Book - `OTHERWISE OCCUPIED` BY mICHAEL hOWARD
WHEN the curtain finally fell on six years of fighting at the end of the Second World War, the thoughts of most soldiers immediately switched to returning home.
But for a young officer awaiting his first posting, the surrender of the German Army marked the start of an important mission to aid the UK’s recovery and neutralise future threats from central Europe. After joining the ranks of the Rifle Brigade, Michael Howard found himself posted to TForce, a small unit tasked with stripping crucial assets from Germany and transferring them to the miIitary ranks at home. His account of this vital work has been brought to life in Otherwise Occupied, a narrative of his time in the Ruhr that is vividly captured in the letters he wrote to his mother while serving. “We were involved in the business of removing machines, equipment, documents, blueprints, patents and personal ities. We were only there for a short time and wanted to do
something interesting and use- While the accounts described ful while we had the chance.” unravelled more than 60 years ago, Howard has endured a “Initially we were looking for long wait for the story to be the means to continue waging printed. war against the Japanese at a He made his first attempt to time when nobody knew about write the book in 1966. He apthe atom bomb.” proached the War Office, and asked if he could count on their “But a great deal of what we cooperation. He got a pretty did was also aimed at helping po-faced replay saying ‘we the engineering industry at can’t stop you but you need to home.” show us it first’. Howard explains that Germany was way ahead of its rivals in terms of military capability and that removing technology, as well as the brains behind the developments, was a huge boost to Britain’s Armed Forces. “The Royal Air Force benefitted more than any other Service,” he added. “By the end of the war they had superior jet aircraft and wind tunnel testing was well advanced.
ten account of an often-overlooked post-war period. The letters to his mother form interesting starting points for the author to expand on his experiences in Germany and tell the story of what his job entailed.
Military historians seeking a thorough analysis of the work of T-Force may yearn for greater depth, but Howard has inHowever, all the documents sisted this was never his aim that would support such a his- for the book. tory were still held under secret embargo or were in the proc- Instead, he has written an eness of being destroyed. As they joyable social history that comwere restricting and disposing bines his unique role in the of the files they were not about Service with the wider obserto cooperate with his desire to vations of a young soldier durwrite a book. ing his first posting.
He tried again in 1984/85 and the situation was pretty much the same. Of the 249 tonnes of documents that came over from Germany, less than two tonnes remain. What survived “There was no gunner in the was released into the Public British Army who would not Records and National Archive have given their right arm for in 2007. the German 88 as an anti-aircraft and anti-tank gun. It Howard’s refusal to abandon was better than anything we the project has certainly paid had.” off as Otherwise Occupied offers an intriguing and well-writ-
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Her Majesty’s Body Guard of Honourable Corps of Gentlemen RGJRA
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Please remember that this publication is only intended for on screen viewing and that attempts to print out these pages are not likely to be successful. We aim to draw the attention of all former members of the regiment to forthcoming events on a quarterly basis covering not only the main Association annual forecast but also news at officer club and branch level. To make this Ezine a success all branches and individuals are asked to contribute whenever possible. Please send articles for inclusion to the email address above before the 1st of the publication month.
Page 11
“Among Her Majesty’s Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms on duty for the Royal Wedding, and having changed in the Royal Mews, were the Lieutenant (Lt Col Peter Chamberlin - 5th from right) and Harbingerdesignate (Col Mike Robertson - 2nd from left). Other currently serving RGJ Gentlemen, but not summoned for duty that day, are Lt Col Peter Browne and Maj Jeremy Russell. Travel to the Abbey was by motor coach rather than the vehicle shown!”
