HN 2: The British and their Works

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4 4.1 The new man Steps to Normality From an early stage, the Industry Division in Minden was interested in seeing the German management becoming stronger and more independent. Throughout the British zone, the military government was obliged to make a drastic reduction to its exorbitant occupation costs by dismantling the administration system. The amalgamation of the American and British zones of occupation on 1st January 1947 was a vital step in this direction, since Great Britain’s war debts with the USA had brought it to the brink of economic ruin. After the decision to set up the Bizone, which was a boost for the proponents of reconstruction, the British military government’s medium-term policy was directed at returning the factory to German hands, as Colonel Radclyffe stated at the meeting of the Board of Control in early December 1946. Because production had now been organised and sufficient numbers of vehicles could be produced, he asserted that there was no longer any need to exert strict control. 193 The Board of Control’s plans involved transferring responsibility from the Mechanical Engineering Branch to the Property Control Branch and entrusting the latter’s on-site representative, F. T. Neal, with the position formerly occupied by Ivan Hirst. Together with Colonel Radclyffe, Hirst was to maintain a relaxed supervision of production through flying visits. Major Hirst was withdrawn in December 1946 and sent home on leave. The Property Control had raised objections to this decision as it doubted strongly whether the interests of the Military Government would be adequately protected under the new arrangement. As it soon turned out, these doubts were justified. The first attempt to transfer governance of the company to the German management turned into a fiasco. Left to its own devices, in the grave crisis of 1946/47 the factory management proved incapable of keeping the operation going and attacking the numerous problems to the satisfaction of the British. It failed in its attempts to secure a regulated provision of raw materials, and instead got itself entangled, at least in the view of the Military Government, in dubious black-market deals with the support of the Economic Administrative Office. Major Hirst was hastily recalled and despite his official posting spent the majority of the time performing his previous job in Wolfsburg, helping to control the chaotic conditions. After this experience the British temporarily shelved the idea of returning the company entirely to German hands. It was feared, probably correctly, that once control had been relinquished, supplies to the Allies would no longer be assured. Major Hirst, now a civilian employee of the German Section of the British Foreign Office, was officially recalled to the Volkswagenwerk and assumed the position of Senior Control Officer. 194 There was, however, no alternative to a strengthening of the management. At the end of May 1947 the Bizone powers had set up the "Wirtschaftsrat für das Vereinigte Wirtschaftsgebiet" (Economic Council for the United Economic Region), thus creating a German quasi-parliament. This was one reason why in the summer of 1947 the Board of Control of the Volkswagenwerk envisaged the setting up of a corporate Board of Management.
Minutes for the 11th meeting of the Board of Control on 6 December 1946. Major Hirst informed the management of the new situation at the end of July. Because the Economic Council in Frankfurt was a higher instance, the military government could no longer exert pressure of command on authorities and suppliers in the British zone. The factory management was therefore to be reorganised into a Board of Management vested with increased responsibility and more powers. This would have to fight, both for production and for the procurement of the necessary materials, through constant negotiations with the Economic Council and its subordinate authorities. The British resident officer assured it of the full support of the British and American military government in the forthcoming negotiations. 195 The new requirements, and the expansion of production striven for by the British, demanded an experienced technological expert, since this position had been more or less vacant since Brörmann’s dismissal. Hermann Münch, an industrial lawyer by profession, could not fill this gap. His appointment as general manager was probably more a question of a lack of alternatives than of unrestricted confidence in his abilities. In Major Hirst’s view he was a good manager as far as legal and financial matters were concerned. According to Hirst however, he had insufficient technical knowledge to deal with the manufacturing problems of a large automotive company. In support of the general manager, Hirst recommended the Board of Control to look around for a technical expert. 196 78 79 THE NEW MAN
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The British and their Works The Vol
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1 2 3 4 PREFACE 4 1. THE LUCK OF TH
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This applies as much to the service
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Radclyffe, head of the Mechanical E
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survived the attacks practically un
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British officers inspect a saloon c
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The Volkswagenwerk also had its own
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Workers remove the roof of a saloon
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The laxity of this procedure outrag
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Major Hirst (right) in discussion w
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However, accommodation in Wolfsburg
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individuals in positions of respons
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The absence of special tools led to
Page 27 and 28: visional compromise permitted sale
Page 29 and 30: British soldiers take delivery of t
Page 31 and 32: Wing Commander Richard H. Berryman,
Page 33 and 34: Final assembly line at the Wolfsbur
Page 35 and 36: On 17 June 1946, chief trustee Dr.
Page 37 and 38: General manager Münch approached t
Page 39 and 40: Under the pressure of the material
Page 41 and 42: Arrival in Wolfsburg of Displaced P
Page 43 and 44: The factory management deliberated
Page 45 and 46: Owing to the chronic lack of living
Page 47 and 48: A lack of supplies meant that the V
Page 49 and 50: 2.3 Works council in the deficit ec
Page 51 and 52: Due to the works council’s engage
Page 53 and 54: enlistment at a meeting of the prod
Page 55 and 56: After the production restarted in M
Page 57 and 58: Volkswagenwerk. As required by thes
Page 59 and 60: The service school began running co
Page 61 and 62: The Jeep repair workshop celebrates
Page 63 and 64: In spite of all these difficulties,
Page 65 and 66: corrosion between filler and topcoa
Page 67 and 68: defects. Josef Kales, the head of t
Page 69 and 70: that he had rejected to production,
Page 71 and 72: the adherence to manufacturing tole
Page 73 and 74: The Ministries of Trade and Supply
Page 75 and 76: therefore arose as to whether the t
Page 77: compared to other manufacturers. Ma
Page 81 and 82: Supplies of raw materials still det
Page 83 and 84: The first press conference of the g
Page 85 and 86: In the upturn after the currency re
Page 87 and 88: workforce at the Volkswagenwerk inc
Page 89 and 90: For all its criticism of the bureau
Page 91 and 92: Colonel Radclyffe signed the takeov
Page 93 and 94: fident, since "nowadays when people
Page 95 and 96: 40 Notes by Brörmann dated 12 th A
Page 97 and 98: 162 Kales to Münch, 30 th December
Page 99: Picture Sources REME Archives and M
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HN 2: The British and their Works

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