The Sutlers Supreme

10 Groschen Worth of NAAFI History

(Part Two) 

From Victory to Occupation: A New Kind of Mission

On 29 July 1945, in the still-settling aftermath of war in Europe, the British Eighth Army — the formation that had battled across North Africa, Italy, and into Austria — was formally disbanded. Contemporary reports captured the moment with quiet finality rather than triumph, noting simply that the Eighth Army “ceased to exist at noon on Sunday.” For soldiers who had followed the familiar shield-and-cross badge from El Alamein to the Alps, the announcement signalled not only the end of a famous wartime command, but the beginning of a quieter, more complex mission.

Formation badge, 8th Army and Headquarters British Troops Austria, 1945
Adopted by British Troops Austria (BTA) (c)[NAM Image number: 262384]

With victory in Europe secured, the British Army faced the enormous task of administering and stabilising its newly assigned occupation zone in southern Austria. Combat formations that, only weeks earlier, had been fighting up the Italian peninsula were now required to shift abruptly. Their new roles centred on governance, security, reconstruction, and the daily administration of a civilian population. From this point forward, the demands on welfare, supply, and creature comforts — the domain of NAAFI and its operational arm, the Expeditionary Forces Institutes (EFI) — would become more vital than ever.

The disbandment of the Eighth Army marked not just a military transition, but a shift in priorities. As British formations settled into occupation zones across Carinthia and Styria, the daily rhythms of governance — rebuilding roads and railways, rationing supplies, and restoring morale — came to the fore. Two press clippings from the period capture this shift with quiet clarity.

Press cutting from The Scotsman 30 Nov 1945: British occupation duties in Austria begin, 1945

Editorial Note:

This article marks the moment when military formations pivoted from battlefield command to bureaucratic responsibility. It’s a reminder that peacekeeping demanded just as much coordination — and that NAAFI’s role in provisioning and morale was about to become central.

Provincial reporting emphasising both the achievements of the Eighth Army and the realities facing its men in Austria. (The Bradford Observer, 30 July 1945)

Editorial Note:

This clipping offers a more personal view of the postwar transition — rest centres, fraternisation, and the quiet comforts of Austrian lakeside life. It reminds us that behind every token exchange or queue for cigarettes stood a soldier seeking a return to normality — and that NAAFI’s mission was as emotional as it was operational.

The Quiet Burden: Repatriation and Moral Complexity

Amid the administrative challenges of occupation, British troops were also tasked with duties that weighed heavily on morale. In the months following the German surrender, Allied forces were ordered to oversee the repatriation of many tens of thousands of displaced persons, prisoners of war, and foreign military units — including individuals who had fought alongside the Axis or who were politically opposed to emerging regimes in Eastern Europe. In Austria, this included the forced return of Cossack units and Yugoslav anti-communist forces to Soviet and Titoist authorities, often under duress and with tragic consequences. For many British soldiers, these operations were carried out with reluctance and unease. In such morally complex circumstances, the role of welfare and support services — from NAAFI canteens to rest centres — became not just a matter of comfort, but a source of psychological resilience.

Elements of the disbanded Eighth Army were quickly re-formed under the title British Troops Austria (BTA). Some units were already on the ground. The 78th Infantry Division, for example, had pushed into Carinthia after the surrender and established its headquarters in Klagenfurt, forming the backbone of the first British occupation presence. The 46th Infantry Division was held back until late July, when the withdrawal of Soviet and Yugoslav forces from the province of Styria took place, in accordance with Allied zonal agreements. After this, the 46th Infantry Division established its headquarters in the city of Graz.

Mapping the British Zone: Who Was in Charge?

Once the British Eighth Army was formally disbanded at the end of July 1945, responsibility for administering the British occupation of Austria passed to a new authority: the British Element of the Allied Commission for Austria. Led by a British Commander-in-Chief and High Commissioner, this organisation represented the British Government within the four-power administration and provided the framework through which both civilian and military authority operated in the British Zone.

Although the British Element began functioning in the summer of 1945, its internal structure continued to evolve throughout the first year of occupation. The organisational chart shown below reflects the system as it stood by July 1946, when the Commission’s departments had settled into a more developed and clearly defined form.

Organisational Chart Allied Commission for Austria (British Element)
(Photo credit - "Die Britische Steiermark" (Beer Hg.))

Editorial Note:

This chart captures the administrative complexity of the British Element within the Allied Commission for Austria. By mid-1946, its structure had matured into a layered system of military, diplomatic, and civil divisions — each tasked with stabilising postwar Austria under four-power oversight. From intelligence and transport to education and displaced persons, the chart reflects the breadth of British responsibilities, and the quiet machinery behind occupation governance.

