Civilian Labor Office or Civil Affairs Officer of the Allied Military Government by formations and units of the Fifth Army.
Units hired labor from lists of individuals available under the various job classifications. All individuals listed by the Allied Military Government were previously screened by CIC to avoid as far-as possible the employment of. subversive characters.
Provision was made for the authorization of feeding either one or three meals a day dependent upon whether the employees were hired for an eight hour day or required to remain on call on the premises twenty-four hours a day. Allied Force Headquarters established a Labor Committee made up of representatives from all major commands in the Italian theater. Meeting periodically, this board coordinated labor policies and regulated details of administration as needarose.
While the labor policy as developed and administered in Italy did clear up a great deal of the confusion that had existed, it did not provide a complete solution. For example, need forcivilian labor often arose in forward areas not yet administered-by the Allied Military Government. A division engineer, pressed-for, help in maintaining roads near the front had to obtain labor as best he could. The conclusion, generally reached by those who had to cope with the civilian labor problem in Italy was that there is needed-within the tactical organization of the United Sates Army some provision for the control of a civilian labor program for forward areas through the medium -of military field agencies other than Allied Military Government.
Chapter 14 Quartermaster p 421
14. Labor
a.The provision of labor to the armed forces was always an important part of the CAO's work. Regulations were scantily issued at first by higher formations and pay varied froma mid-day meal to a chit marked "AMG will pay". But from 1944 on, both AFHQ and AMG. issued detailed regulations forthe employment of civilians.
b.In most of the larger towns Civil Labor Offices were set up, and during the winter of 1944-45, after the services of Regional Labor Officers became available, much was done to place. civilian labor directly employed by Armies, working on Army contracts, or privately employed, on a sounder basis than ever before contemplated. Cost of Living Bonuses, Social-Security Grants, and Family Allowances were all introduced in Army areas.
c. Difficulties were encountered especially in the early days. Labor was 'urgently needed by the Armies for roadbuilding, and as waiters, cooks and interpreters. Civilians were generally not anxious to work immediately, and,. while strong action was sometimes taken by CAOs to procure labor, the policy was to avoid methods which resembled those of the Todt Organization. Once the labor unions got into operation, civilian labor was generally enrolled in sufficient volume, though in some agricultural communities there were difficulties. Civilians were usually glad to work for the Armies and often. did so at considerable personal risk. .Lack of boots and cloth-ing required by the laborers was always a problem, especiallyin the winter.
d. The "Camera del Lavoro';(Confederation of Trade Unions) was not allowed to' function legally in Army areas, but worked underground.. The authorized. labor organization was ' the "Ufficio Provinciale del Lavoro" operating under the AMG Labor Officer who, with his division, was concerned with the .application of the. labor poli-cies, of the Allied. Commission and the Italian. Governmenti n so far as such application was feasible in Army areas. Orders abolishing the Fascist labor system were always issued immediately, and Regional, Provincial and Communal Labor Offices,staffed by Italian civilians, were set up to replace it. Their field covered registration and recruiting of workers, industrialrelations and labor statistics, for the Allied forces as well as for civilian employment.
e. Labor unions were allowed to engage in collective bargaining in private industry even in Army areas, but they were not allowed to hold meetings or demonstrations until the Armies moved forward.
f. Social security agencies were started as soon as possible, in conjunction with the Finance Divisions, for the-provision of assistance in old age, sickness, injury and unemployment for workers in either military or civilian employ.
Chapter on Allied Military Government

narikis
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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#9

Post by narikis » 28 Sep 2020, 01:09

Thank you very much Sheldrake, useful information in that post. Particularly interesting to see the mentions of Allied policy toward labour unions and workers benefits (social security, provision of meals, etc).

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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#10

Post by Sheldrake » 28 Sep 2020, 10:02

narikis wrote:
27 Sep 2020, 22:07
Sorry to all if I caused confusion with my wording, but when I referred to "local civilians" I meant people living in the regions of Europe that the western Allies were fighting through. So New Zealanders, South Africans, or Palestinians would not be the type of people I'm asking about in this case. Aber's mention of people like French, Belgians, and Dutch employed as auxiliaries was the kind of thing I had in mind, the local workforce.
Your original post mentioned the German use of Hilfswillinger. These were not locally employed civilians but Soviet prisoners of war placed on one of the most frightening human dilemmas. Tens of thousands of Soviet citizens threw their lot in with the Germans, betraying their country and serving people who believed that Slavs were sub humans. The alternative was to starve to death. This is a little different to the national units the Germans recruited from minorities such as the Cossacks and Georgians opposed to Soviet imperial rule. The decision may have been eased by the knowledge that any Soviet soldier taken alive was regarded as a traitor.

The Germans made extensive use of Soviet PW because 1) they had a manpower shortage. 2) The circumstances outlined above made Soviet PW more reliable than PW in other times and wars. 3) Some German soldiers had sympathy for individual Russians. As the war went on, the Soviets recruited fighting units (Seydlitz Army) from German PW - offered a similar choice of fight or Gulag. The Western Allies could afford not to call on German PW,. Britain could call on swathes of non Europeans that could be called on before trusting ex Nazis. The US even, grudgingly, employed Black soldiers in combat. There were occasional exceptions to the Western reluctance to recruit from German PW. The Polish Army in exile recruited extensively from German PW seeking Poles redefined as German after 1939.

The Allies and Germans had an asymetric relationship with the populations of the land they captured. The Germans came as occupiers, although may have been welcomed by minorities in any country. The Allies sought to liberate.

