Law Enforcement and Investigation in frontline army areas

Hello,

How would law enforcement and crime investigation needs be carried out in the frontline armies, when deployed in campaign areas?

Of course MP units would take care of petty crime and misdemeanour, but what about serious crimes as murder or rape? Were MP personnel (or at least a part of them) selected because of various civilian police backgrounds, and so some people with experience in investigation would be at hand? Or was this the responsibility or other, more specialized, branches or units?

Would civilian policemen be temporarily attached to the army for such specific purposes, if available? I mean, this course of action does not seem likely for the US Army in the ETO for instance, but looks feasible for German or Soviet armies in their homeland.

I guess or spionage or political related crime would be dealt with by intelligence or secret service organizations like Abwehr, MI6, SOE or OSS, or political police organizations, like the German Gestapo or Abwehr, or the Soviet NKVD.

Regards!

 

Hi JakeGittes,

My suggestion will not answer all of your queries, but might give you some insight into some. I am currently reading a book called "The Fifth Field" by Col. French L. MacLean. It details how the US military dealt with the prosecution and execution of 96 US servicemen convicted of the serious crimes of rape and murder in the ETO and MTO.These dishonorable dead or "bad eggs" were all reinterred in 1949 to a "secret cemetery", a secluded section from public view in the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery in northern France. This section is referred to as the "Fifth Field" or "Plot E". It is a darker and not as well known story of WWII but interesting and should answer some of the question you have raised, I do recommend the book to you. Have a good one!

 

I recall coming across some JAG files from WWII a couple of years ago. Maybe on the Fold3.com website, but I'm not sure about that. One in particular had to do with a soldier (or soldiers?) accused of raping a civilian woman. That's about all I recall. Obviously, JAG is the legal entity and you seem to be interested in the law enforcement/investigative end of things. However, the documents may mention who the investigators were.

I think buk2112 has a good suggestion. Try to find incidents that have been written about in a book and take advantage of someone else's research.