The British Element of the Commission was divided into a series of specialist branches covering every aspect of governance — from finance, economics, and education to internal affairs, intelligence, transport, and social administration. These departments were responsible not only for liaising with Austrian provincial and municipal authorities, but also for ensuring that British forces had the administrative support, supplies, and civil-affairs infrastructure needed to function effectively in a country emerging from war, defeat, and political upheaval.

Beneath the Allied Commission sat the operational military formation responsible for day-to-day control on the ground: British Troops Austria (BTA). Headquarters BTA operated under the authority of the Commander-in-Chief and High Commissioner for Austria, ensuring that military policy aligned with the broader aims of the British Element of the Allied Commission.

BTA directed the deployment of British forces across the provinces of Carinthia, Styria, East Tyrol and the Vienna Area. These forces were no longer organised along wartime combat lines, but were instead restructured into districts and sub-areas designed for occupation duties—security, frontier control, communications, infrastructure protection, and civil liaison.

British Troops in Austria (BTA) Major Unit Organisational Chart 
(Photo credit - "Die Britische Steiermark" (Beer Hg.))

Editorial Note:

This chart outlines the structure and deployment of British Troops Austria (BTA) during the early occupation period. No longer arranged for combat, these formations were reorganised into districts and sub-areas focused on security, frontier control, and civil liaison. The presence of infantry brigades in Carinthia and Styria reflects the practical demands of postwar governance — and the quiet continuity of military discipline in a time of transition.

In Styria, responsibility fell to the 46th Infantry Division, divided into Lower Styria, Central Styria, and the Leibnitz Area. In Carinthia, the 78th Infantry Division administered East and West Carinthia, including the important 219 Sub-Area headquartered in Klagenfurt. Vienna, although jointly occupied, also contained a designated British Area with its own staff and responsibilities.

Taken together, these two charts illustrate the dual nature of Britain’s post-war presence in Austria: a formal civilian administration operating within the Allied Commission, and a military structure tasked with enforcing the terms of occupation and supporting the reconstruction of Austrian life. It was within this world of districts, sub-areas, staff branches, and headquarters that the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes — the NAAFI — were required to operate, supplying not only food and comforts, but also a crucial sense of normality to British troops scattered across the Austrian Alps and valleys.

Provisioning the Peace: NAAFI’s Infrastructure in Austria

Unlike their counterparts in North West Europe, NAAFI’s Expeditionary Forces Institutes (EFI) teams in Austria found themselves operating in a landscape largely spared the widespread destruction of war. Cities like Hamburg had been devastated by bombing, leaving EFI units to improvise amid rubble and ruin. In contrast, Austria’s southern provinces offered a relative abundance of intact infrastructure. British forces were able to repurpose existing buildings for use as Bulk Issue Stores, transport depots, mobile van hubs, canteens, and clubs. This architectural inheritance gave NAAFI a head start — allowing welfare and provisioning services to be established quickly and efficiently, even as the emotional and logistical demands of occupation grew more complex.

To maintain supply consistency, NAAFI organised its Austrian operations around a network of Bulk Issue Stores and a main distribution warehouse in Klagenfurt. The warehouse was supplied in turn by rail from Hamburg and by sea from Italy.

Bulk Issue Stores (B.I.S.s) formed the logistical backbone of NAAFI’s provisioning system in Austria. Typically situated in towns within concentrated areas, these stores were strategically positioned to support advancing or redeploying British units. As operations progressed, B.I.S.s were “leap-frogged” forward — each new store becoming operational as the need arose. Once active, a single Bulk Issue Store could supply between 60,000 and 120,000 rations per week, serving not only frontline troops but also administrative staff, welfare centres, and mobile canteen units. Their scale and efficiency made them indispensable to the British occupation effort, ensuring that food, tobacco, and essential comforts reached every corner of the zone with remarkable consistency.

Editorial Note:

This signpost from the British Garrison in Graz offers a snapshot of the layered logistics behind British occupation life. From POW cages and mobile baths to administrative offices and welfare annexes, each arrow points to a distinct part of the garrison’s operational landscape. Among them, the 55 Bulk Issue Store (BIS) stands quietly as part of NAAFI’s provisioning network — one thread in the wider tapestry of military infrastructure.

The British Zone of Austria was served by four strategically placed Bulk Issue Stores: 17 BIS in Vienna, 8 BIS in Villach, 44 BIS in Klagenfurt, and 55 BIS in Graz. These locations were carefully selected to align with British unit deployments across Carinthia, Styria, and the Vienna Area, ensuring that NAAFI’s provisioning network could reach every district and sub-area with efficiency. The stores supplied not only rations and essentials, but also the comforts and recreational items that helped sustain morale.

