I would not be put off about the Langeleben project as I am sure you would get stories to tell although in the main they would be about nights out etc. as I do not think there is too much to say about our work. (This has proved to be true. Ed) CLICK TO ENLARGE I was mainly on DF and the only thing of note that I can remember is one midnight shift at Räbke (the DF outstation) being tasked with a particular group with five outstations. However, I found another one. As you know, all steerage was done by morse and I told Langeleben of this via the One Time Pad and steered it back to them but no one back there could hear it. Anyway I got my bearings and submitted them and that was that. Later next day I was awoken from my sleep and told to report to the Wagons and was grilled by Joe Makepeace and the I Corps 2nd Lt whose name I forget and more or less was told I had made it up as they could not understand how I could hear something at Räbke and that Langeleben could not pick up. They seemingly did not appreciate skip distance etc. A couple of days later I had to see them again and they actually said they were sorry as my outstation had been confirmed from other sources. It was a unit that had been 'lost'. On a lighter note I remember one night coming back to camp in the 3 tonner and jumping off the truck went straight into a dustbin which was half full of rubbish so maybe that was the right place for me. T.N

I was around Langeleben from the beginning of 1955 to Feb 56 and I cannot remember like you. I think it must be the alcoholic blur. From the photos, I do remember Sergeant Tommy (he was a dog. Ed). He was quite a character. Chased the deer, although they were ten times his size. How long was he at Langeleben? I remember we took him out with us on one occasion and lost him. He turned up a couple of days later. Whilst on the subject of people going missing, does anyone remember the Water Wagon driver going AWOL? Have been looking for some photos from Langy and came across my pay statement from Feb 1956 issued by Reading Pay Office. Pay was £2.11.0 per week which was double what I started on in March, 2004, 25 bob. Not a bad increase over two years. Double.

I have just remembered another little story. One Sunday afternoon, three or four of us were having a drink (as usual) at a farmers home when all of a sudden there was a thumping on the door. The farmer went to see who it was and there stood his brother, having just come from East Germany with his family on a horse and cart. What a party we had that night. ??

There was a chap who went Awol after going out with me to Braunsweig. I was questioned furiously as to his possible whereabouts in case he had gone over the border by the C.O Jim Prescott. He came back 3 days later with an extraordinary story of being locked up in a windmill by this girl we had met and with whom he had gone off - the last I had seen of him. I now believe that there was a windmill museum around so it could have been true.
I had forgotten the dog but remembered the bloody deer clattering around the place. Never completely tame, was he/she. Did we ever know its sex or was that too technical?
I was on B watch with Bob Wells. I recall hearing modern jazz for the first time there. There was a Gerry Mulligan record "Knights of the Turntable" and an MJQ too. Best of all was a Dave Brubeck. ‘Jazz goes to College’ perhaps. Pete Ellis was learning the trumpet at the time too. And Elvis in the Deutsches Haus after drinking at Schumanns where it was cheaper. A fellow I.Corps chap Jeff Penney hung out there a lot with me too and he was more than passingly friendly with the landlady and, if I drank enough, I could fancy the girl with the magnificent bust and the eyes that looked in two different directions. However, very disconcerting if drunk!
P.C

It was about June 56 when I got to Langeleben for the first time .One thing does come to mind. Sitting in the cookhouse one lunch time at a window overlooking the R Vans Ernie Cooper suddenly shot out of his chair and we saw him dashing down to the R Vans. When he got back we asked what was wrong and he said one of the R Van windows was open and he had been able to read the morse as someone had put a speaker on. I do not remember who the watch Cpl was but Ernie certainly gave him a b'ing.
T.N.
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Did anyone record or recall the temperatures? I have this vague recollection of it dropping to -30deg one day and some smartyboots saying that when it reached 32 it was the same in centigrade and fahrenheit ⁷ 
 
My first winter was when it was’ tents only’; we all lived in our pyjamas with our BD's on top, arctic issue sweaters and those 15th hand leather jackets. You only forgot to tie your boots to the ridge pole of the tent once. Otherwise you woke up to find them frozen to the earth and the sweaty interior turned to ice. Oh those lovely Canadian lumberjack boots!
This way of dressing went on for weeks - we NEVER undressed and it needed to be a crisis before you used the toilets otherwise you hung on until you got into K. How many are there of us left who did the tent bit?
I remember carrying the ever- present brown bowl full of 'hot' water and finding it covered with a thin layer of ice when I reached my tent.
The story in the blue book about the cracked engine block rung a bell. There were some days when something in the suspension just turned to lard.
P.C.
 ⁷   It is actually at -40deg

I only lived in a tent for a week or so at Langeleben whilst waiting for a space to become vacant in the accommodation block. As you know we only had two buildings, one for admin, cookhouse etc and the other for living in. At Dannenberg all we had was tents.
As far as I know Joe Makepeace (A very popular I Corps Sgt. who unfortunately died) was married but I do not know anything else regarding his service.
T.N

Yes I remember Pete Ellis, Bob Wells and Mick Stubbings very well. I have a photo somewhere about of Pete playing his trumpet. Talking about all the music at that time I seem to remember Charlie Parker as well. Also I was surprised to have played for me on British Forces Network, 'Don't Roll those Bloodshot Eyes at me'. Some of the guys arranged it.
With regard to the temperature, I seem to remember that vehicles had to be drained if they were left standing over a certain length of time. I certainly remember -20deg. Do you remember guys going out in civilian clothes with pyjamas underneath which caused the local lasses to scream when they showed below their trousers whilst rocking and rolling.
Paul, I cannot remember the I Corps guy on my watch as I was not too long on watch at Langy. Capt Jim Prescott put me in charge of stores. This meant I went to Braunsweig 5 times a week with a GSO driver, including Saturdays. This was OK as I could play snooker. I met a guy from the East Surreys who was a good player and we had some good games, even though the cues had no tips. You have really got me going!.
Incidentally, I have found my demob papers and my no. was 5405 and I was demobbed on 9.3.56
K.K

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Did you ever play snooker with the I corps chap who was a real hustler. He had played his way through Uni and could take on just about anyone.
Am I dreaming or did we not get a snooker table in the cookhouse when they built the first hut? That reminds me of something else now. After the dreaded scouse another cook arrived who was suddenly whisked away under escort. He had TB and could have given it to all of us! At least that's what they said. He could have given it to the cockroaches and done us all a favour. The place was infested with them.
Yes, Charlie Parker too, so there must have been at least 4 records in the collection. There are several pictures in the 55's with Ivor Whitton in them. He was I. Corps and a good friend. I missed him when he went as he was the only other tennis player on the Camp.
Those bloody pyjamas. Thinking back, we must have ponged a bit, never taking them off and no baths. We tucked them in to our socks under our BD’s or civvies when we hit the ‘Town’, Did we ever take them off in the freezing Winter???
Another good mate was Cpl Bill Taylor, he is in lots of photos of the period too - again I Corps. How about Eddie Potts? The worst drinker in history, I reckon, but despite this handicap he still insisted on trying to learn. Every Friday night when not on watch he'd go out come back, go to his 'pit'; go to sleep; wake up and puke his guts out. AND always in my bedspace. He was a skinny chap dark hair and sallow - and married I think. Someone else I had forgotten until now!
P.C

