From "The All Americans in WW2, A photographic history of the 82nd Airborne Division at war" by Philip Nordyke. " The division was loaded on trains at the end of July and arrived in Berlin between Aug 1 and 8th. There were several clashes with gangs of unruly Soviet troops, in which about twenty of them were killed during the first month the division spent in Berlin. The Soviets learned to watch their behaviour around the 82nd Airborne division troopers." Anyone know what these clashes were all about and did the other Allied forces also end up killing Red Army soldiers? I think there would be Allied casualties as well. Thanx for any info!
Other than the Nordyke book, I'm hitting a brick wall trying to find information about these clashes. I hope someone can shed more light on this. I'm curious.
When the 82nd Airborne Division initially took charge of their zone in Berlin they were specifically told that they could not intervene in the actions of other allied troops. All allies had free access at this point to each other's zones although US troops were forbidden to do so unless given permission. The Soviets took full advantage of this situation and went wherever they wanted in marauding groups. Realising that the situation was getting out of hand, it was decided that the USA as law enforcers in their zone were entitled to stop looting raping etc. at least 20 Soviet soldiers were shot during the firs month. Thank goodness common sense prevailed. It must have been excruciating for the decent trooper to have o turn a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the Soviets. I will later post a reference for this info when I can find it again!
This site has info on the 82nd's occupation time in Berlin and observations from William A. Clark who was an 82nd paratrooper. It tells about lethal confrontations between 82nd personnel and Soviet troops, about half way down the page. The whole page is an interesting read, something I was unaware of. http://ww2tribute.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-82nd-airborne-divisions-occupation.html
Thanks for the insight. This is something I was unaware of. The 82nd deserves all the plaudits given to it.
I found this reference, "By mid-August of 1945, US troops in Berlin were still attempting to eject the last remnants of the Russian Army from the Western sectors of the city. Soviet forces had previous dominated the area, and the process of removing them had been hampered by the Allied reparations agreement allowing the Soviets to strip the city of industrial infrastructure. In addition from the end of the war to the arrival of U.S: military personnel, the Soviets quickly established a citywide civilian police force dominated by communists. These factors caused much consternation for U.S. commanders because Western style police procedures frequently clashed with those of the East." American Military Police in Europe, 1945-1991: Unit Histories by Robert L Gunnarsson, Sr.