A vivid example comes from Gerry Chester of the North Irish Horse, who recalled being tasked with setting up an Other Ranks Recreation Centre for his unit in Wolfsberg. With permission to requisition a suitable building, Chester travelled to the NAAFI supply depot in Graz, returning with dartboards, playing cards, gramophone records, and edible treats — enough to stock what became “The Greyhound Inn,” a club run by the troops themselves. Such initiatives were not uncommon; units often established their own canteens and bars, drawing on NAAFI’s resources to create spaces of warmth, routine, and camaraderie amid the uncertainties of occupation.

Editorial Note:

Stories like Chester’s remind us that NAAFI’s role extended far beyond logistics. It was also about atmosphere — about helping to build small islands of familiarity and fellowship in unfamiliar terrain.

A Cup of Tea and a Smile: Mobile Canteens on the Move

NAAFI’s mobile canteens — often converted 15-cwt trucks or small vans — operated much as they had in Italy and North Africa, carrying compact stocks of tea, biscuits, chocolate, cigarettes, razor blades, and occasional luxuries like tinned fruit. In remote billets and hill towns where permanent canteens were unavailable, their arrival was a welcome event. Drivers regularly travelled from divisional depots in Klagenfurt and Graz to reach detachments of the 46th and 78th Infantry Divisions scattered across Carinthia and Styria. Austria’s geography made this work demanding. Mountain roads damaged by wartime retreat, fuel rationing, and fluctuating Army transport priorities all posed challenges.

Daily Routing of Mobile Canteens
in Carinthia.
Welfare Review Austria, 3rd May 1947

Editorial Note:

This daily routing schedule offers a glimpse into the quiet choreography of NAAFI’s mobile canteen service. Each listed stop — from hospitals and printing units to frontier posts and DP  camps — reflects a deliberate effort to reach troops wherever they were stationed. In a landscape shaped by distance and uncertainty, these vans delivered more than supplies; they brought routine, reassurance, and a moment of normality to the far edges of the British zone.

For many troops, the mobile canteen became a symbol of continuity — flexible, familiar, and quietly reassuring. Even in the unsettled months of 1945, the sight of a NAAFI van beside a mountain barracks reminded soldiers that the comforts of home were never far away.

Integral to NAAFI’s mobile operations in Austria were members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the women’s branch of the British Army. ATS personnel staffed many of the mobile canteens, driving long routes through mountain passes and remote billets to bring comfort and supplies to isolated troops.

These women not only managed stock and served refreshments, but also became familiar, reassuring presences on the daily circuit. Their work was physically demanding and logistically complex, yet it helped sustain morale in the scattered outposts of the British Zone. The sight of an ATS driver arriving with tea, chocolate, and a warm smile was, for many soldiers, a quiet reminder of home. 

The Social Heart of the Zone: Clubs and Comforts

As rest camps and billets became more permanent, NAAFI turned its attention to creating spaces for relaxation and sociability away from military duties. Many Austrian cafés, lakeside pavilions, and hotel restaurants were requisitioned, refurbished, and reopened under NAAFI management. Establishments such as the “Lakeside Lido” in Klagenfurt, “Freddy’s Cabin” at Velden, and “Bomber’s Bar” at Klagenfurt airfield became familiar landmarks of British service life in the zone.

In Klagenfurt, the Other Ranks’ Crusader Club and the W.O.s and Sergeants’ Club provided indoor facilities for reading, games, dancing, and small concerts. ENSA entertainers used these venues for recitals, comedy acts, and touring theatre shows, supported by NAAFI hostels and catering staff. In Villach, the Park Club for Other Ranks offered a similar range of activities, from darts and billiards to occasional film nights using projectors supplied through British Forces cinemas.

Officers’ clubs, such as the “Viking Arms” on the Wörthersee, often became the social centres of divisional and corps headquarters, hosting receptions, lectures, and mess dinners. Their lakeside terraces and gardens were used extensively during the summer and autumn months, creating an atmosphere more reminiscent of peacetime regimental life than of recent warfare.

In Graz and Vienna, NAAFI established similar facilities for Other Ranks, Warrant Officers and Sergeants, and Officers — each tailored to the rhythms and needs of their respective communities. These clubs offered a mix of recreation and respite: reading rooms, billiards, bar service, dancing, and even language lessons — all designed to foster morale and sociability.

Crusader Club (NAAFI/EFI) Klagenfurt – Amenities and weekly programme

WO' & Sjts' Club (NAAFI/EFI) Klagenfurt – Opening hours and activities

Editorial Note:

These club notices from Klagenfurt offer more than a list of amenities — they reflect the rhythms of post-war service life. From dancing lessons and billiards to flower services and language classes, NAAFI’s clubs provided spaces where soldiers could reconnect with routine, identity, and one another. Whether in the Crusader Club’s music rooms or the W.O.s and Sergeants’ Club’s Sunday tea dances, the atmosphere was one of quiet restoration — a social heartbeat in the midst of military duty.