There was a snooker table in the admin block at the opposite end to the cookhouse and it only just managed to fit into the room which meant some shots were very hard to play.
T.N

 Funny thing memory! I can vaguely remember coming in through the door of the new Admin block. The bathroom less plumbing came first on the left then the I corps office, the stores and then the cookhouse. That, initially, was the only building. Ignoring the old MT shed and cookhouse. Am I right in thinking that the CO Jim Prescott had an office in there too?
P.C

My memory is not half as good as yours however your comments stir mine a little and things come back to me. I was fortunate to get out of tents and sleep in the stores. I remember my bed being in the corner with the weekly cigarette ration and the box of ammunition being under it. A further point, people on sick parade had to come on the wagon with me to Braunsweig. During the time under canvas, there were very few who went to the MO, however, after the huts were erected with heating, people went virtually every day. I suppose the cold killed the bugs as well.
Did you ever play cards for cigs instead of money? In our school, you were not allowed to play with woodbines as the baccy used to come out during the game and therefore only the paper was left at the end. Did you never go on the bath run to Helmstedt on a Wednesday afternoon?
I have read your memories particularly with regard to the VW visit. I was on that trip too and was amazed at the size of the place and the speed that the vehicles came off the line and how they tested them inside the building. Coming from Coventry, that was the car centre for the UK at that time, I was very impressed.
K.K

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You are absolutely right about being sick. In the 15 months there I didn't have a day's sickness and to think we used to trot down to town for a few beers all 5km of it and often back again.

Funny you should mention the bath run to Helmstedt. That very nearly got me in to the most serious trouble. As you know we I Corps always wore RS flashes and badges Somehow, one of the MP's who became quite friendly had been asking quite innocent questions and how, I don't know he guessed that I wasn't R.Sigs and so I was left with no alternative, as I saw it. but to tell him I thought confidentially that I was I Corps. The bastard went all ‘regimental’ and questions were asked and I honestly thought that a trip to Bielefeld was on the cards. Fortunately it all blew over.

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Re the VW trip we must have been together. Do you remember the office corridor 1/3 mile long, I recall, and dead straight, ideal for lovers of perspective. Did you go on the Hannover Messe trip too? The size and scope of that in a country said to have lost the War and in UK , sweets had only just come off rationing.
I don't know about you but the time in Germany opened my eyes to the possible truth about Great (?) Britain .
I could draw you a picture of that store room with the two pistols on a shelf next to the bed. I think they were for the officers to fight off the Russians. Woodbines? Can't recall anything except Players Navy Cut and Senior Service. Am I dreaming or did they also come in tins of 50?
P.C

I have to say how really impressed I am at the stories and memories you are managing to drag out, we ‘60s lads had it cushy compared to you, but I have no doubt at all that it is all true, it’s just the sort of thing you just can’t make up. Also Tom touched on the snooker table previously, undoubtedly it was the same table we had in the NAAFI, albeit with a few more tears in the baize. We have all been around long enough to know that when the chips are down, you just have to get on with it. We did in Northern Ireland , and in Rhodesia . 
D.T

The English butcher would probably come back with a piece of New Zealand de-frosted lambs liver out of a tin!
Lt Jenkins. Do I remember him! I've already bored everyone with the story of the sledge that we built, mainly due to Jimmy Dean and which Jenkins drove around the town whilst we threw out sweets to the kids. I have the photos to prove this to our disbelieving youngsters. I also litigiously suggested that he may well have been responsible for the complete lack of coffee in the camp. The ONLY thing the Germans did not have. Someone fairly senior seemed to be involved or was it you as Storeman? Do you remember bringing back a tin of Nescafe in the forlorn hope of bribing yourself into some young Fraulein's knickers. Or were you one of those who got his hands on one of those five girls who would go with a squaddie?
Oh, and Yes! I had the first steak of my life in Germany I couldn't believe it. It was bigger than some Sunday joints our family of 6 had sat round.
The second was a disaster. I saw the word 'steak' (in German of course) and ordered it. Hell’s Bells. it turned up raw, AS WAS THE EGG! That has just put me off my supper – just writing about it..
P.C

Bloody Hell Paul, we'll be here all night at this rate.
I remember the Reindeer at Xmas very well as I was involved in its build.
Good PR exercise. I vaguely remember the coffee problems.
Whilst hunting for the photos, I came across a Gala Bier mat and on the back is the name and address of Margrit Sukale.

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A funny thing happened about 12 months after I had been demobbed. I had a visit from an ex Langeleben driver (cannot remember his name but he lived in Leicester) whilst I lived with my parents in Coventry. He turned up on the doorstep and guess who he had with him. Yes Margrit Sukale. What a lovely surprise.
K.K

Regarding cigarettes, although I never smoked I remember that most brands came in round tins of 50 apart from Balkan Sobrane which came in a flat tin of 25s.
T.N

Oh, Tom, you've done it again.
Balkan Sobranies - with their black paper and gold tips, no dinner dance at the tennis club or the youth club was complete without a pack, UNLESS you wanted to cut a real dash and be a bit a bit of a lad and then it was Abdullah no 7's. You could get them in all different colour papers and on top of that they were OVAL. Like all Turkish ciggies they stank! When I dare think back we must have looked King-sized prats with our suede shoes, hair dripping with Brylcreem*, yellow socks and white scarves.
But then the girls all tried to look like Tony Curtis' first wife or Doris Day and had beehive hair do's (there were stories of them having nests of fleas and God knows what else in them), but worse were those pieces of body armour that would cut off the circulation to your hands should you ever get past 2nd base, I can't recall what they were called - 'panty girdles'? At least they did have the benefit of a glimpse of stocking and, hold your breath, suspenders.
No more of this, Mike might get too excited and expire on us and I can't afford a wreath this week.
* Have a look at Teddy Boy Lee in the photos and you will see what I mean!

