Hi, I am researching my Grandfather who served with the Civil affairs group in WW11. He was a Policeman (Hampshire) and was attached to the US 1st Army and landed on D + 1. His name was (Major) Alfred James Appleton. Regretably when he died my Grandmother had a serious clear out and burned everything that had belonged to him!! Does anyone know of a history of the Civil Affairs Group, or anything similar, that I could use as a starting point? I have found references to places that he passed through in a News Letter published by the Hampshire Police but of course being WW11 there is no reference to units or anything that may be of use to the enemy - or grandchildren doing research! Regards Nigel
Welcome to the forum Nigel - enjoy! I don't know anything about the Civilian Affairs Group, but notice his rank, Major, is an Army rank. He may have service records. Do you know his service number? Another angle is the US 1st Army connection. Have you investigated US records? Best, Steve.
Hi, My Granddad was a Police Sergeant in Dundee and served as a Captain in Civil Affairs in WW2. He was a General List Officer, ie, he was posted on the strength of a specific Regiment but wore the Royal Coat of Arms as a cap badge. Policemen had to be released by the Home Office to serve with Civil Affair and were commissioned into the Army so will have a set of Service Records. I have my Granddads records so now know each unit he was posted into, I still have to look and see if any diaries or other records have survived which show which each of these Detachments did and where they served. The Official Histories did publish as 2 volume history about Civil Affairs and the Allied Military Government of the Occupied Territories {AMGOT} However, not all members were former Policemen and the books only briefly described what their specific role was. I have one of the histories and will dig it out tomorrow and see if I can post something more detailed about them. My Granddad was also attached to the US 1st Army from his time in Normandy until November 1944, he was then posted back to British and Canadian commanded units. I will dig out his record and give you a little run down of the sort of information it contains. After the war he served with the Control Commission in Germany, but I think he had left the Army by then and was possibly employed by the Government again {Possibly Foreign Office?}. I do know when he retired from the Police he was given the pension of an Inspector even though he had never held that Rank with Dundee Police and believe this may be due to his overseas service. All the best, Stewart
