Jonathan Ware Profile picture
Jan 27, 2022 18 tweets 11 min read Read on X
So what were conditions like in Hamburg in 1945?

A thread for #HolocaustMemorialDay

53rd Welsh Division arrived in the city to find it in complete ashen ruins from the firebombing, only one building - the Atlantic Hotel - still stood. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History
There were over 400 camps around the city, containing around 100,000 malnourished, half-starved and desperately ill slave workers drawn from across Europe: "Displaced Persons" from across Europe.

In all honesty, no liberating Allied soldier could comprehend what had happened. /2
What they were witnessing was the grisly sinews of Nazi Germany's genocide state.Manufacturing everything from uniforms, boots, munitions, weapons, engine parts...

The essential, disposable pool of slave labour facilitating total war.

Simply worked to death & replaced. /3
These massive camp system represented a nightmare humanitarian crisis in their own right, cramming highly concentrated malnourished victims, before one considers challenges of obliterated infrastructure & fetid living conditions.

An overwhelming catastrophe./4
Of course for many liberation came too late.

Eduard, Elisabeth, and Alexander Hornemann of Eindhoven.

Elisabeth died of typhus in Auschwitz.

The two boys were subject to tuberculosis experiments at Neuengamme. /5
On 20 April 1945 the two brothers were put in a lorry and taken to a school in Hamburg.

Injected with morphine, fell asleep, then hung.

Alexander was 8.

Eduard was 11. /6
Jacqueline Morgenstern was part of the same programme.

Originally, her parents fled Romania for Marseilles to escape persecution.

They were caught.

She was murdered along with Alexander & Eduard. /7
Leading elements of the British Liberation Army were only a few miles away when these children were murdered. /8
Thousands perished on the crammed Cap Arcona. /9
Major-General Robert 'Bobby' Ross and his divisional staff were dedicated to improving the fetid situation.

However, initial attempts to feed inmates with British rations proved deeply distressing as a number died.

The debate & struggle to care for inmates continued... /10
the challenge of basic hygiene had to be addressed.

Major H.J. Gilliam requisitioned tons of disinfectant powder & converted 300 vacuum cleaners into sprayers.

Initially, hundreds of non-German language newspapers were sourced and brought in, distributed en mass. /11
It was a temporary measure.

Soon after, some inmates began translating & producing their own internal newspapers, thanks to commandeered printing presses.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of measures.

An edict was passed for the population of Hamburg to supply... /12
100,000 sets of clothing
10,000 books in all European languages
2,000 packs of playing cards
2,000 indoor games
1,000 toys and dolls
1,000 footballs
100 wireless sets
100 pianos /13
53rd Welsh Division sent sections of soldiers round to people's houses who'd profiteered/enjoyed the benefits of slave labour, turned a blind eye.

Upon arrival at a property, they simply confiscated what was needed & redistributed goods around camps. /14
Initially the camps were found to be almost silent.

Pianos were left in prominent locations for inmates to play.

At first they sat silent & forlorn, but after a few weak pressings of keys... as days and weeks progressed, the sound of music began to emerge. /15
Hamburg's finest string orchestra was ordered to tour all the DP camps, as did 53rd Division's regimental bands, as medical staff remained overwhelmed by the scale of the crisis.

Later, on one remarkable day, Major George Gooch found himself astounded when a deputation... /16
of former inmates presented him with 10,000 marks (around £250 in 1945) a gigantic sum raised by those once treated as disposable slaves. The money was eventually given to the British Red Cross with thanks saying,

"You have uplifted us and improved our conditions of life... /17
so much, we want to do something to show our appreciation."

It is remarkable that those who had lost so, so much still saw the need to give in gratitude. /thread

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More from @ReassessHistory

May 31
Safe as Houses
Cracking defences in Normandy

Norman buildings are built well, especially churches and farmhouses - as both sides discovered in Normandy.

