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MANPOWERA. General Manpower Statistics and Occupational Percentages158. General Statistics*When the OT, under the administration of the Generalinspektion desDeutschen Strassenwesens, took over as its first task, the building ofthe West Wall from the Army Engineers in May 1938, it comprised roughly350,000 men. The greater part of these, approximately T$>> were theold construction hands who had worked on the Reichsautobahnen, theremainder was made up of Construction Firm employees consisting oftechnicians, skilled workers, and clerical assistants. In order tohurry things along, with prospects of war imminent the OT had beenlent additional help by the temporary attachment of about 100,000 RADpersonnel, and the Army Engineers who had begun the original constructionin 1936. The latter amounted likewise to approximately 100,000 men.The above figures, even though taken from German propaganda sources maybe accepted as reasonably accurate. Similar sources place the total0T personnel about the time of its greatest period of expansion,May 1943, at approximately a million and a half men (and women) outsidethe borders of the Reich. The latter figure, however, is not supportedby data compiled from captured German documents, unless it be understoodto include, (1) industrial labour working for 0T indirectly such asFrench cement plants and lumber mills; (2) manpower raised for 0T byshort-term levies for specific tasks; (3) supplementary manpower atone time attached to 0T, such as Rumanian and Hungarian Engineer battalions*German figures for OT personnel in the EGW alone, for example, reachas high as 600,000, but are reduced to less than half on the basis of thedocumentary sources available. (it should, however, be remembered inthis connection that manpower working for the 0T v indirectly, such as wasmentioned above, has not been taken into account" here. The total 0Tmanpower in the Reich in Feb 1945* on the other hand, is estimated atapproximately one million.159• Occupational PercentagesThe proportion of Baufacharbeiter, (skilled construction workers)to unskilled labour in the EGW was as high as 2 to 3« In other areassuch as, for instance, Russia and the Balkans, it was considerably lower.There were several reasons for this: (1) French construction firms which,by placing themselves under the direction of German contractors, Joined0T as sub-contractors, brought along their own skilled employees; (2) theskilled workers belonged for the most part to the older generationand consequently had not been captured in 1940 as prisoners of war.Their age and family responsibilities similar^ provided a reason againsttheir siabsequent deportation to Germany for factory work; (3) Wagesfor skilled workers in 0T coupled with family benefits etc. attractedmany applicants; (4) The demands upon training and skill made by thecomplexity of installations in the West, such as V-sites, were higherthan in other sectors; (5) Next to Germany, France was the greatestpotential source in continental Europe of manpower with technical training.KFor comparative Manpower Statistics see Tables VI a-e.For classification of 0T Personnel according to Nationalitysee Table V.