The Crusader Club in Klagenfurt, for example, featured a restaurant, snack bar, sundries shop, lounges, music rooms, and a library, alongside services like hairdressing, photography, and flower delivery via the WVS. Its weekly programme included music and dancing lessons, German classes, and regular entertainment. Nearby, the W.O.s & Sergeants’ Club offered meals, bar service, and Sunday tea dances, with club rooms open daily for games and quiet relaxation. These venues — whether lakeside or tucked into town centres — became the emotional heart of British service life in Austria: places where soldiers could reconnect with routine, companionship, and the small comforts of home.

Mapping the Growth of NAAFI in Austria

By 1947, the NAAFI footprint had expanded dramatically across the British Zone. From mobile canteens in Krumpendorf to clubs in Klagenfurt and depots in Graz, the welfare infrastructure had matured into a network of comfort, routine, and quiet resilience. The interactive map below traces this growth, offering a visual companion to the provisioning and morale efforts that shaped daily life for British servicemen in post-war Austria.

🗺️ Mapping NAAFI in Austria, 1945–1955

Known NAAFI and EFI locations across Austria, 1945–1955. 

Editorial Note:

The interactive map below offers a visual overview of NAAFI’s expanding presence across the British Zone. Each pin represents a known or approximate location of a NAAFI establishment, based on available records. Where exact addresses are missing, pins are placed at the centre of the relevant town or district.

The map is best viewed on a larger screen, and readers are encouraged to explore by zooming and clicking on individual entries for contextual notes. This tool is designed to complement the narrative — not as a definitive locator, but as a guide to the scale and spread of welfare provision in postwar Austria.

Map by The Sutlers Supreme. © OpenStreetMap contributors.

A Quiet Legacy, Still Unfolding

The story of NAAFI in Austria is not just one of logistics and supply — it is a story of human connection: of tea served in muddy boots, of dances held in requisitioned hotels, and of friendships forged in the shadow of war. As the occupation settled into routine and families began to arrive, the emotional geography of the British Zone shifted once again. Part Two closes here, but the story continues — into new establishments, new relationships, and a new chapter of postwar life.

Help Us Complete the Picture

If you or your family have memories, photographs, or memorabilia from the British Zone of Austria—or stories of NAAFI life in occupied Europe—we’d be very pleased to hear from you. Every detail helps illuminate the quiet work of welfare, morale, and community that followed the war’s end. You’re warmly invited to share reflections, corrections, or additions via the contact page or comments below. 

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📚 Sources

Text Sources

• NAAFI/EFI article by JWM (believed to be Captain John W. Morris) — Account of NAAFI/EFI’s first years in Austria.
  Welfare Review Austria No. 16, 5 July 1947. Provided by Paul Brazell (Austro-British Society Carinthia, Klagenfurt) — Read more
• NAAFI in Uniform by Lt.-Col Howard N. Cole — “In Austria and Trieste,” pp. 165–168
• Garrison Duty in Austria by Gerry Chester, North Irish Horse — Read online

Image Sources

• 8th Army Formation Badge — National Army Museum (NAM. 1996-05-82-1) — View item
• Press cutting — The Scotsman, 30 November 1945
• Press cutting — The Bradford Observer, 30 July 1945
• Organisational Chart: Allied Commission for Austria (British Element) — Die Britische Steiermark 1945–1955, Beer Hg.
• Major Unit Organisational Chart: British Troops in Austria (BTA) — Die Britische Steiermark 1945–1955, Beer Hg.
• Graz British Garrison Signpost — Die Britische Steiermark 1945–1955, Beer Hg.
• Mobile Canteens Daily Routing Schedule — Welfare Review Austria No. 7, 3 May 1947
• Crusader Club (NAAFI/EFI) Klagenfurt — Amenities and weekly programme. Welfare Review Austria No. 7, 3 May 1947
• W.O.s & Sergeants’ Club (NAAFI/EFI) Klagenfurt — Opening hours and activities. Welfare Review Austria No. 7, 3 May 1947

Coming Next: From Occupation to Independence

Part Three will explore the years from 1947 to Austrian independence in 1955. We’ll follow the servicemen and their families through Operation Henpeck, examine the role of establishments like the Parkhotel in Villach, and reflect on the evolving relationship between British forces and the Austrian population. It’s a story of transition, tenderness, and the quiet work of rebuilding — one cup of tea at a time.

Continue to Part Three →