Wallowing in nostalgia and the subtle aroma of Balkan Sobranies I had a look at the internet Ebay yesterday and found a copy of Gerry Mulligan 'Nights at the Turntable'. I HAD to buy it, supposedly in "a good condition". I'll enjoy playing that when it arrives and will be thinking of that little room in that hut. I think the Brubeck was 'Jazz goes to College' but as for the Charlie Parker  -  perhaps I didn't rate it, I certainly cannot recall its name. There is no way I am going to buy those awful early Presleys though, which we (not me!) must have worn nearly smooth.
P.C

Gerry Mulligan eh. Now there's a name. Paul, you have a good memory. Which hostelry had the juke box with a small dance floor. Was it Deutsches Haus or Schumanns? Also which one had the cupboard behind the bar which contained more cigs than I had under my bed in the stores. The only thing was that they cost more than a bob for twenty.
Here is another question for you. Didn't we have a courier service going to an American base. I think it went in the jeep with driver, corporal with bag and guard with empty sten gun. The Yanks coming back were a different kettle of fish they were armed to the hilt. Did you go on any trip to the American Base at ? I cannot remember where, too drunk.
K.K

I think that I would rather like to follow up on our friend⁸ who went over the wire. Under the freedom of information Act they will have to tell me something. I will also go to the Public records Office. The Stasi records, I believe, are also open for investigation now but I don't know if access is possible from the UK . Any ideas Can I have any information on him that you might have or should we let him rest in peace IF he is still alive?
P.C

Yes they were all voice ops (in Gatow , Berlin ) as far as I am aware. I don't know what they were up to as I couldn't speak their lingo or read their newspapers (Pravda I think it was!)
Apart from the theory of an East German girl being involved, I have no idea why Brian went over the wall. I certainly had no suspicions about it happening. I was having a beer with him only hours before he went.
D.B

8   Brian Patchett summer 1963

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One of the few photos showing Brian Patchett before his departure east.Ed

Hi Gerry,
Funny you talking about the carved wooden eagle. I was just looking at a photo last week with it in. I had forgotten just how large it was. It must have weighed a ton. It would take more than a handful of squaddies to shift that. I believe it was hung on the wall when Gatow was a Luftwaffe station. The photo was taken when Hughie Green (there's a name from the past) came to record one of his television shows there. If you remember he caused a stir because he flew his own plane from the west and did not have flight clearance from the East Germans and they sent up a fighter to escort him down in E Germany . He went down into low cloud and lost them and Gatow 'talked him in' from their radar. We were listening in to all this. He was sh**ing himself.
D.B

Paul: yes, that's correct, the BStU normally only disclose your personal files (if found), otherwise only bona-fide researchers are allowed access to the files. You would need a good reference or contact to get this permission. The Germans are pretty hot on Data Protection.
J.R

Presumably Mr. P. received a new identity when he defected, so it would be mighty difficult to trace him, even if he has remained in the FRG. Details might be contained in his Stasi file, if it has been found. The reply to the question from Allason MP in Hansard is interesting. What interest had Allason in Brian Patchett? He might have some additional details if you contacted him?
P.C

Interesting idea to contact Allason. His interest is that he used to make a very good living by writing on MI6 who used him as a conduit. He was also closely connected to Chapman Pincher. He claimed, quite rightly, to be an intelligence expert. He blotted his copybook rather badly whilst an MP and has dropped out of the public eye and has presumably lost his MI6 connections. I have met him - he was one of our customers so I could try him.
Burgess, Mclean and so on did not adopt new names or personalities hence my thought of the telephone directory.
I would genuinely like to follow this up, particularly in view of the lie by ‘Fatty’ Nicholas Soames. I forgot to mention that Allason wrote as Nigel West.
He sued and lost when described as "a conniving little shit" The Judge deciding that this was NOT a slur on his name. What a reputation!!!!!
P.C

On the photo of the tent I am the one on the left wielding the stick, the one on ski's. I think my name is on there. There is also another I put on with three/four of us at Braunswieg railway station, again I think I am named, the smallest of the group, the rest are now strangers. Hey, I was the good looking one.
True that we remember ‘certain happenings’ and ‘people’ but not ‘names’, well that is how it seems now; it was always first name terms anyway.
I do remember a couple of older lads (Corporals Fitt and Trebilcock. Ed) who stuck together and had dodgy friends down in the village, well maybe dodgy women, they spent a lot of time down there, one of them was a bit "gross".
I think one of the reasons I didn't get out with folks much, drinking and wenching etc was that I was married and sending home spare cash or was it the other way round I kept the spare cash but the bulk of it went home. F.S

You two are having a right old carry-on about the fifties. Do you not recognise me standing on Fred's right in the picture of the four skiers. The dog’s name was Tommy. What about the guys who forgot to tuck their 'jamas' in their socks when 'dancing' to the juke box and giving the local lasses something to laugh about? Fred, you have really started something.
K.K

I found an 8 Guards Army sitting in the Fulda Gap which looks very much in the American zone. Is that the one?
P.C

Dewi, I take exception to your reference to ‘drunken ramblings’. Much to my disgust but a medical must, I am as sober as a Methodist preacher! If I try hard I can taste the beloved Laphroaig on my tongue but then reality says, ' Pillock '. At times such as Birthdays or Anniversaries or similar I confess to the occasional pint of Titanic but that is all and very few and far between. So, what ever my ramblings may be they ain't drunken.
In hindsight, the last time I was drunk was to celebrate Keith Robinson's promotion to Sgt at Birgelin, Circa 1969, when someone who shall remain nameless, spiked my drinks.
M.H

I must have missed the original mention of 8 Guards as over the last few days thinking of 3 Shock and 24 Guards etc I thought why has no one mentioned 8 Guards and it seems as though someone did but looking back I still cannot see where. Age? 
M.H

Now Mike I thought in the past you said you only reached the rank of Cpl so how did you celebrate the promotion of Keith Robinson?
He was one of my troop who I had put up for Sgt and the day he got promoted we were on morning shift so went straight down to the Sgt's Mess at lunch time where I introduced him to the mess and he got the obligatory rounds etc. I did however make sure that he did not drink much himself and made sure that he left the Mess in a sober state did you then hijack him for another session?
The last I heard from Keith was many years ago when he sent me photographs etc from the time he was part of the Royal Signals who provided the Guard at Buckingham Palace .
I may be wrong but I think it was Val his wife who was I Corps who persuaded him to leave the Army. If you know where he is would like to get in touch with him again.
T.N

Did you have trouble keeping those damned skis on your boots as I did Keith? I went to Langeleben in April 1955 so you seriously outrank me.
P.C

Apart from "Skiing" we used to walk those woods following deer and wild boar tracks and I seem to remember getting to a point where we could see over the border, without looking at a map I think it was Manhiem and tanks on manouvres over there. 
F.S

THE FORUM

As you have now see, the range of subjects covered and digressed from is formidable. The great mystery though is why there were more than 5000 visits to the site when someone asked “who remembered the I.Corps?” The answer was “A lot of us”, judging from the 153 messages to date from members and several hundred names mentioned.

Long may it give pleasure and amusement but, above all, enable us, as we sink into our dotage, to keep in touch. Sadly for many reasons, not least health and old age we cannot all get to the re-unions.