This required creativity. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History
#DDay80


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In short, there was no magic solution to cracking defences in Normandy, sure AVREs had massive 290mm petard mortars but these were specialist assets.

Not always available, or in the right place at the right time. /2


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German troops had better mortars than Second Army, and integral infantry guns in each Regiment. Due to problems developing 95mm the British lacked this capability & came to use attached Churchill V or other 95mm gun tanks to achieve this role.

But again, not common. /3
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Apr 19
4 August 1944
“PIAT! PIAT! PIAT!"
Lt Donald Harvey, 244 Field Company Royal Engineers, alongside D Coy 1 Oxf & Bucks.

Probably the best PIAT related quote of the Normandy campaign, said as a Waffen-SS battlegroup appeared behind a British battalion. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History #DDay80


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I could go into this action in much more detail, but it's almost unbelievable - saving it for another day...

Soon.

A genuinely ridiculous scrap.

Moving on... /2 Image
PIAT was the infantry platoon's principle manhandled anti-tank weapon. 1 per platoon. A real marmite weapon, most complaints stem from poor handling & faulty munitions.

Range: 350 yds.
Effective : 40 - 70 (maybe 100) yds.
Weight: 32 Lbs (15 kg)
Pen: 75 – 100mm of armour /3
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Apr 18
Rhino Barges

One of the dullest, coolest, more bizarre and fascinating pieces of kit used in Normandy.

Which no one *really* cares abou5.

But I do, and you should too... /1
#WW2 #SWW #History #DDay80


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Planning for Overlord and Neptune had a serious snag, how to get troops from LSTs onto the beach as simply ramming them up onto the beaches and dropping the ramp was known to damage the exceptionally vulnerable LSTs and felt to be unsustainable in the mid to long term. /2 Image
LSTs were essential in sustaining Overlord's progress and were a subject of major headaches in the planning phase, and a real subject of friction when it came to launching additional amphibious operations such as Op Dragoon.

Loss of a single LST represented a capability nick. /3 Image
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Apr 17
Heavy plant is boring right?

I mean surely a bulldozer can't be a key component of Allied victory?

Wrong!

Let's have a look at the D-7 Dozer & Allied logistics in Normandy. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History #DDay80 Image
First off, Normandy was a bit of a rural backwater.

The road network was no where near as developed as today, which incorporates many routes constructed/improved by Allied forces.

The land of William the Conqueror place for farming, fishing, market towns with a few railways. /2

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21st Army Group had arguably the most enviable engineering services in the world, able to throw up bridges in under a day, construct massive hospitals, water points, fuel depots, pipelines, bypasses (frankly mini-motorways), airfields, command complexes... and much more. /2

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Apr 16
Snapshots of Hill 112
The Pivotal Normandy Battle

What was it to fight in a 6 week battle of pure attrition, where all that mattered was the complete destruction of the enemy?

A battle where any movement could get you & your mates killed?

Well... /1
#WW2 #SWW #History #DDay80 Image
Marksmen played a major role, as Ran Williams discovered when his 13 Platoon took over 7 Seaforths most exposed position.

Upon seeing the fresh lieutenant, the sergeant pulled out a machete, slicing off Ran's epaulettes and shoulder titles... /2 Image
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Remove skill
Insert vulnerability /3 Image
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The Universal Carrier (Part One)

How did this piece of open topped herp-a-derp become the coolest piece of kit in infantry battalions scrapping their way through liberating North West Europe?*

I know you're curious...

Read on. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History #DDay80 Image
The Universal Carrier came about in 1940 as a desire to streamline production processes & merge the Bren Gun and Scout Carriers' roles into a single AFV.

The former's name stuck and gained popular traction.

Bren Carrier (below) for Infantry Battalions' Carrier Platoons. /2
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The Scout Carrier was intended to operate alongside Vickers Mk VI Light Tanks for Divisional Reconnaissance Regiments etc.

Various traits of both vehicles, bar the obvious Horstmann suspension, that carried over into the Universal Carrier are quite evident. /3

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