Rtn David Axon: In the British Sector of Germany

Today’s speaker failed to turn up, so our Programme Officer, David Axon, stepped in and spoke about his father’s experiences immediately after World War II.

His father served in the RAF and was seconded to Military Intelligence. After Germany’s surrender he became Adjutant to the Regional Governor of part of the British Sector. The locals were in awe of him and called him “The Kommandant”. His main tasks were to foster good relations between the British occupying forces and the local residents and to track down, arrest and interrogate former high-ranking German and SS Officers. He was assisted by a team of very tough Army Sergeant-Majors.

The team would often find themselves going to a remote farmhouse to check on who was there. As they approached David’s father would go to the door accompanied by one of the sergeant-majors. Sometimes they were shot at; they had no hesitation about firing back or, if necessary, destroying the house concerned.

Germans opposed to the British occupation would put steel cables across roads to cause crashes. These were placed at an angle of about 30° to stop them being picked up by headlights. On one occasion David’s father was travelling in an open-top Mercedes behind a tanker. The tanker drove into a cable and careered off the road. The Mercedes ended up going off the road as well and David’s father was catapulted out. Fortunately he landed in a pile of pine needles and did not do himself any lasting damage.

The RAF uniform was, of course, blue. This was a similar colour to the uniform worn by the Polish army. David’s father realised that, if he wore his RAF uniform, the Germans would be more nervous of him because of the way they had treated Poles during the war.

The interrogation methods did not include torture but psychological pressure was applied. For example, interrogations were often conducted in a basement room with white walls and syringes on the tables. In fact the syringes were normally filled with coffee and lemonade. Many of the captured officers were eventually sent to Nuremberg for trial.

One of the ways the British tried to improve their relations with the local populace was by holding chocolate hunts for the children, with food laid on for the accompanying adults. Very few children turned up on the first occasion but eventually the chocolate hunts proved so popular that the British troops had to arrange for the NAAFI to provide additional supplies.