JOHN FORTEY’S RECOLLECTIONS

I was a police cadet (office boy) in the traffic branch at Scotland Yard before I joined up. Cadets could then apply to be called up at 17 1/2 to come out at 19 1/2 to rejoin the police. I decided to do this but signed on for 3 years so that I could have some choice of regiment. I chose the I Corps or the Worcestershire Regt. My interview was at the Arsenal in Hyde Park, a brick hut, where I was met by an officer in blazer and tie and a sergeant who was shouting at a ‘squaddie’ who was sweeping. The Officer explained that the ‘squaddie’ had only a few days left ‘to do’ and wasn't very interested in military matters.

Even at 17 I could see the questions coming, ie ‘do you play sport; hockey?’, ‘do you speak a language?’ I had spent a month with a family in France and failed O level French. Have you travelled abroad much?’ I had. With the school, twice, and I had spent my10th birthday in Rotterdam, I was in! I then went to go through the formalities at a recruiting office in Croydon. A very fat Brigadier, obviously retired and wanting to enhance his pension, signed me up. On my return, my police boss, a Welsh PC demanded to see the forms. He was a natural Welsh rebel, one of Owen Glendower's finest, but a smashing fellow. A shout of disgust! The Brigadier had spelt Intelligence with only one ‘l’. I hadn't noticed - English not being my strong subject, (along with all the other academic subjects). I still have the form. I was in, and at 17years and six months I arrived at Maresfield. Why should England tremble for its safety?

My squad in basic training ended in X. It was a mixed National Service and regular squad. We started on 20th Dec 54. Jo Adams and Bill Taylor were about 4 squads ahead of us. We did 4 weeks basic training; 6 weeks Corps training; 4 weeks FS (Field Security.ed) training and then we went to GCHQ for our final ‘Sigint’ training. I and our group went to GCHQ and stayed at the Milverton Hotel. We had to wear civvies the whole time and were paid £7 per week during our months stay. It was great. We tried to get to every pub in Cheltenham but after a week, Ray Hornabrook and I found girlfriends instead. We had completed the FS course before going to GCHQ. We, as I expect you (correct ed.), were classified as B1 trade, which brought in extra cash, but those who later went to Loughborough did 6 weeks and came out as B3 with less money. Whilst having breakfast each morning in the hotel we used to quietly take the ‘micky’ out of a group on the next table, one was RAF, the tie and blazer gave that away, and the other two seemed a bit ‘boffinish’. On arrival in Germany, there he was, Rex Evanson, our Captain was one of the two boffins. Fortunately, I don't think he had noticed.

We spent 4 weeks there, a rail strike held us up and we finally arrived in Germany the 2nd week in June 55 I had applied for, Austria, Cyprus, GCHQ and lastly Germany. Well I should have known better. Germany it was! We were told that we were going to Munster and it may even have been in transit that we were actually sent to Birgelen.

I was still 17 when I arrived in Germany. I would never have gone to Langeleben had it not been that I had gone on leave with a friend in Austria, didn't want to hand my kit into stores and had put it in the attic on top of a beer barrel that Taffy Price and Bob Jones had left there. No one EVER went up there, except that on this occasion a Major Stuart did whilst on a ‘CO's Inspection’.

I got back to Birgelen late at night from leave to be greeted with, ‘Oh you have 3 guard duties in the next week, you're on a charge because of your kit and Rex wants to see you first thing’. Dear Rex gave me the option of staying and facing the charges or going to Langeleben the next day. Langy got it and I am so pleased that it did.

I was at Langeleben from Feb 57 until June 57. Peter Wright, of our group was also there for a very short time.

Photos, I did send some to Fred Searle (he Birgelen website ed) and they were published, but then some were taken off, I don't know why. I can give you some names, I am in the front on the 1st of the group with the bottle and I am with Colin Davidson coming up from the truck after a ‘midty’ Back to the photo of ‘A’ Watch l to r, Bill Bowles,Peter Stewart, Jock Cummins, Gordon Cooper, "Brad???" Brian Thompson.With the bottle to the front, l to r, Dave Packer, Dave Everitt, Jack Hesketh, Martin (Lower??) aka Screwball      Bill Taylor, Frank Wyman, Tris England .                                         

Bottle in Packer's untrustworthy hand, me, Dave Packer, Dave Everitt, Screwball, Frank Wyman, Bill Taylor, Tris England.    I do have more photos of people but mainly in Birgelen, Ray Hornabrook, Guy Peters, Dereck James, Jock Duncan, Alan Lawson, and a group of, Keith Richardson, Jimmy Cardle, Ian McGhee, Ian Willock, Dereck James and Brian Harrington.  As well as a few others.    I don't know if you knew them but Bob Jones and Roy Smith have died

The ones I am on, unrecognisable, are the 57 Admin. Inspection. I was in the jeep with Scouse Nolan when Co.l Lonnan was inspecting the MSO guard. I was really miffed because the Captain, I forget his name, wouldn't let me have a gun and I knew there was a revolver around somewhere and I had got a holster. When we, Scouse and I, stopped in Little Schumanns before escorting the unshaven Brig to the camp, the locals were horrified that, as escorts, we were not allowed guns. I do have photos of a group of I Corps at the Gasthouse when Joe Adams sent us a bottle of Whisky with his replacement, Jonnie Reece. On this occasion, for the first, and last, time he offered to stand in for whoever was on duty that we could all enjoy yourselves. After a few beers and the whisky most of us caught the truck into 'Slutter. The duty man was not up to it and failed to return to duty. His replacement at 4.00am also found himself unable to participate in military duties. I was on at 8am next morning, and did turn up to find Bill Taylor and Jonnie in the ops truck. Jonnie was in a bad temper as he had been on duty from about 5.30 the previous evening until I turned up at 8.

Please give my kindest regards to Bill Taylor when you next chat. I was also a regular but only made corporal, but then I had "coaxed" the orderly room clerk into showing me my confidential report held by the RSM. It read "An individualist, not a leader of men."

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CHRIS GREGORY’S RECOLLECTIONS

I arrived at Langeleben about October 1954 in time to see an Officer having a snowball. What a change!

Next thing, I was ordered by Sgt Taylor to be an escort for a driver who had lost a tyre. Sgt Taylor was a regular who mustered out shortly after Xmas 54.  He was a Catholic like me and married a lady who had a fish and chip shop in Kemptown, Brighton , which is my home town.

