Hi all, Finished reading my book on the Comet which talked about various deployments after VE Day including IIRC Italy. This reminded me that I don't really know all that much about Europe in the immediate postwar period. Another thing I didn't know about until recently was the alternative plan for "what to do with Germany" which involved deindustrializing the country, shipping factories out, and dividing it up into even more than it was. And what did the Allies do with all the POW they captured? Any recommendations?
From the Army's perspective, there's this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Lo...=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1497809546&sr=1-6
Not the one I was looking for: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reconstruc...d=1497809757&sr=1-36&keywords=postwar+germany
There is, of course, the official history. I've linked the Kindle version so you can 'look inside' to see if the contents float your boat but hardcopies are available for less-than-extortionate prices: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Affairs-Mi...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1497811037&sr=1-2
This is the one I was thinking of, cheap but old and variable reviews: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ruins-Reic...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1497811327&sr=1-2
These two books are well worth a read. They deal with an aspect of the war’s aftermath that I think even today is little known. Orderly and Humane (the title is deliberately ironic) is especially recommended. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Orderly-Hu...1497816752&sr=1-1&keywords=orderly+and+humane https://www.amazon.co.uk/Savage-Con...d=1497816804&sr=1-1&keywords=savage+continent
I have "the end" it's about the restructuring of admin / government / law and order in Germany after may 45. Alex.
Aftermath of War: Everyone Must Go Home: Amazon.co.uk: Sir Carol Mather: 9780080377087: Books In retirement, he wrote Aftermath of War: Everyone Must Go Home, published in 1992. A memoir of his duties in Germany in 1945, visiting camps holding Axis prisoners, including Cossacksand Yugoslavs who fought for the Germans and who were returned to face an uncertain future under Stalin and Tito, the book was also a defence of Harold Macmillan against allegations of treachery made by Nikolai Tolstoy. Mather also published a war memoir in 1997, When the Grass Stops Growing. Carol Mather - Wikipedia Ex-SGs, No. 8 Commando, SAS, Liaison Officer to Monty in NWE. I haven't read it, but his main biographical memoir is excellent.
So does anyone know of any broader treatment of the period, say, 1945-48? I did some digging around online and came across something talking about upset among the troops still in Egypt for demob taking so long, and German POW work companies. I'd like to know more about post-war Allied presence in Italy as well, for instance.