Demobilisation of the British Army D26322

At the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, there were approximately five million servicemembers in the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

. The demobilisation and reassimilation of this vast force back into civilian life was one of the first and greatest challenges facing the postwar British government.

Demobilisation plan

The wartime

Minister of Labour and National Service The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment. In 2001 the employment functions w ...

and Britain's first post-war

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwe ...

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in th ...

, was the chief architect of the

demobilisation Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milit ...

plan. The speed of its introduction was attributed to the tide of public opinion, which favoured slogans and policies that appealed to peace and disengagement. According to some sources, it was also driven by the labour shortage due to post-war reconstruction. The plan received bipartisan support, which was not seen during the 1930s when Labour and Conservative positions lacked consensus. The details involving the criteria and framework for demobilisation was unveiled to the public on 22 September 1944. It was scheduled to be implemented on 18 June 1945 and, a month before that date, British soldiers were already well informed about the process, including the welfare system that would support the veterans. Under the plan, most servicemen and servicewomen were to be released from the armed forces according to their 'age-and-service number', which, as its name suggests, was calculated from their age and the months they had served in uniform. A small number of so-called 'key men' whose occupational skills were vital to postwar reconstruction were to be released ahead of their turn. Married women and men aged fifty or more were also given immediate priority. Demobilisating service personnel passed through special demobilisation centres.

Release process

The release process began on schedule, about six weeks after

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...

. Decommissioned soldiers received a demobilisation grant and a set of civilian clothing, which included the so-called "

demob suit A demob suit was a suit of civilian clothes given to a man on his demobilisation from the British armed forces at the end of the Second World War. Although the suits were of good quality, the need to clothe millions of demobilising servicemen le ...

", shirts, underclothes, raincoats, hat, and shoes. At the end of 1945, demobilised soldiers reached 750,000 and this number doubled two months later after Japan's surrender. By 1947, about 4.3 million men and women returned to '

civvy street "CivvyStreet" (sometimes written as "Civvy Street") is a spin-off episode of the British television soap opera ''EastEnders'', broadcast on BBC1 on 26 December 1988. The episode is a flashback to World War II and is set at Christmas 1942. The epis ...

'. The process was not without controversy. Frustration at the allegedly slow pace of release led to a number of disciplinary incidents in all branches of the armed services in the winter of 1945-6, most famously the so-called RAF 'strikes' in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. This frustration led to the abandonment of some of the pre-release programmes.

Personal challenges

Aside from the institutional problems of release, returning service-men and -women faced all kinds of personal challenges on their return to civilian life. Britain had undergone six years of

bombardment A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings. Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...

and

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are leg ...

, and there was a

shortage In economics, a shortage or excess demand is a situation in which the demand for a product or service exceeds its supply in a market. It is the opposite of an excess supply ( surplus). Definitions In a perfect market (one that matches a s ...

of many of the basic essentials of living, including food, clothing, and housing. Husbands and wives also had to adjust to living together again after many years apart. One indicator of the social problems this caused was the postwar

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving th ...

rate; over 60,000 applications were processed in 1947 alone, a figure that would not be reached again until the 1960s.Allport (2009), p. 87

Demobilisation centres

At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, British servicemen and women returned to civilian life by passing through a

centre. Personnel returning to this country from abroad for the purpose of release passed first through a disembarkation unit. They then went on to a dispersal unit.

Military Disembarkation Camp Units

Military Dispersal Units

References and sources

;References ;Sources *

Alan Allport Alan Allport (born 1970) is a British historian whose work looks at the relationship between war and society during the period of the two world wars. He was born in Whiston, Merseyside and moved to the United States in 1994. Allport received ...

, ''Demobbed: Coming Home After the Second World War'', Yale University Press, 2009, * Hansard - HL Deb 17 October 1945 vol 137 cc353-5

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demobilisation Of The British Armed Forces After World War Ii 1945 in the United Kingdom 1940s in military history Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II British Armed Forces Aftermath of World War II in the United Kingdom