I find the following photograph fascinating for a number of reasons. The chap on the left is Cpl Mike Bailey. We shared a tent until his unfortunate departure accompanied by Military and Civil Police. I think it is Ernie Cooper with the pickaxe on his shoulder. Next to him, looking an absolute pillock, I am embarrassed to say, is me and then it is Chris Gregory doing his well known rendition of "I am a teapot short and stout". I asked Chris if he could remember what we were doing but he could not! Is that possibly an ammunition box that we were burying or dis-interring. Ed

Other names I still recall are Captain Prescott who was the OC. He was followed by Capt. Sedden who became OC in the summer 1955. I also recall Jim Middleton, he was the Company Clerk. Later he was to become the editor of the Scottish Daily Express. I can remember John Rogers. He was in the party that set up the camp sometime in1951. I met up with him again in the 90's.

Living conditions were basic under canvas but it was a healthy life. In winter temperatures would drop to 28 deg of frost. Once a week we would go into Königslutter to have our showers. It was nice to stay in Brunswick on our time off ⁹.

  ⁹  Langeleben were allocated a room in the infantry barracks there so that they could have a bath, play tennis and see a bit of night-life.

I recall the Christmas Midnight Mass in 1954. We Catholics were ushered up to the front. Then, following the service, I was on the 4-8 shift and Sgt Taylor came round with rum at about 0730 hours. Everybody had their Christmas lunch - unlike Munster where there was an epidemic of barrack room damages.I went on leave some time around March but was lucky to come back again for the rest of my time until Oct 1955.

I saw a guard mounting at the barracks, possibly in Wolfenbuttel, (I am not sure that is where it was), by the SWABS (South Wales Borderers). They were very smart, unlike the East Surreys who replaced them. The reason we went there was for a Naafi, shop and cinema.  There was a regular truck in the evening if I remember correctly. I recall Corporal Trebilcock, he was a long serving regular. Camp gossip was that he had been court martialled for running naked round the married quarters in Cyprus and that he had undergone punishment detail on the infamous Hill in the Military Prison therel. There was an unknown officer who wore ‘Green Howard’ shoulder flashes. The talk was that he went over the East German border regularly. In those days it was relatively easy to cross over.

Yes, I too remember the venison in the summer -a driver had knocked it down and had been persuaded to go back and pick it up. One of the D.Ps (Displaced Persons) cut it up and cooked it. It was very nice! I was to meet up with John Rogers, who had first set up the Camp in 1951, in the 90's.  I was working at Brooklands and, when going up to the bar for lunch one Thursday, for some unknown reason came out with some Russian morse  -QSA imi or Guhor (I did not learn Russian and only ever had one live message which, when translated, meant that an operator had dropped his pencil). John picked it up (the morse not the pencil) and started questioning me and it all came out.  As an officer, he remembered being hailed with "good night Sir" from the various haystacks in the field where various members of the unit were with their girlfriends, as he went to his billet at Frau Grahn’s. In the early days the camp was buzzed by a MIG jet fighter I also recall. (No one else has mentioned this! Ed.) 

Whilst on DF work, one night I spent an entire 5pm -12 shift without a single bearing even on BFN (British Forces Network Radio Service) - the same thing happened at Dannenburg about a day later, Why, I don’t know. In summer 55 there was a camp trip to the VW factory in Wolfburg. We learned, from memory, that some workers were on £ 20 per week, more than a UK car worker at that time; an illustration of the German economic miracle.

SOME PERSONAL MEMORIES OF LANGELEBEN

Geoff Buckley 1958

I must admit to having pondered long and hard as to whether I would or even should participate in the “History of Langeleben”, for a number of reasons. National Servicemen may have been in the majority for the first ten or twelve years, but after that it was an entirely Regular Army. Certainly National Service was an entirely different culture, and perhaps we were amateurs, but that was the nature of the business. The Regular Army brought something very different, and at a camp like Langeleben, it would have been a stark change from those early years.Nevertheless, we also witnessed and contributed to a significant number of changes, but we saw it from an entirely different perspective, and the time scale made it that way.

My posting to 101Wireless Troop (latterly 2 Squadron), lasted for some fourteen/fifteen months, February ’58 to May ’59, during which time I was a member of ‘D’ Watch throughout. I did play for the Troop & Squadron football team, as regularly as shifts would allow. On the ‘lighter’ side I also enjoyed playing for ‘D’ Watch Dynamos, but having said that there were some of those games I was glad to even survive!

However, I was a ‘730 day’ National Serviceman, and I probably had the reputation of being a ‘days to do’ fanatic, of simply waiting for 23.59 each night, in order to cross yet another day off the calendar! It might have been so different, but that’s life.

I was the third member of the family to join the Signals.  My uncle (he had lost his father at the beginning of Passchendaele in 1917) served with the Corps in WW2.  He had taken a signals van (maybe even a 1942 QLR) across to Normandy on ‘D’ Day+1, and gained a sudden and growing respect for the RMP when they were narrowly prevented from driving straight into a German Panzer roadblock. He was in the same van when they were crossing the Rhine the following March and again I understand all the crew survived. Six years later he was advising my elder brother to try for the Royal Signals, and he finished up as a Wireless Technician in Egypt By 1956 my brother was giving me similar advice, and look where it took me!

Actually, what happened was that a young, gorgeous looking gal arrived in the office soon after I passed the NS medical. A little time later and I was taking that gal out, and, just three months after that, I received my calling up papers for Catterick! My personal feelings as to National Service could only be described as ‘rock bottom’.

The transfer from Catterick to the newly opened camp at Garats Hay was brilliant – a quick run down to the A6 when ‘hitching’ was still safe and I was in Derby in no-time at all. The regular London/Manchester ‘blood-wagon’ on a Monday evening was absolutely superb. With a little more planning I avoided the December posting and spent Christmas at home with Father Christmas, the kind of Father Christmas you cannot imagine!

Come January 1958 and it was time for the rock-and–roll Vienna from Harwich to the Hook of Holland and the Blue Train!

There was only time to lay my kit out in the locker, and I was on Orders – a posting to 101 Wireless Troop. Another quick run down to the WRVS to order some flowers for my ‘Father Christmas’ on Valentines Day and I was back on the train again. The journey was unforgettable, and I was in the company of a couple of ‘old soldiers’ who had obviously taken advice from other even ‘older soldiers’. I was made privy to parts of Hanover that I would certainly have never seen otherwise and I very quickly became used to those “Out of Bounds” and “Strictly out of Bounds to British Armed Services” signs that flashed by. I will admit to being somewhat “stressed”, but I just hung-on for dear life!

Our arrival at Hanover Station and the platform for the Berlin train did not improve my sense of well being in any way. This was especially the case when we were ordered to stand back for the PBI (Poor Bloody Infantry) marching on to the train, armed to the teeth with every kind of weapon I had only seen before at the cinema. There was no let-up when we endeavoured to get off (or should I say, fall-off) the train at some ‘middle-of-nowhere’ station I was informed was Konigslutter. Yet another nightmare! Mountains, and mountains of snow being blown in a terrifying blizzard, the like of which I had not seen since the High Peak of Derbyshire in 1947.That was all before we somehow got off the station and by some piece of amazing luck, found that 3 tonner waiting for us. The only good thing on the journey to the Camp was that we simply could not see anything outside. And this was only my introduction to Langeleben, and NOTHING could have prepared me for what was to follow.

