Geologists and the German Armed Forces

German armed forces made use of about 400 geologists who served as such during World War II: the largest number of any nation in wartime. Most served as military geologists (Wehrgeologen) within the German Army, in an organization first developed in World War I. By November 1943 this comprised 40 teams of geologists, mostly led by a uniformed official (Technischer Kriegsverwaltungsrat: TKVR) with rank equivalent to that of major (and a deputy equivalent to captain) but with authority to provide technical advice rather than to take command decisions. The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) also made use of a large number of geologists as uniformed officials, for construction works associated not only with airfields but other sites that related to aerial defence. These geologists also supported the paramilitary construction agency Organisation Todt, which at its peak employed about 1.5 million men, notably in construction of the Atlantic Wall: intermittent fortifications that marked the western boundary of German-occupied Europe, including the Channel Islands. A few geologists were assigned to the Navy, or to other service or joint-service establishments. The Fuhrer Adolf Hitler’s instructions in June and October of 1941 to fortify the Channel Islands as permanent outposts of the German state, and his directive of March 1942 for construction of the Atlantic Wall, gave scope for geologists to be deployed on the Islands in most of these roles.