It was also quite a serious thing during the Korean War. Troops going on R&R leave in Japan many of them National Servicemen with little previous sexual experience behind them were availing themselves of the local facilties. As one educated lad who came back from Korea and whose documents were marked he was under surveillance for a period having contracted VD said to me, that when you might meet your end at any moment you wanted to enjoy life's experiences whilst you were still able.
From 10 Anti-Tank Regiment BAOR (Dortmund), Quarterly report, 31st December 1947 (WO 267/349) "Increase of crime in the regiment due to large intake of very poor quality recruits." "The regiment's vigorous campaign against VD has resulted in a marked decline in the number of cases." "Morale in general is considered good. All ranks enjoyed a first class Christmas."
I'm thinking that an active WW2 combat infantryman may not have seen that poster as a deterrent message. VD might have been well down the perceived list of significant threats to his personal well-being.
The incident took place in mid November 1939. The issue wasn't about establishing brothels. These existed in France and were policed, and the girls checked for disease. Montgomery sought to discourage informal liaisons between soldiers and village girls outyside tjhe brothel system. Montgomery used blunt language in his circular which stepped on the toes of the medical chain of command and offended the Chaplain's department. The language that Montgomery used, and his casual endorsement of the idea that soldiers should be provided with facilities for "Horizontal Refreshment" caused offence. It was not simply a matter of stuffiness and institutional hypocrisy. .British,soldiers were citizens taken from their wives and girl;friends by the state. Brothels were illegal in Britain. There was a fine line between minimising the medical consequences of carnal desire and appearing to endorse adultery.
I've heard this mentioned many times, but do we/you have the actual statement that shows what terms he used to express himself? If it's in Hamilton's biography, I've forgotten it, and I'm fairly sure that Alanbrooke refers to the matter but does not specify the details.
There was an outbreak of VD during the war at RAF Blyton, No 1662 HCU ( HCU station for No 1 Group B.C ).It was eventually traced to a lady of the night at Scunthorpe by the RAF authorities.The outcome was that Scunthorpe was put out of bounds which apparently was the solution and action was taken against the lady by the civilian authorities. The RAF during the war and after had the anti VD practice of the FFI (Free From Infection) which provided condoms on free issue and other precautions available at the FFI section which usually adjoined the Station Guardhouse.Further to that a medical procedure was practised on recruits at induction was the FFI inspection, whereby airmen would be paraded naked.The MO would move down the columns and inspect the airman's genitals in turn by probing the genitals with his stick. Without doubt a humiliating experience for recruits on induction which I think now is no longer practised. The other blunt warning for recruits on induction has been mentioned and that was the screening of VD documentary which was from a US source...so grim with graphic detail on the treatment showing procedures such as the "umbrella" treatment that a number of the recruits keeled over.
A "Blue Ticket", I'm not 100% sure how these were used (any explanation appreciated) but I believe this was to show that after having "seen some action" a serviceman had sought the appropriate treatment and if he subsequently developed VD could use this in his defence
Brothels could be an advantage for escaping Allied POWs as accounted for by those who made successful runs. Certain brothels in occupied Europe dedicated for certain nationalities working in the German war economy were looked on as one stop "safe houses" for those Allied POWs escaping from Germany and Poland to Scandinavia. Through intelligence gained from friendly "guest workers" it became known that such places were out of bounds to Germans and it was unlikely that there would be frequent checks on the premises.
Brest, Wehrmacht Brothel every soldier is strictly obliged to use the freely supplied condoms intended only for the german wehrmacht. To be destroyed immediately after use (inscription tin can: hygienic rubber protection) German throughness: Tropical condom
And this is why dear Val Doonican never put his initials on anything. I'll get me coat. Kind regards, always, Jim.
During my RAF service before I was posted to a radar technical training school,we were "let out" on a Saturday afternoon from Padgate induction training after not seeing a girl /woman apart from the NAFFI girls for about 6 weeks. The problem was that in Warrington,the town was saturated with RAF SPs and it was impossible to talk to the girls without being it being witnessed by SPs and then instructed to move on.Then we had the gossip among us of there's bromide in the tea. Never had any further such experience with subsequent postings after Padgate. As regards the Brest institution,I wonder if a Then and Now could be possible.From the sign,Wehrmacht routine duties must have been subject to rotas in order to access "soldiers comforts" for the rank and file. The higher ranks such as the Regional Commandant would probably have their own,let's say mistresses, or more addressed by some French as "horizontal collaborators"as likely would be the women of the brothel being on the occupying force payroll.
In larger cities there were separate establishments for enlisted men and non-commissioned officers.Such Brothels were often housed in former synagogues or confiscated Jewish houses: Wehrmachtsbordell Brest. Here, the sexual hygiene of the Wehrmacht is found to be inseparable from the murderous "racial hygiene" of the Nazis. In Paris alone, for example, 29 Wehrmacht brothels were permitted in April 1941, and eleven in Caen. Of course, there were also special officers' brothels, so-called "flophouse hotels for passing officers," (Absteigehotels für durchreisende Offiziere) in which the same regulations applied as in ordinary Wehrmacht brothels. There were three of them in Paris alone (and one in Brest). Officially, German officers were expected to be role models in self-discipline. In fact, however, they enjoyed extensive privileges and made full use of them, especially in France Every client had to have himself "rehabilitated" after sex by a German medical orderly, of course Normally, sex apparently cost two to three Reichsmarks, in better-equipped brothels sometimes five Reichsmarks. Exchange rate 1941: 1RM approx. 0,10 GBP (As a continental European I only know the decimal system, please do the old conversion yourself) https://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/dba/de/search/?yearfrom=1940&yearto=1944&query=+brest,+soldatenbordell
Normally, sex apparently cost two to three Reichsmarks, in better-equipped brothels sometimes five Reichsmarks. Exchange rate 1941: 1RM approx. 0,10 GBP (As a continental European I only know the decimal system, please do the old conversion yourself) https://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/dba/de/search/?yearfrom=1940&yearto=1944&query=+brest,+soldatenbordell[/QUOTE] With that exchange rate a Reichsmark in 1941 would be equivalent to 24d,say 2 shillings ..12d amounted to a shilling. (240d in one pound sterling)... In the 1940s and into the 1950s, a decent pint of beer would cost 10d,a top bitter might cost up to 1 shilling and 3d. So that with one pound, one could buy 24 pints of beer.There was little inflation and the RAF rates of pay in the early 1950s were not much different to those set in 1940. An interesting point here is that the Reichsmark exchange was set artificially high by the Germans which meant that in addition to a country paying Germany for its occupational costs,it was further robbed with occupational costs by the Third Reich having the Reichmark set too high. Power engineering... Imperial System as a basis which eventually was replaced by the MKS System,then finally by the SI System...at home with both, although for my grandchildren of course the Imperial System is a mystery to them. However the Imperial System has some residue in that the British gas wholesale market is still traded in Therms (100000 B Th Us which is the equivalent to 29.3 kW, there being 3412 B Th Us in a kW ...the B Th U...the British Thermal Unit,commonly referred to as BTUs.