The date was 6^th February 1958 and the first words spoken to us were that Manchester United had crashed at Munich Airport and many of football’s legends had been killed or seriously injured. Duncan Edwards and Roger Byrne, these were young footballers I idolised, and so many, many more. Glum faces greeted us everywhere when we walked down the top corridor for the first time that night.

The second words spoken to us told us that there was no running water on camp, it was frozen solid. However, they had kindly collected some snow in mess tins on the radiators that were still working. Our new colleagues told us that we were on OC’s Parade at 09.00 hours, and that best BD’s will be worn!

I was to become a member of ‘D’ Watch, and ‘Rusty’ Rosson was Watch Corporal. Our billets were the last two rooms either side at the end of the top corridor. The remainder of 6^th February and the first hours of the 7^th can only be described as a nightmare, but it was still only the beginning. The induction programme, starting with the harrowing ritual of “Gripping”, began the following morning when my ‘new colleagues’ presented me to the camp and breakfast. My uniform could have been 1942 vintage, but I was obviously the ‘newest’, ‘reddest’ ‘thing’, ever to be unearthed at Langeleben. The newest of newboys; the joskin of all joskins, a “5710”. Such a high group number was unheard of; could such a ‘red-a.se’ existed. Indeed, in such a ‘white-hot’ unit I could immediately be used to thaw out the whole camp. Fifty years ago next month, and I remember it as if it were yesterday. I suffered for what seemed to be an eternity. It could only have been for a few days but it was painful. However, I was already planning; planning for the arrival of a ‘thing’ newer than a 5710!

There may well have been a case for thinking that was sufficient an introduction to ‘D’ Watch and the vans, but my first ‘midty’, was also something special.I was on Watch, and that was exactly what I was doing, sitting in a corner of the van, watching, listening and hopefully, learning. Everything was going great until, suddenly, the whole Watch was in uproar. Derek Hill at the Rabke Outstation was reporting that there were possible movements and then came huge flashes of light and the sound of guns - big guns. And this was my very first ‘midty’, and, yes, I had already been told where the trenches had been dug last time, and, yes, they had told me it was a totally useless exercise, and yes, the word was ‘expendable'! I had never before heard the sound of genuine heavy artillery or seen the sky light up the horizon above trees – it was terrifying, at least for me!

Suddenly this was the 3^RD SHOCK ARMY and I was remembering much of what the Garats Hay Instructors and ‘I’ Corps had told us about Hungary and Budapest and the word ‘annihilation’ sprang to mind!

Despite the excitement I was informed that, as the new boy, I should learn the location and layout of the Cookhouse as it had been decided that 3^rd Shock Army had merely begun Winter Manoeuvres and that I should be ready to feel the world move. What they did not tell me was that it meant that I would see the Cookhouse floor, tables and hotplates move, or rather the Langeleben carpet of cockroaches’ move! It was a sight not to be missed and once seen, never forgotten. Actually, standing on the hotplate, lifting the boiler lid and then scooping the cockroaches off the top of the hot water with a huge ladle was another gem. And the Lord protect any cook who forgot to cover the food left out for us! Sad to say, it did happen occasionally.

Amazingly, settling down to do the normal job for which we had been trained, seemed to be the major relaxation at Langeleben. Once inside either the vans or (later) the Set Room and we were in a quiet, calm and orderly environment that seemed entirely at odds with the rest of the camp. However, when the Groups went down at 23.59 and the search for them began, the competition to find them and see them all up and running was, to put it mildly, exhilarating. Now and again should another Operator report “Did you know your Group is up and running, strength 5, on….”, then there was either blood on the wall or total humiliation, or both.

By the time we came off that first midty shift, bless ‘em, the British Army had responded by going on manoeuvres and the surrounding woods were alive with British armour and artillery. And that continued for the next week as REME Recovery vehicles were put to the test of trying to pull them out. An afternoon watching those guys at work was really something and the language made Langeleben sound more like a monastery than an army camp.

Langeleben’s greatest assets, which could never be ignored at this time, were the Camp ablutions and latrines. These magnificent examples of BAOR peace time civil engineering construction, have already been the subject of many descriptions and one can only look back and wonder that we survived. The architect was obviously early First World War, probably 1915, and the builders followed the plans to the letter. If that assumption is incorrect, I can only guess it was a throw back from the Second Boer War!

A visit to the ‘honey buckets’ was a genuine test of speed and ingenuity, particularly in summer. Then speed was the key. The ‘poetry’ on the walls and doors, may not have been the work of future Poet Laureates but it had to be seen to be believed, although I could never quite understand how anyone could ever have stood the conditions long enough to write all that verse in that environment. For the majority it was an achievement just to read one short verse, very quickly, and flee. As it said, “It’s no good standing on the seat, the crabs in here can jump six feet”.

The watchful eyes at the windows facing the road, awaited the arrival of Honey Bucket Joe and his horse and cart, as around 09.00 every weekday morning it was every man for himself, each time a honey bucket was changed.

Where we were extremely fortunate were the truly different characters of the lads with whom we shared the job and the billets. Derek (Shag) Hill who made me a Frank Sinatra fan in a matter of weeks and even had me listening to Julie London and Benny Goodman (remember Sing, Sing, Sing?). There was John Whittaker, who was totally inseparable from a golf club anywhere outside the vans, but also played Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Strauss and was to introduce us to Anna Maria Alberghetti, the beautiful young opera star singing modern love songs. Big Jim Hazeldine, the old soldier of the billet who possessed such a dry sense of humour in the vans, but was full of chat and fun when, with Mick Hatton and Johnny Cash we walked through the woods, climbing trees and just as quick falling out of them, especially in the snow. Perhaps we were not always laughing, but wherever we were there was always remarkably good humour.

I remember we even put ‘D’ Watch “on Parade”, for fun, as can be seen in the ‘Gallery 1958/59’ (along with many other photos relating to this article). Derek Hill ‘borrowed’ Bob Graham’s ‘blue’s’ and we had a great time, although I guess Bob did not appreciate either the commands or the drill, never mind the turnout.

‘Watch Corporals’ were key men, and we were lucky with Rusty Rosson and Bob Graham, or perhaps it was just me that was lucky. Rusty was I/C when I first arrived and I am sure it is obvious it was a very happy and amiable group of lads. Neither NCO’s had to shout or rave to get the job done, they clearly had the respect of the lads, discipline appeared to be self imposed and everyone seemed happy to get on with the job in hand. Rusty was great on Watch, but he did not seem to appreciate my lack of enthusiasm for the Konigslutter night air, or the beer. I was a disappointment. Of course, if it was just for effect, and for the benefit of the lads on the Watch, he was one helluva guy.

