ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how exploitation was conducted in its most comprehensive phase; the months and years immediately following the capitulation, when Germany lay completely at the mercy of its Allied occupiers. The end of the war and the relative stability of the occupation period saw the demise of the opportunist, cavalier approach to exploitation, as the emphasis shifted from enterprising field-based units. The origins of exploitation lay within the realms of espionage and the initial responsibility for its co-ordination lay with the Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee. The investigators who were despatched to Germany by Combined Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee and British Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee (BIOS) from 1945 onwards were a diverse collection of people – men and women, of all ages, from across Britain and drawn from all variety of scientific, technical and industrial backgrounds. Many of the investigators were sourced from private industry, during their time on BIOS trips they were considered to be official representatives of the British government.