The allies had to deal with local politicians, civilian infrastructure, military institutions, judiciary and assorted groups of partisans or resistards. THere were contracts with civilian authorities. The allies were also accompanied by attachments from the "Free Armies" Thus in the Netherlands the Princess Irene Brigade provided interpreters and liaison officers. Volunteers either individuals or groups of partisans that attached themselves to some units.

Further along the spectrum were the armed groups formed within liberated territory. By 1945 the French Army provided a sizable land force. Besides the French First Army in the field, there were substantial forces blockading the German garrisons in ports such as Bordeaux. The Italian Co-belligerent Army had several "Legions" under British command by 1945. Partisan groups operated alongside the Allies. The contribution of Italian logistic units, in particular mule transport, were much more important and often overlooked.


ti

narikis
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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#11

Post by narikis » 28 Sep 2020, 11:22

Sheldrake wrote:
28 Sep 2020, 10:02
Your original post mentioned the German use of Hilfswillinger. These were not locally employed civilians but Soviet prisoners of war placed on one of the most frightening human dilemmas.
I'm sorry, but actually there were Hilfswillige hired from among local civilian populations for non-combatant work (and police work), such as among the populace of the Baltic States or Ukraine. Not all of them were former Red Army men. My own family witnessed them being recruited (or in some cases coerced). This could be anything from digging ditches and cooking food, to helping hunt down Jews and drive the wagons that carried them away from their villages. Maybe the English-language sources only mention POWs...

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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#12

Post by Sheldrake » 28 Sep 2020, 17:14

narikis wrote:
28 Sep 2020, 11:22
Sheldrake wrote:
28 Sep 2020, 10:02
Your original post mentioned the German use of Hilfswillinger. These were not locally employed civilians but Soviet prisoners of war placed on one of the most frightening human dilemmas.
I'm sorry, but actually there were Hilfswillige hired from among local civilian populations for non-combatant work (and police work), such as among the populace of the Baltic States or Ukraine. Not all of them were former Red Army men. My own family witnessed them being recruited (or in some cases coerced). This could be anything from digging ditches and cooking food, to helping hunt down Jews and drive the wagons that carried them away from their villages. Maybe the English-language sources only mention POWs...
I may stand corrected and the term may be a broad one, but it extended to established posts in 1944 era combat formations. This quote is from Anthony Beevor's Stalingrad admittedly in wikipedia
A captured Hiwi told his People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del, or NKVD) interrogators:

Russians in the German Army can be divided into three categories. Firstly, soldiers mobilized by German troops, so-called Cossack sections, which are attached to German divisions. Secondly, Hilfswillige [Voluntary Assistants] made up of local people or Russian prisoners who volunteer, or those Red Army soldiers who desert to join the Germans. This category wears full German uniform, with their own ranks and badges. They eat like German soldiers and they are attached to German regiments. Thirdly, there are Russian prisoners who do the dirty jobs, kitchens, stables and so on. These three categories are treated in different ways, with the best treatment naturally reserved for the volunteers.

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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#13

Post by narikis » 28 Sep 2020, 17:36

Sheldrake wrote:
28 Sep 2020, 17:14
I may stand corrected and the term may be a broad one, but it extended to established posts in 1944 era combat formations. This quote is from Anthony Beevor's Stalingrad admittedly in wikipedia
I think the term gets thrown around for a lot of different kinds of collaborators/workers, anyone from a truck driver to a soldier in German uniform. In my experience among postwar east-europeans the term "Hiwi" was used disparagingly for someone who willingly worked for the Germans, including civilians. But anyway, I think we can both agree that the Germans were no slackers when it came to making use of the local labour pool in conquered areas, whether they were POWs or local civilians. So, I decided to learn a bit about how much use the western Allies made of local civilian labour in Europe, and how they went about it.

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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#14

Post by Aber » 28 Sep 2020, 18:57

narikis wrote:
25 Sep 2020, 23:25
Curiosity, and also to contrast with how the Axis treated their auxiliaries (the ones that weren't slaves anyway).
You might find this interesting to download

https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/4017
Civil Affairs and its more robust sibling, Military Government, were military organisations designed to ensure that basic civil order and welfare were maintained in those allied and enemy states encountered on operations during the Second World War. In so doing, they enabled formation commanders to focus on defeating enemy forces without being distracted by possible civilian problems. Using the battle of Normandy as a case study, this research assesses the utility of Civil Affairs in supporting military needs during operations. This contrasts with previous studies that concentrate on aspects of social and diplomatic history. If the need for Civil Affairs was generally axiomatic, there was much debate as to the extent and method of delivery required. Civil Affairs quickly recognised that in dealing with direct problems such as “disorganisation, disease and unrest” it was necessary for seemingly indirect aspects of civilian life to be maintained. Various forms of bureaucratic friction resulted and several Civil Affairs approaches were used, before the model for the North West Europe campaign was agreed. Nevertheless, the organisation employed in Normandy was arguably the most extensive and best prepared of the war. However, it also had to deal with many different civilian problems and in trying military circumstances. Consequently, the battle is fertile ground for the examination of the extent and nature of the organisation’s operational utility. Using primary and secondary sources, this paper argues that Civil Affairs was militarily both useful and necessary.

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Re: Did the western Allies recruit civilian auxiliaries?

#15

Post by narikis » 28 Sep 2020, 20:51

Thank you Aber.

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