Post WW 2 UK military operations in Germany

[AntonP]

I have been tracing the movements of a German naval rating who as a POW worked for the Special Operations Executive. In July 1945 he and a few other Bonzos (German POWs who worked for the SOE) were flown to Lunenburg. He was in ME 42 operating under the auspices of C1 21 Army group.
Can anyone tell me what ME 43 and C 1 might be?

The work that they might have been doing was being put into German POW camps, masquerading as German POWs, to suss out hiding middle rank nazis or for interrogations purposes of POWs. Before the war he had spent a short time with family in Hamburg so this might have been a natural place to send him. Alternately his young life was spent in the state of Thuringia near the town of Crimmichau and also near some of the terrible concentration camps..

[tonepad]

German surrender at Lüneburg Heath
On 4 May 1945, at 18:30 British Double Summer Time, at Lüneburg Heath, south of Hamburg, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of the German forces in that region.

Your man may have been flown to Luneburg for administrative reasons - presumably then the HQ of 21 Army Group.


Tony

[ShaunJ]

"A mysterious SOE unit, known as ME 42, was attached to the military intelligence component of Field Marshal Montgomery's 21 Army Group, in Germany..... "

See https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/MI6/_bV5ncXNke4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=SOE+ME42&pg=PA98&printsec=frontcover

Also some documents at TNA regarding ME42:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5042123
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C5042124
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C235229

[Andy J2022]

Are you sure it's C1?  I think CI (or C-I) for counter-intelligence is more likely. The British still referred to intelligence and counter-intelligence in that way; the Americans referred to it as G2 (ie the second section the General Staff, where G3  dealt with operations and G4 with Logistics etc).

[AntonP]

Tony, thanks info. I did not realise Lunenburg was the base for the army HQ.

Shaun, thanks very much for that info re the book on MI6. Extremely interesting and yes it seems as if my guy was certainly part of the German POW contingent with that group. I have got the National archive files which is how I traced my man to Lunenburg.

Andy, you are probably right I am looking at photos of old SOE typewritten docs on cheap flimsy war time paper so it is likely CI.

The POWs would have probably been at the bottom of the staff pile and just been dogsbodies and done the drudge work. I know from the SOE files that many were 'infiltrated' back into POW camps holding German troops, to see if any nazi's were in hiding there and also to listen to the general soldiers' comments about politics and their situation for feedback. I assume that being relatively unimportant in the scheme of things, immediately after the war, their service records and release details have not been kept? But I am constantly amazed at what is available if you just know where to look. I was wondering if anyone could give me suggestions as to where this sort of info might be if it still existed?
From the old SOE files, these men would be released as soon as officials in Germany felt they had served their purpose and they were never to be returned to the UK.
Again from SOE personnel records my man was fervently anti-nazi and wanted to return to Germany to help rebuild it. So it seems likely that he would have stayed in Germany after his release.
Again, I really appreciate your comments and help.
Anton

[AntonP]

If I may I would like to reopen this query.

The man I am tracing and 10 of his fellow German SOE agents were infiltrated into German troop camps as POWs  to try and suss out middle rank nazis. He was transferred out of the SOE to military intelligence in Germany for this operation. The action was called 'Operation Battleship'.

Despite questions to various UK bodies and people who have knowledge of secret service operations, no one has heard of this operation. Other than SOE records in the UK National Archives it appears there is no record of this operation nor the men who were involved.
As a result I am trying to find out where surrendered German troops were held in the Schleswig Holstein area so that I could narrow down where he might have been sent.

Despite searches by family genealogist there is no trace of him after WW2. I am beginning to wonder if he did not die in the camp. It is quite conceivable that his purpose had been found out by German troops and it would have given many a reason to deal with him. With all the problems the British administration had in the area they were responsible for, I do not think much time would have been spent on trying to find his murderer amongst  hundreds of possible suspects.
Once I can pinpoint troop holding camps nearby cemeteries might hold the answer to my search.

I have searched the internet but can find no reference to where troops were held after WW2 in this area and I am wondering if anyone else might have details of this.