Black market
The shortage of food and other supplies immediately after the German surrender meant that illegal commerce, the so-called ‘black market’, filled the void. The wartime Reichsmark (RM)was almost worthless, so goods like cigarettes and coffee served asmakeshift currency. Many goods were supplied to illegal traders by Allied servicemen.
British soldiers often bought goods cheaply in staff canteens and NAAFI shops, which were reserved for their use only, and sold them on the black market for RMs. Initially, RMs were accepted in Army canteens and stores and could be used to buy more goods, or converted into sterling and sent home as money orders. For example, a packet of NAAFI-issued cigarettes, which cost 1-2 shillings (5-10p), could be sold for 160RM on the black market, worth £4 at the official rate of exchange of 40RM to £1.
The CCG tried to stamp out the black market by investigating suspects, raiding markets and checking traffic at road blocks. In February 1948 alone, over 4,200 people were arrested for black market activities in the British zone.
From 1946, military involvement in the trade was partlycurtailed by issuing troops with British Armed Forces Special Vouchers. This meant they had a different currency from the locals, and the only one accepted in NAAFI canteens and various messes.
But the wider black market was only fully ended by West Germany’s economic recovery and byissuing a stable and trusted new currency, theDeutsche Mark (DM).
Germans queueing for food in Pinneberg, 1945
German youths being beaten for stealing from British troops, 1945
Non-fraternisation
From theArmy's first crossing into enemy territory,personnel were expressly forbidden to have any social contact with Germans. In March 1945, Field MarshalMontgomerysent a letter outlining the policyto allsoldiers in21st Army Group. Itsmain focus was on enforcing a sense of defeat on the Germans:
‘Twenty-seven years ago the Allies occupied Germany: but Germany has been at war ever since. Our Army took no revenge in 1918; it was more than considerate… So accommodating were the occupying forces that the Germans came to believe that we would never fight them again in any cause. From that moment to this their continued aggression has brought misery to millions.’
Field Marshal Montgomery's non-fraternisation letter, March 1945
Notice from Montgomery relaxing fraternisation rules, July 1945
