Treatment of Civilians in Combat Zones

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Hoffman Grink

Treatment of Civilians in Combat Zones

Post by Hoffman Grink »

So mister resident FG -
I am a German Soldier. I'm fighting an ever more difficult battle agains the Amis/Brits/Canadians/Poles (delete as applicable) and I spot a party or even a couple or a lone civilian wandering through my sector... or even more suspicious - I see one lurking, kneeling furtively under trees or behind a bush....
What is the correct procedure for a German Soldier?
I don't have the time or the resources to arrest him/her.... I have few enough men to hold the line. We expect an enemy counterattack any time now and this person could be scouting for them.

Do I arrest them? Do I call for the FG? Do I just shoot them and bung them in a ditch?

Please Dear Davey... what should I do?
Feldjager
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Post by Feldjager »

Dear Troubled of Caen,

Technically it is a soldiers duty to arrest if they have reason to believe that the persons are acting against the interests of the Armed Forces or Reich. At the very least I image that they should be challenged and their actions investigated - if it were suspected espionage then the Geheime Feldpolizei would be interested as thet falls within their remit.

The outright shooting of suspected subversives and sabateurs was discouraged as they tended to be less co-operative when dead, and didn't pass on too much information.

There are cases where suspected sabateurs were detained and then handed over to PoW collection points where they could then be processed by the proper authority.

With arresting, any soldier can arrest any civilian or another soldier of lesser or equivalent rank, if they have reasonable grounds to do so. Use of force was not encouraged unless necessary, and if wapons were used, it had to be evidenced and recorded!
Feldgendarmerie Trupp 82 - http://www.feldgendarmerie.co.uk
Panzer Nachrichten Abt. 38 - http://www.funker.co.uk
Hauptverbandplatz 82 - http://www.hvp82.co.uk

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Hoffman Grink

Post by Hoffman Grink »

Dear Davey
Surely arrresting these people and then guarding/excorting them drains my sparse manpower resource? Would there have been roving FeldGenderme present who would have routinely picked up these miscreants?
Are you sure they would not simply have been shot and counted as a casualty of war??? Perhaps with a captured Sten or Bren?????

Also Dear Davey - One of my Corporals has taken to acting strangely. He has built a box to keep his rifle in and carries it EVERYWHERE with him! He even sleeps with the damned thing and the other men report that he talks to it in soft hushed tones. I myself have seen him stroke the damned weapon and look at it lovingly..... Now some of the men are due to be re-issued with the same weapons - Will this behaviour spread or is it a passing phase that we should leave to blow itself out?
Worried of Wormhoudt
Feldjager
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Post by Feldjager »

Q1 - if there were a counted attack expected, then the FG would be more concerned with route marshalling and ensuring the correct supplies and units are in the right places, as well as collecting stragglers etc. Roving patrols were normally only found about 10-12km behind the lines, as a rule (but there were, as usual, exceptions!
As for their capture and shooting, its hard to say. If they were caught in an act of saboutage, then a soldier legally had the authority to use lethal force to prevent them continuing. Under other circumstances, its hard to say - I image that there were both fatalities and the capturing of suspects.

Q2 - Just because Bryn has built a box for his MP44, its no concern of ours. Please see the duty trick cyclist. :mrgreen:
Feldgendarmerie Trupp 82 - http://www.feldgendarmerie.co.uk
Panzer Nachrichten Abt. 38 - http://www.funker.co.uk
Hauptverbandplatz 82 - http://www.hvp82.co.uk

LHA members
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