Thursday, January 13, 2022

GFP.


This is coolbert:

Vorsicht. Die Polizei ist da.

Feldgendarmerie I had heard of. The other two were a blank for me.

1. Feldgendarmerie. German military police World War Two.

"When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Feldgendarmerie were reintroduced into the Wehrmacht. The new units received full infantry training and were given extensive police powers. A military police school was set up at Potsdam, near Berlin to train Feldgendarmerie personnel. Subjects included Criminal code, general and special police powers, reporting duties, passport and identification law, weapons drill, self-defence techniques, criminal police methodology, and general administration."

"All prospective candidates served at a Feldgendarmerie command after the first term of examinations. Courses lasted one year and failure rates were high: in 1935 only 89 soldiers graduated from an initial intake of 219 candidates. Feldgendarmerie were employed within army divisions and as self-contained units under the command of an army corps."

Chain Dogs! Wore the gorget around the neck as a sign of authority. and were authoritarian. Draconian to a great degree, and generally disliked by the common Wehrmacht soldier. Units consisting ONLY [?] of career troops, officers and and sergeants, highly trained beyond normal.

2. Geheime Feldpolizei. German SECRET military police Second World War.

"The Geheime Feldpolizei . . . 'Secret Field Police', was the secret military police of the German Wehrmacht until the end of the Second World War (1945). Its units carried out plain-clothed security work in the field - such as counter-espionage, counter-sabotage, detection of treasonable activities, counter-propaganda, protecting military installations and the provision of assistance to the German Army in courts-martial investigations."

Similar to the feldgendarmerie but operating in plain clothes, not uniformed!

3. Feldjägerkorps. German quasi-military police their mission to apprehend and often punish deserters by summary execution.

"By 1943, World War II was turning against Germany and morale amongst the front line troops was dropping. Until this time, the Feldgendarmerie and Geheime Feldpolizei had been relied upon to try to curb desertion and maintain discipline; however, the recent string of German defeats and the fact that there was no single service dedicated solely to catching deserters impelled the creation of the Feldjägerkorps in November of that year. In order to be eligible for service, soldiers had to have a minimum three years of frontline combat experience and have earned the Iron Cross 2nd class."

A response to increased numbers of German troops deserting their units in the latter stages of the war. Search for, apprehend, turn over to a military tribunal for punishment.

About fifteen-thousand German troops executed for desertion during WW2. That preponderance in the latter months of the war, 1945.

coolbert.





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