You are soldiers. Don't forget that: the operations of British and Canadian civil affairs detachments in the Netherlands 1944-1945

Abstract

This thesis re-examines the role of civil affairs in the liberation of the Netherlands. The Netherlands provides an excellent case study of Canadian and British civil affairs activities in one country, as well as illustrating the challenges of civil affairs when liberation proved to be slower than planning had anticipated, and in fact remained static in some areas for long periods. As a branch of the military, civil affairs addressed civilian problems to ensure they did not impede upon military operations. After the initial invasion of Northwest Europe in1944, civil affairs for this study included British and Canadian service members and fell under the command of 21st Army Group. They followed that Army Group through the Channel Ports and into the Netherlands. They served alongside their American counterparts in the European Civil Affairs Division (ECAD), having previously been intertwined. Previous studies have relied primarily on archival documents of higher-level formations in the War Office (WO) and Cabinet (CAB) papers. In contrast, this thesis is the first to analyze reports and war diaries from the very lowest level of the civil affairs branch, the basic detachment. These units were the boots on the ground in various Dutch municipalities. These documents reveal the untold story of localized success, based on the problem-solving abilities of the officers in the various Dutch towns and provinces, working first hand with the Dutch population and authorities. This thesis also includes a first collective biography of 10 officers. Using previously untapped primary sources the thesis adds additional evidence for some of the conclusions of previous studies, while also presenting a new picture of local level activity which was the main content of civil affairs activity and its justification.

Date of Award	Jun 2024
Original language	English
Supervisor	Peter O'Connor (Supervisor) & Ian Thatcher (Supervisor)