大象传媒

Just before the peace treaty was signed on Luneberg Heath in 1945, Denmark was flooded with German troops fleeing the Russians, who had advanced as far as Berlin. During the war Germany had many bases in Denmark and they were still in control of the banks and provisions. Realising they were about to be defeated, and fearing shortages once the war was over, the German High Command gave orders for the troops in Denmark to be given three months pay in advance.This caused a drain on the Danish banks, so the Danish government asked the Allied Command to sort out the situation.
My father, Donald Gould, was at that time a Flying Officer with the 2nd TAF based in the Ruhr. A few days after the war,without any explanation, he was summoned, with two other accountants, to Luneberg Heath to report to an army colonel for instructions. They were each to cover an area of Denmark, visiting all the German camps and retrieving as much money as they could. Donald was given Northern Denmark and he made his HQ in the German camp at Aalborg. The Germans had been disarmed by the Allied troops and the RAF was in control of thei camps.The three accountants had to go to each camp in their area, audit the accounts and, when they had found out how much money had been paid out to the troops, ask for two thirds of it back. German commanders were given two weeks to retrive the money and, if it had already been spent,were to order the goods to be sold.The money from each unit was then taken back to the bank it had been drawn from.
For the couple of months that Donald was there, he was treated very well by the Germans: he lived in their midst and was made extremely comfortable; he was saluted all round the camps, and in the Officers' Mess, where he was the only Englishman, everyone was very polite and made efforts to converse with him in English. He was even appointed a valet who brought his shaving water to him each morning, and he was provided with a beautiful radio set. Donald thinks that this deferential treatment stemmed from their fear of the Russians - the Germans were dependent on Allied protection so they could not afford to lose their goodwill. Consequently, nearly every camp complied with his orders, their books were in order and the money was returned. Only one Unit -a hospital unit - burnt their books and was unco-operative.Donald subsequently allowed each unit a certain amount of money to run the camps.
The Germans needed protection not only from the Russians but from the Danes, who were eager to avenge themselves of years of occupation. One of Donald's worst jobs was having to mediate with the Danish Resistance who wanted to get into a German camp and retrieve Danish goods themselves.Fearing a bloodbath, Donald had a meeting with them and insisted that he would only allow them to enter the camp if a RAF Sergeant accompanied each Dane during their search. Consequently, at 6am one morning, surprising the Germans while they were still in bed, a thorough search was made of the camp: floorboards were ripped up and stocks of cheeses, hams, clothing and other goods were found. The women - mainly wives who had accompanied their husbands, and in many cases with their children - tried to pretend that they had brought the clothes with them from Berlin.The situation was highly charged and Donald was afraid that things would get out of control, especially as there were youths as young as 14 amongst the Danes, brandishing Sten guns. The Resistance wanted to share the goods out amongst themselves but Donald insisted on contacting the Commander for advice. He was told that the RAF was to take control of the goods, and these were later distributed to hospitals and other charities.
The next day Donald saw his name in the headlines on the local paper, but as it was in Danish, he could not understand any of it. He still regrets not having bought a copy as a souvenir.He still has his notebook with details of his inspections of the German camps.

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