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Christmas 1958 was a real belter!  We worked hard to build the ‘D’ Watch Bar,

There was absolutely no doubt - ‘D’ Watch had the Christmas Eve midty.  Bob Graham was I/C now and he laid down the rules.  There was to be misunderstanding all operators would be ‘fit for purpose’. Christmas Eve arrived and everything was going splendidly.  I really was never much of a drinker at any time, so when the football team joined the Catering Corps, REME and Drivers element of the team, I happily went along with Bill Griffiths of the Pay Corps, and we all had a fine evening. Inevitably Bob did the rounds for supper, I was missing, and he came looking. I must admit it was the first and last time I have ever taken an ice cold shower, fully dressed, on Christmas Eve or any other Eve for that matter.  But, I did report for Watch, on time and ‘fit for purpose’, if anything, more fit for purpose than usual! Thanks Bob, you were certainly a good friend that night and did me a great favour – typical of that Langeleben character again.

I enjoyed the best football of my life in 58/59, and quite remarkably trained and stayed fit in spite of the shifts.  And Yes, I too was (and still am) immensely proud to have played in front of England’s finest goalkeeper, Gordon Banks.  I was also thrilled with the team’s performance and we certainly showed the locals that the Langeleben lads could certainly play.

I was sorry to miss the Hartz weekends, but I desperately wanted to play football.  I was sorry to be so unsociable and not go down town in an evening unless it was a celebration, but I did have to write to my Father Christmas every day, and that included getting up early at 14.00 on Sleeping Day.Sleeping Day was fine in winter, dreadful in summer, ‘cos like many of the lads, I got eaten alive by those damned Horse Flies – I swear they were as big as Wasps, at least they felt like that.

The original Cinema, I think, was upgraded sometime in 1958, and while a significant improvement, it did not make any difference in winter when fog in the UK prevented the movement of all films.  The US Army stepped in to loan us some of theirs, and with much anticipation we thought we were in for a good night. To say it was a disappointment was the understatement of the year as reflected in the gesticulations in the light of the projector.                 

 One personal memory I have is missing a 1 to 5 shift before going on leave, and bumping into Jack Hesketh who was about to run the new film through to make sure all was well.  As the truck was not due till 16.00, and I was ready, he suggested I join him – “Gunfight at the OK Corral”. When I arrived back from leave the film had become a ‘Langeleben Legend’.  The Incineration Area had been transformed and re-named the ‘OK Corral’.  Instead of Parades, ‘D’ Watch was now staging gunfights.  And if it had not been for Jack, I would not have seen it.  Trivial, of course, but like all of it, it was timeless, it was harmless, it was National Service (for many of us), and it was certainly LANGELEBEN.

Where does one begin or end, with so many memories? After we lost Spanner we went to the Dogs home at Helmstedt and came back with Prinz.  We were custodians of Prinz for quite some time, and the stories of that super little dog and the SSM’s inspections would need a book on its own.There was the trip to Celle and an old Luftwaffe Airfield to collect the new aerial and then the saga of its erection which would I am sure bring forth tears of mirth, frustration and sheer fear for life and limb. Then there was the transfer of two Cooks (?) from Cyprus and the total change of menu to Curry with everything at every meal.  There were those of us reduced to bread and jam and beans, and the threats of revenge emerging were truly vicious.  What about our mates on the other Watch’s, what on earth could we do with a ‘curry sarni’ from the midty supper.  Fortunately, someone whispered words of endearment, just in time, and the ‘chip butty’ and ‘fried egg sarni’ were saved.

 While I see from other items that the little Eddystone receiver was not rated very highly, some of the equipment it replaced in the vans in 1958, was really becoming old and worn out.  I think that for a number of us it was considered a great step forward from WW2.

 There were sad times of course.  There were some serious road accidents, one in particular where the driver was not found until the morning and his injuries were quite horrific.   Dreadful as it seems but we actually lost one member of the Catering Corps to Diabetes, and that did cause considerable reaction from everyone on the Camp, before reassurance was given.

 The annual trip to the range in1958 was more a trip to the Music Hall, it was a laugh, or to put it in context, it was a scream from start to finish.  I honestly believe we were more a threat to each other, than the targets at which we were supposed to be aiming.  They were left safe and ready for use in 1959.  3rd Shock Army, think yourself remarkably lucky!   And I never did find the back sight that fell off my rifle half way through the afternoon!

   Nevertheless, we were at Langeleben to do a job, and I sincerely hope and trust we did a good job.  We certainly took it very seriously – in the place and position we were in, we would have been foolish to do otherwise.  I was lucky in that I received my ‘wake-up call’ on my very first midty at Langeleben, the sound of the big guns and continuous flashes of light that lit up the night sky.  I very quickly understood why we were there, and I never needed a second reminder.

 But it was a very young team that would never let the worries of the world take away their love of life!   There were not many facilities in camp at that time, so we made our own and from where I was they were in keeping with the time and the culture.  The lads had a drink down town to let off steam, but nothing more.

 We had a basic camp in a wonderful area and environment and we enjoyed what we had. Perhaps because it was small and there were not many of us, with Signals Operators/Drivers, REME, Catering Corps, and even Pay Corps, we were all billeted together and we shared what little we possessed. While I was there I certainly made the most of what we had.  I enjoyed the job, the company, the woods, the walks, and the football.  I had 730 days to cross off, and cross’em off I did.  Every last one.

 I was demobbed, went home, and fourteen months later I married my very own, special, Father Christmas.

 I really did have the best of both worlds, and still do, but I never forgot the lads of Langeleben, or Langeleben Camp.  Then, one evening five years ago I had a tremendous surprise when my youngest son rang and said he had found Langeleben on the Internet. I spent fifteen months there waiting to get away, and fifty years remembering – there must have been something very special to make that kind of impression!   And of all people, I am truly grateful for that opportunity. 

THANK YOU GENTLEMEN, ONE AND ALL.

IT COULD ONLY HAPPEN AT LANGELEBEN 

I was posted to Langeleben following a three year stint at Berlin Gatow around 1963 into the MT Section, the MT then, was about ten persons strong of which maybe five were junior NCOs The MTO was the SSM which was a grand arrangement and everything worked like clockwork, but, like a lot of things, somebody on the outside down at the Regiment was wondering how they could upset the apple cart. So ‘Lo and Behold’ the next thing we knew at Langeleben was the arrival of not one but two SNCOs; one being Royal Signals and the other REME (both sergeants). This was a good recipe for a disaster! They hadn’t been there very long before the fun and games started with both of them trying to assert their authority on how the section should be run. This eventually ended up with school boy type arguments with caps on (this sort of made it official) and this sort of behaviour went on for a couple of weeks and it wasn’t going unnoticed by the drivers and junior NCOs or the SSM. The morale of the MT Section was quickly going downhill and something finally had to give when the two sergeants nearly came to blows. Somehow, this incident got back to the notice of the MTO who then decided that enough was enough. The REME sergeant was sent back to the Regiment as surplus to requirement and the Royal Signals sergeant was taken out of MT and told to find something to keep himself ‘occupied’. In effect, he didn’t have a job and so what he did (and this is a true story which can be verified by other MT members) he went and built an aviary for budgies next to the JRs club and, apart from the odd officer/sergeants’ duties, that was how he filled in his time. In the meantime the MT Section returned to its normal self with everybody once again going about their daily chores quite happily.

