| Date | War Diary | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 - 30 | The work begun in May, described in the previous diary, in the occupation of Kreis Husum was continued and in some cases completed during the month of June. | |
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The movement of German PW through the Kreis into area "G" continued on a large scale to within a few days of the end of the month. The organisation set up in May functioned smoothly and without any incident of note. Various minor problems were set by the status of Russians, Hungarians etc, who came through in fair numbers and showed some reluctance to be treated as Wehrmacht. Among German Troops also there appeared to be some deterioration in disciplne. Various questions also arose about the authority of Seekommandant Nordfriesland whose extensive jurisdiction was now quite out of place and had to be reduced and newly defined to cover the Kreis only, with the exception of supplies to the various islands. At the same time a Naval Party under Commander Thornton, R.N. from N.O.I.C. Cuxhaven, took over control of Naval matters and during the month the harbour was gradually cleared of all of an extreme variety of naval craft.
As regards the Luftwaffe, these continued to present problems not only of discipline but also of accommodation. By the end of the month over 5,700 were still present in the Kreis, theb great majority distributed amongst the various villages and totally unoccupied. The segregation of women and SS continued. Service women, who numbered over 1,250, were disposed of to the islands of Fohr, Amrum and Nordstrand. SS were taken into the Marine School Barracks and used as labour until superfluous. Over 150 were disposed of during the month. The hospitals which were under the control of an S.M.O. contained over 1,300 patients. Finally, 450 R.A.D. boys were kept on for agricultural work, the maintenance of DP and PWX camps and other duties. |
Interesting that at the same time that German service women were 'disposed of' to the island of Fohr, 23H men, "in Holiday parties" were taken to a "rest camp" on Fohr Island, two parties of 40 twice a week. This arrangement would continue from June to at least September. | |
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The administration of these continued unassisted throughout the month, the French having been first to go. Russians, both PWX and DP were next. This took place during the last week in June, over 3,200 going from 23rd Hussars are and 1,400 from 2nd F&F Yeomanry area. It was thereupon decided to keep two villages,
Ahrenviol and
Hogel, in which the main body of Russians were housed, for accommodating 2,200 Polish
DPs, a large number of whom were to be brought in from outside the Kreis. This movement, however, did not start till July after the camps had been cleaned.
Polish PWX continued to be housed in two hutted camps, one holding over 200 and the other 300. Toward the end of the month over 60 of these were empoyed as guards on area "G" stop line, distinguishing themselves both by their excellent ferocity and by their not-so-excellent rapacity. With Polish PWX, as with Russians, the problem of public order was acutely thrown into relief, and a number of incidents, some involving deaths - fortunately always to themselves - occurred. The other main group consisted of Italian PWX - to the tune of 500. These were housed in two small camps, and, as with Polish PWX, 60 of them were used in manning the stop line. This they did with childish zeal and enthusiasm. The supply and feeding of both PWX and DPs were continued by 23rd Hussars. During the month of June a total of 121,800 rations were drawn in bulk from RASC and distributed by the unit. Requisitions of cooking utensils and crockery stocks were finally exhausted. The administration of Ahrenviol was continued by Captain Vickers of "B" Squadron with a whole Troop under command. The same was done by 2nd F&F Yeomanry at Hogel. In other PWX camps one or more German-speaking NCOs were maintained to supervise discipline and the distribution of food. |
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Daily patrols continued to be carried on in the Kreis and were an invaluable check on the movement of German PW. Snap checks were made at important road junctions and troop trains were searched. A guard was maintained at an SS hospital. On June 14th a Main Control Post was manned on the main road out of area "G" at MR 932630 and on the railway at 941624. These were supplemented and connected up Polish and Italian PWX posts and patrols from MR 907642 to MR 970591.
A ceremonial parade with tanks was held on HM The King's Birthday. A march past was held in Husum and the flag was shown round the Kreis. Unfortunately the civilian population had already mistakenly been goven a whole holiday by Military Government to celebrate the occasion on June 2nd! Otherwise no work of any importance was undertaken. The finishing touches were put on the Barracks and a swimming pool was completed. Much gardening was done and each squadron opened a Riding Club, which ran with great success. Holiday parties continued to be sent to a rest camp on Fohr Island, approximately two parties of 40 twice a week. |
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| 16 | One Comet tank received from 3rd RTR. | |
The following awards were announced during the month:-
MILITARY MEDAL
MENTIONED IN DESPATCHES
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