Yesterday's Weapons Forums

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gschwertley
Private Property and Wartime

How many times over the years have we watched documentaries of soldiers fighting in cities and on farms? The soldiers are seen fighting wherever they might be, in homes, gardens, farm fields, and so on. I never thought about this when I was younger, but somewhere along the line, it occurred to me, "Those guys are fighting in someone's home." Just think of the homeowner; if I looked out my window and saw these guys walking through my yard, my first reaction would be to go out and tell them to get the hell out of there. Dire consequences might follow, depending on the combatants.

I distinctly remember scenes from the movie "A Bridge Too Far" where the Brits commandeer Dutch homes overlooking the Arnheim bridge for firing positions. They enter the home, say "Excuse me" and start ripping down curtains and pushing furniture out of the way. Of course as the battle ensues, the home gets destroyed.

There were many cases late in WW2 in Germany where German Army forces were setting up positions in towns and were asked by civilians to relocate elsewhere. If the Army parks a Tiger tank beside your house, what is likely to happen to your house?
"Sehr schwer, mein Herr"

mikmarjon
Some how I doubt that the insurance will pay off also. It's hard to imagine here in the heart of USA something like that but it does and could here.

MasterCork
Good point, rubble was once a person home or someone's business. In some ways those whose property was used by the Allied forces in friendly countries were reimbursed. The Japanese and German post war economies were helped recover and the people kept from mass starvation. I guess the best news to a farmer in Holland and other places was that the german tiger tank in his barn was destroyed and Nazi's driven out. Clearly the Japanese Empire and Nazi's showed that they were looters and murders enjoying causing misery. Thank God the 'good side' won in WW1 and WW2. As bad as things are in the old Soviet empire the people have to be off than under murdering Joe Stalin?
Nothing covers the unlimited suffering of war and long term effects on the survivors not both the winning and losing sides does it?
Thanks for the thought provoking post.

A square 10
ive often looked at areas where i live with the thought of strategic position , most of the time the area had little value , but a few times [[1980+/-] it would overlook major elements of transportation routes the interstate 80-mississipi river-arsenal island in davenport iowa would have been the most value i suspect , but i actualy had position over a major bridge over the mississippi here as well in one house i had two decades ago , otherwise it would mean i was between two valuable points and the logistically sensible route in order to fall into the situation and i doubt where i am now would fit that bill in this day and age ,

gschwertley
I think most homeowner's and car insurance companies have "acts of war" exclusionary clauses in them. Interestingly, they also have "nuclear incident" exclusions too.

There was a movie made in 1984 called "Red Dawn" that postulates a war on the US that takes place on home soil. Also, if you want to read a good book about "what if" we got involved in a nuclear war, check out "War Day" by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, also published in 1984.
"Sehr schwer, mein Herr"

Kar98AZfan
I know my homeowners has an "acts of war" clause,I'll have to look about the "nuclear incident one.Keep in mind that in WW2 at least,soldiers could be held liable for "non combat" related damages.My uncle and his crew accidentally put the barrel of the 155 gun he was in charge of thru a French farm house-they extracted the gun from the house,and left in a hurry as they were afraid they have to pay for the house.-TR
Never fail to do right.This will gratify some people and astonish the rest-Mark Twain

gschwertley
My guess would be that a whole lot more property owners were not compensated for damages than those who were.

In Germany after the war ended, the US occupation forces commandeered whatever buildings they wanted. I do not know what compensation/rental arrangements were made, but I know families were thrown out on the streets in minutes when we found a building we wanted to use. For example, the US Zone of Occupation HQ was located in the former I.G. Farben office building in Frankfurt.

A buddy of mine had his father tell why he had to pay one-fifth of the value of a gaushaus. He slid a tank through it! That was an interesting story.