I finished at Langeleben in 1966 and returned to civvy street all the better for my experience in the army and even more so for my experience at Langeleben. The people that I met - most of them became friends for life. One can’t put a price on that sort of friendship.
Ken Vipond.

KEITH KERBY’S RECOLLECTIONS

A FEW MEMORIES OF A NATIONALSERVICEMAN

My name is Keith Kerby .I was born in 1935, and, as a result, I had to do 2 years National Service when I reached the age of eighteen. Not being a miner nor having any other reason to delay my conscription, I was 'called up' on the 4th March, 1954 and given the Army Number of 23010244 and the Rank of Signalman. My demob number was 5405 which meant I was in till 9th March, 1956.  

INITIAL TRAINING.

At the beginning of March, 1954, I travelled by train to Catterick. This in itself was an adventure as I had not  travelled further north than Burton on Trent on my own. I remember arriving at Ripon and being collected by 'lorry' and taken to Catterick. The following day we were 'kitted out'. Then started the routine of 'square bashing' and the process of learning to polish one’s boots, press your uniform and make your bed. This was no problem for me as I had been taught these tasks from an early age, by my parents, however, some guys had a problem as they had never had to do such tasks for themselves. A lot of time was spent learning to march together. Our Drill Sergeant had been reported on in the National Press due to his 'strictness' and therefore had something to 'live' up to. On one occasion I happened to laugh whilst 'stood to attention' and as a result I was made to stand in front of the squad and give a laughing demonstration. During this period of training I was selected to attend Trade Training, at Loughborough, for an Operator Special. The only thing I knew about that trade was it had something to do with the receiving of high speed morse. After the 'passing out parade', I was sent off down to Loughborough to complete 6 months trade training. Still, it was a lot nearer my home in Coventry .

TRADE TRAINING.

I do not remember too much about Garats Hay however I do remember the Nissan Huts which we had to live with the paving slab floors and central stove.

It was here that I had to learn all about morse code and learn to receive it at high speed - over twenty words a minute I think. I was fortunate to meet up with a guy from Coventry who was based at Garats Hay. He used to go home to Coventry most week-ends, on his motor cycle. The only problem was that he was a speedway rider and it was quite hair raising being a pillon passenger with him. Still it was worth a free lift now and again as I couldn't afford public transport on 25 shillings a week. Upon completing the Trade Training, I was posted to Munster , West Germany at the beginning of October, 1954.

After a home leave, I travelled down to Harwich and embarked on the troopship Empire Parkstone to the Hook of Holland from where we caught the train to Munster . I do not remember to much about my life at Nelson Barracks in Munster however I do remember playing scrum half to John Brown, on one occasion, only to be changed at half time. John was an excellent rugby player who played for the British Lions. During my time at Munster , I remember that we were not looked on favourably by some of the locals, this was evident when one looked in a shop window whilst a local was there, they would glance at you and walk away. I was told this was due to the Allies bombing a number of churches in the area¹⁰ . This is rather ironic as my home town of Coventry was flattened by the Luftwaffe and the Cathedral was made derelict, and remains so today. I had sat on my bedroom window sill and counted over 400 German Planes during the blitz raid.

My duties at Munster included a spell in the office which I found a bit boring. I then went on to Operating doing shift work on a four day cycle. Day 1 was 8am to 1pm followed by midnight to 8am. Day 2 was 5pm to midnight. Day 3 was 8am to 1pm general duties followed by going back Operating 1pm to 5pm. After the day 3 shift, the time was your own through day 4 until starting again at 8am day 1. Sometimes we would get caught with a practice fire alarm on our sleeping day 2, which was rather annoying.

 ¹⁰ . There was another version.  It seems that Hitler was made less than welcome when he paid his first visit to Munster - a very Catholic City. Concerned about security, he built a large number of barracks in the town as we well knew. This attracted a great deal of Allied bombing, hence the poor reception we later received.

On one midnight to eight shift, at the beginning of 1955, there was a major panic due to the groups we were observing, changing their 'call signs' from three characters to four. (the famous change from B type to E type callsigns. Ed). After some hours, one of the Operators recognised the group he usually followed, however it had a four character call sign. This was the lead for others to look for their group with a similar call sign.

At the beginning of 1955, I had two weeks leave back home before being posted to Langeleben. I always remember when we had a leave or was getting demobbed from Munster , breakfast was at an early 6am instead of the later time. One image that I have remembered about the leave was, upon travelling through Holland   on my way back to Munster , the train passed a frozen lake which had lights in the trees and people in National Costume were skating on the lake. It was picture postcard stuff.

I travelled down to Langeleben with a few other guys via Braunswieg and arrived at the camp to find that our accommodation was tents. Just imagine having to spend winter in a tent. The floors were 'duck' boards and there was no running water so we had to get our shaving water in a bowl from the cook house. This was the only ‘building’ on the site and all water was stored there after being collected from Konigslutter by tanker a number of times a week. The toilet was some planks over a hole with a tin roof and a piece of sacking to separate each compartment.

This was Langeleben, with a group of 90 guys on a very important mission living in such conditions, in a field surrounded by trees. The spirit of all concerned was great and I never came across any conflict. The wireless room was two wagons back to back with four shifts providing 24 hour cover.

What social life there was consisted of either going by bus to a cinema in Braunsweig or going into Konigslutter and spending the evening 'supping' at one of the local beer houses. A truck would call late evening at all of the bars to collect those that wished to return to camp by 23.59 that evening. The people of Konigslutter were very friendly and made us very welcome.

I remember on one occasion a number of us were invited to a farmer’s home one Sunday afternoon to have a couple of drinks. During the afternoon, there was a sudden banging on the farm door and the farmer went and opened the door to find his brother on the doorstep, with his family in a cart drawn by a horse. They had just crossed the Border from East Germany . What a party we had that day. Another recreation was skiing in the fields opposite the camp.

During mid '55, a wooden building was erected to house various services the camp needed, such as canteen and stores. This was the start of constructing a more permanent camp and led on to the building of huts for living accommodation in readiness for the winter of 55/6.

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