When did troops return home after VE day?

[Rich]

I was just wondering, after hostilities ceased in Europe, how long was it before the bulk of allied army personnel returned home?
I assume a great many must have stayed on as an occupying force then in administrative roles, some of them for years, but these will have been a fraction of the total manpower.

The reason for asking is that I only recently heard from my Uncle that my Grandad stayed on in Berlin after VE day for quite a few months. He had been a Cromwell tank driver as part of 7th Armoured Division, but when hostilities ceased he stayed on as a motorcycle dispatch rider in Berlin.

He and my Grandmother had got married in 1943 IIRC, while he was training in England. So why stay on in Berlin rather than return home? I'm wondering it may partly have been due to uncertainty of what he was going to do in civilian life, but also I wonder if it was a readjustment period for him after the horrors of war he had witnessed.

There is a particular anecdote my Uncle told me during his period as dispatch rider, which even my Dad did not know about:

One night my Grandad decided to go to the cinema (on his bike), and parked his trusty Norton down the street. When he exited the cinema after the film he found that the bike had been stolen.
He began the long walk back to his billet, contemplating getting an almighty telling off from his CO, but after a while he came across a battered ex-Wehrmacht BMW R75 in a side street.
He decided the best course of action was to 'liberate' the BMW, and rode it home! He still expected a rollocking from his CO about the lost Norton and mystery BMW, but apparently nobody said a word about it. So he continued to use the Beemer for his dispatch duties for the next few months, and on returning it when he was demobbed in England, still nobody queried it...

cheers,

Rich.

[51highland]

Demobbing was handled on the basis of age and length of service and began in June 1945. Given that the British army at the time numbered something in the region of 2.5 million men & women, it would have been impossible to have repatriated them in one hit. Plus we still had duties as to security of a defeated Germany. My father was not de-mobbed until mid 1946 after volunteering in Sept 1939.

[sapper]

The rota system!
Some never got out till 1947.
I can still recall my demob suit and mac. YUK I left hospital in August 1945 (Salisbury) to continue my treatment under civilian care
Sapper

[Ron Goldstein]

The rota system!
Some never got out till 1947.
I can still recall my demob suit and mac

Hi Sapper....talking about me again ?

As a Group 48 man I didn't finish my Army service until April 1947 and as for my demob suit... go take a look

BBC - WW2 People's War - The infamous Demob Suit

Cheers

Ron

[sapper]

Hi Ron Try to imagine this mate.
my brand new pinstripe suit new hat and coat and with my army boots! I had a caliper that was fixed to my instep on my army boots. So I had to wear the boots, Just try to picture that, for it was bloody ridiculous.
Cheers sapper

[Rich Payne]

My maternal Grandfather was a pre-war regular and was 40 when the war ended so was home within a few months. My Dad volunteerd in 1941 at 18 (to avoid being sent down the mines as a "Bevin Boy" he always says). He spent some time on the Signals team at the Nuremburg Trials and didn't come home till 1947 either.

He has always held the view that he received a bit of a rough deal on the employment front as no employer would give permanent work to a teenager who was going to be called up anyway and by 1947 most of the available jobs had been filled. I believe that his first post-war job was spraying ex-WD Allis-Chalmers tractors for the "Ground-nut Scheme" I don't think that lasted long !

[Jim Clay]

As others have said, it all depended ...

My Dad had been in from Feb '40 and was 'transferred to the Army Reserve' wef 22 March 1946. I thought you might like to see his cert of transfer, form X202 B, below:

[Rich]

Thanks for the info, I didnt realise it took so long for people to be demobbed, but it makes perfect sense after 6 years of war. I must get hold of my Grandads service record...

[Kitty]

A few dates i have in atimeline. All for British troops.

Dec. 1945 227,000 servicemen are released.
July. 1946 88,000 servicemen are released.
Dec. 1946 40,000 servicemen are released.
June. 1947 40,000 servicemen are released. A total of 2,437,793 have now been demobbed.
23-2-1953 An Amnesty by the Government to WW2 deserters brings
in applications from 3,000 servicemen and 14 women.

[vailron]

my father was a pow he was liberated by the americans, however as soon as they found out he was a medic, he was seconded to that american unit, as the next camp they were going to was one of the death camps and they knew that they would need as many medics as possible. i have no idea when he got back to the u.k but he married my mum in faeroe in july 1946