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11. OT Construction Activities 1942 - 1943
As to the OT's activities from May 1942 to autumn 1943* broadly
speaking, they were concerned with defensive construction, e.g. the
Atlantic Wall in the West, the Ost-Wall in the £ast, coastal
fortifications in Norway and Jutland, and with the beginning of
underground installations in Germany proper. Diversion of OT
personnel and equipment from the above activities to the repair of
Allied air raid damage in Western Europe including G-ermany proper
(Einsatz Ruhrgebiet) began in the summer of 1943 and had reached the
culminating point by the spring of 1944•
12. OT in the West before D-Day
The intensity of Allied air-raids in the winter and spring of
1943/44 caused a series of re-adjustments in OT activities in the West,
particularly in NW France. Related in chronological order, these
re-adjustments form a pattern of OT operation under pressure. I t not
only provides a documented record of the OT's activities in anticipation
of D-day; at the same time i t may be assumed to hold good, in general,
in regard to its present operations in Germany.
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First of all, as a reaction to increased Allied bombing, the
SPEER Stab fCLr die Ruhr (SPEER Special Staff for the Ruhr Area under
DipL Ing. SANDER with HQ at ESSEN), was established in July 1943 in
order 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 Industry
were represented on this staff. OT's task was "to adjust its resources
to individual conditions". As part of this "adjustment", an
QT Bergnann Kbmpanie (Miners* Company) was created and incorporated in
the QT. Einsatz Ruhrgebiet (OT Einsatz Ruhr Area). Its function was
to use the skill and experience of its personnel in rescuing people
and salvaging property after air-raids. Its members belonged to the
OT, but their wages continued to be paid by the mine owners. They
were housed in barracks and kept almost continuously on the alert.
They came from all parts of Germany, mostly, however, from the Rhineland
and Westphalia. In most mining districts, each mine had to release one
man of its rescue service to work wit ft the OT. Previously these men
had 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 and
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which worked first in the Ruhr District and subsequently in bomb-
damaged locations throughout the Reich. Consisting almost exclusively
of German personnel, it used equipment especially developed for
reconstruction and salvage operations and was also equipped with
steam-shovels, derricks, dredges, etc. At present, the OT in the Ruhr
and Rhine valleys continues to carry out these tasks. Manpower for
the OT in these bomb saturated areas of the Reich is obtained from
prisoner of war personnel in Germany, especially Russian.
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In work of a technical and strategic nature, such as repairs to
communications systems in large cities, OT skilled personnel is under
the over-all direction of the Technische Nothilfe, or TENO, (Technical
Baergency Corps). Members of TENO, while at work directing repairs
for the resumption of normal activities, are at the same time on the
alert for signs of sabotage and incipient uprisings.
In January 1944* an order prescribed that employees of OT firms
be organised into training units for rifle and pistol practice.
The units were termed Wehr- und Ausbildungsgemeinschaften (Defence
and Training Units), and elaborate regulations concerning their
training programme were laid down. The programme, however, fell
through, mainly owing to lack of fit personnel.