Scenes of War - Rear Area

The rear area was the link between the front and the homeland. Without a well-functioning rear area the front was not effective.

At the head of the entire rear-area organization of an army stood the Inspector-General of the Rear-Area and Railway Service.

Each army had its own rear area, which was headed by a rear-area inspector.

Beyond the rear-area region there were also special administrations in the form of general governments in the occupied territories (e.g., Belgium).

In the East proper administrative districts were formed. In Romania there was a separate military administration.

These rear-area commands were assigned the officers, officials and soldiers required by the army.

The rear-area organization maintained the rear connections of the troops deployed at the front with the homeland.

The primary task of the rear area was to ensure the needs of the army, i.e. the supply of food, fodder, equipment parts, weapon components, ammunition, etc.; at the same time it was also responsible for the civil administration of territories occupied by German troops.

Furthermore, soldiers passing through the rear area had to be checked, e.g. en route to the homeland or when returning from home leave or from a military hospital.

In the rear area the troops also recovered from front-line service, were reinforced and trained.

This is also where the field recruit depots were located.

In the rear area there was also a military court council and Landsturm units as rear-area troops as well as the field gendarmerie.

The railways and bridges had to be protected.

In the rear area there were field bookshops, field post offices, military hospitals, supply depots, workshops, but also agricultural and industrial production.

For the latter purposes so-called economic companies were formed (a total of 344).

So-called collection companies additionally salvaged captured equipment and material of the enemy. Furthermore, labor battalions formed from prisoners of war and/or from civilians were also employed.

In the homeland there were (21) clothing offices. Soldiers and officials worked here with the task of ensuring adequate clothing and equipment for the German troops and also with their manufacture (craft departments).

From the year 1914 a Clothing Procurement Office was established. With this, they moved away from decentralized procurement.

Furthermore, the shortage of raw materials posed a major challenge for army administration and the clothing industry. The answer was rationing and centralization.

Since domestic textile fibers were scarce, paper fabrics made from wood cellulose were increasingly used. This material was produced from local tree stocks. However, the production of paper and paper-blend fabrics was not simple and not very sustainable.

In the rear-area region, clothing depots also existed.

Here, the equipment parts manufactured in the homeland were collected, stored and distributed. Furthermore, workshops for refurbishment, repair, etc. existed.