Demob Problems.
DFCP,
I think that when the Demobilisation Number system was first set up, we thought that there would be a comfortable amount of time before we had to implement it. So when "hostilities" suddenly ended in August 1945, we had no choice but to put into operation a still half-baked policy.
All sorts of anomalies cropped up at once (your Class B example, severe compassionate cases, etc) and distorted the system. Considering the many difficulties involved, I would say the demob. process in the UK worked as well as could reasonably be expected. My recollection is that generally people were satisfied with it at the time.
It was always going to be easier and quicker to get troops back across the Atlantic from Europe than to bring our people back from the far-flung theatres of war across the world - and in any case, we needed the room to house them when they got home, but still awaited their Demob Numbers before release.
Your point about the labour markets is well made: we couldn't just dump huge numbers on to ours all at once. Swords cannot be beaten into ploughshares overnight, our industries would take years to recover.
Danny.