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11. OT Construction Activities 1942 - 1943As to the OT's activities from May 1942 to autumn 1943* broadlyspeaking, they were concerned with defensive construction, e.g. theAtlantic Wall in the West, the Ost-Wall in the £ast, coastalfortifications in Norway and Jutland, and with the beginning ofunderground installations in Germany proper. Diversion of OTpersonnel and equipment from the above activities to the repair ofAllied air raid damage in Western Europe including G-ermany proper(Einsatz Ruhrgebiet) began in the summer of 1943 and had reached theculminating point by the spring of 1944•12. OT in the West before D-DayThe intensity of Allied air-raids in the winter and spring of1943/44 caused a series of re-adjustments in OT activities in the West,particularly in NW France. Related in chronological order, thesere-adjustments form a pattern of OT operation under pressure. I t notonly provides a documented record of the OT's activities in anticipationof D-day; at the same time i t may be assumed to hold good, in general,in regard to its present operations in Germany.First of all, as a reaction to increased Allied bombing, theSPEER Stab fCLr die Ruhr (SPEER Special Staff for the Ruhr Area underDipL Ing. SANDER withHQ at ESSEN), was established in July 1943 inorder to co-ordinate the activities of the agencies engaged in rescue,salvage, repair and reconstruction work in the Ruhr and Rhine valleys.Besides the OT, the Wehrmacht, the DAP (German Labour Front) and Industrywere represented on this staff. OT's task was "to adjust its resourcesto individual conditions". As part of this "adjustment", anQT Bergnann Kbmpanie (Miners* Company) was created and incorporated inthe QT. Einsatz Ruhrgebiet (OT Einsatz Ruhr Area). Its function wasto use the skill and experience of its personnel in rescuing peopleand salvaging property after air-raids. Its members belonged to theOT, but their wages continued to be paid by the mine owners. Theywere housed in barracks and kept almost continuously on the alert.They came from all parts of Germany, mostly, however, from the Rhinelandand Westphalia. In most mining districts, each mine had to release oneman of its rescue service to work wit ft the OT. Previously these menhad been part of the Selbstschutz (Civilian Self-protection Organisation).A report dated January 1944, mentioned the OT Bergungsregiment aPiSflb(Rescue and Salvage Regiment SPEER) which was formed late in 19439 andwhich worked first in the Ruhr District and subsequently in bombdamagedlocations throughout the Reich. Consisting almost exclusivelyof German personnel, it used equipment especially developed forreconstruction and salvage operations and was also equipped withsteam-shovels, derricks, dredges, etc. At present, the OT in the Ruhrand Rhine valleys continues to carry out these tasks. Manpower forthe OT in these bomb saturated areas of the Reich is obtained fromprisoner of war personnel in Germany, especially Russian.In work of a technical and strategic nature, such as repairs tocommunications systems in large cities, OT skilled personnel is underthe over-all direction of the Technische Nothilfe, or TENO, (TechnicalBaergency Corps). Members of TENO, while at work directing repairsfor the resumption of normal activities, are at the same time on thealert for signs of sabotage and incipient uprisings.In January 1944* an order prescribed that employees of OT firmsbe organised into training units for rifle and pistol practice.The units were termed Wehr- und Ausbildungsgemeinschaften (Defenceand Training Units), and elaborate regulations concerning theirtraining programme were laid down. The programme, however, fellthrough, mainly owing to lack of fit personnel.