- 50 -

Relations with the Military

During 1946, the relations with the military were very good. Major Clem, the 30th. Inf. DP Officer, knew nothing about his job when he took over in January following a series of rapid changes of DP officers which included a couple of second lieutenants in the earliest twenties, but he was very kind and he soon became eager to help in any way he could. After he had acquired some experience, he was of great assistance.

It is interesting to note in this connection that Major Cliff­ord who, as mentioned earlier, was probably the best DP officer at his official level in Germany, was ordered home when the Military Gov­ernment turned over responsibility for the DPs to the tactical units on January 1, 1946. The 3rd. Inf. Division was eager to have the benefit of his advice for the first month of their new operation an he agreed to defer his departure until February 1st. but he re­ceived a phone call from his higher H.Q. pointing out that "an order is an an order" and peremptorially ordering him to proceed at once.

The subordinate DP Officer, who had a more or less nominal supervision of Junkers Camp along with some other camps, was Lt. Fredenburg. He was intelligent, interested in the DP problem, active and cooperative, and he became very useful. In June he made every effort to get a job with UNRRA, but he was not successful.

In July, Captain James L. Smiley of the 9th. Division Field Artillery was assigned as DP Officer. He had had over a year's experience in DP work, and he had a very kindly feeling for the DPs but he was greatly handicapped by lack of staff and the difficulties of working through Fulda caused by very bad phone connections with that town. He was eventually given two assistan[t]s, Captain Gordon L. Smith and 2nd. Lt. Victor L. Ellis, both of them inexperienced in DP work, but both unusually fine persons who gave the team workers the fullest cooperation.

In early December, Captain Smiley was replaced by Lt. Col. Frank

C.Sinsel

This content transcribes an original report of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), a separate copy of which is filed in the United Nations Archives (UNA), Reference number: S-1021-0081-05, Title: Monographs - DP-US 20 - Displaced Persons - United States Zone (Germany) - Histories of Individual Camps - History Report No. 30, Report: Baltin Camp in Bettenhausen, Kassel by D. F. McGonigal, Date: April 13, 1945. The UNA grants rights to reproduce with attribution. Additionally, this content is protected as a derivative work under Latvian Copyright Law Chapter 2 § 5 ¶ 3 and as part of a collection under Chapter 3 § 5 ¶ 1.2.
latvians.com qualifies as a protected collection under Latvian Copyright Law Ch. II § 5 ¶ 1.2.
© 2024, S.A. & P.J. Vecrumba | Contact [at] latvians.com Terms of Use Privacy Policy Facebook ToS Peters on Twitter Silvija on Twitter Peters on Mastodon Hosted by Dynamic Resources