Osnabruck Garrison closing Down.

visited Osnabrück today, Mercer / Imphal bks. very depressing state they are in.
Mercer/Imphal barracks 2011

Interesting pics Jock..Looks a bit like the old Maresfield bks in Herford

BigJock wrote:

visited Osnabrück today, Mercer / Imphal bks. very depressing state they are in.
Mercer/Imphal barracks 2011

Very poignant. I was there until November 63.

dupester wrote:

True, but it is annoying, if the wksp had only been there a few years I could understand. However over 50 years means that the wksp had been with REME for about 75% of the REME life since it's beginnings.

We were thanked on the last day, by some officer I'd never seen before, certainly not one from the Bn.

But that is all water under the bridge, am sure most civvies are used to not being thanked for the role we play.

Dupester

Dupester:

I for one went round and thanked all those I had the privlidge of dealing with before I left the traz, and I wasn't even with the Bn at that point.

I'm sorry to say that the Brits treated the Civilians as the Hired help and beneith them most of the time.

Hi All,
Does enyone know whether "Mickies Bar" (the premises, that is) is still there?
It was known as the "Keiglerheim" or something, ( I posted a postcard of it some months ago)
I seem to remember that one turned left when leaving Belfast Barracks (I can't really remember turning right when returning!)
Someone on another post mentions Eskorial, and Ratsiputz, (forgive spelling) I remember those drinks vividly, (Ratsiputz was dispensed from a triple bottle, and in a particular order.)

BigJock wrote:

visited Osnabrück today, Mercer / Imphal bks. very depressing state they are in.
Mercer/Imphal barracks 2011

Bloody sad if you ask me.

My Bro was Ord stationed at 12 Armd Wksp this would be...blimey let me think, early 1980's? the DERR's were there at the time, anyhoo, the pics are indeed quite depressing.

Being new to this site I was sorry to read that Osnabruck garrison is/has gone.I served in 12 inf wksp in der dodeside I was given a M/Q in the flats outside the camp(brand new )opposite where the NAAFI was .this was a new estate under construction and we were first in .We collected our furniture from Roberts Bks in a 3 tonner bedford and had to manhandle it up to the top floor,unpack it and check the accommodation list get rid of the packing all in two days .on leaving the property after two years we managed to leave with a clean sheet.after spending several hours scouring pans and general cleaning up and NO DEFICIENCIES.Happy days .O how i,ll miss the place .....NOT..Seriously we had some great times in Osnabruck and Germany.

Keith

Welcome, good see another member of the Corps contributing to this great site. Keep the postings coming.

BobG

Back to 12 INF WKSP I enjoyed the photo.s sent in by BIGJOCK and it bought back a memory I HAD FORGOTTEN Whilst I was there I was promoted to lancejack and recall having to have an escort to meals after (what started out as a joke)I was irresponsible for a RECY MECH getting 7 days in nick at Roberts bks, and was threatened with dire consequences as a result This went on for a few days untill I was posted to L.A.D.12 inf H.Q.at the opposite end of town.

I remember the MQs being built alongside Imphal/Mercer. One morning at around 0200 coming back from a Carnival night in some village, I fell into a very deep trench full of mud and VERY cold water (it was Feb. as I remember), my pal, Woody Woodward (Gun Ftr C Sqn) couldnt do anything but laugh. It took me ages to get out. You should have seen the face of the gate guard!!! I was all yellowy brown.
Woody was last heard of working as a Motor Bike mechanic at the police garage in Cheltenham (on second thought he may have been a Veh Mech A.

I know this is an old thread but now that I found it (by mistake searching for something else) I thought some of you might be interested to see the present "state" of Roberts Barracks and Imphal Barracks.

Apart from the row of buildings on the street side and the cookhouse everything else has been demolished. They built a new drinks vending machine factory far left and to the back as seen from the main gate.

I think the smaller buildings at the back are being used by the building contractors for storage while the building work is being carried out.

The Winkelhousen Pub (across the street) is now a "normal" house. The schelly has been converted in to a hairdressers. The "OXO" is now a schnelly, can't remember what it's called now. The Saskach is just an empty building, all other "discos" are either empty or have been converted in to restaurants.

Imphal Barracs is still as it was, some German companies are now using some of the buildings. One (or some) of the hangers where out tanks were are now been used by a dog training company. The sign on the NAFFI at the main gates was hanging but the building was not in use.

The pics below were taken in July 2012 when I went there for a wedding. Sorry about the quality, I took them on my mobile phone on a dark and not very nice "summer" day.

Eric (Turk) 31 AES 1972-1974.

Click on thumbnails to enlarge.

A very sad view from main gate.


Guard room.



Cook house.


The new vending machine factory.

Welcome Eric The Turk, with a name like that you should go far !

(Expect flak from he of a shelldrake disposition though )

Thanks for the welcome brum, very much used to "flak", that's how I got that label in the first place. lol

Welcome Eric, I can't get over how quickly the Germans move on with development.In the UK it would take governments decades to build on former MOD land.Germany is certainly moving on very fast. Good on them.

rucjock21 wrote:

Welcome Eric, I can't get over how quickly the Germans move on with development.In the UK it would take governments decades to build on former MOD land.Germany is certainly moving on very fast. Good on them.

Thanks for the welcome.

The Germans know what they want and they just get on with it.

Our lot have to first debate for a decade if they should build something and another decade to decide on what to built but they move like lightning when it comes to raising taxes.

I too was amazed at the speed that rebuilding took place in the early 50's ... just 5 years after the end of the war rebuilding was going at a frenetic pace .. we would go out on a four or six week scheme and come back to Munster and wonder where the hell we were, new roads, buildings, and a 'lets get it done attitude'. I compare that to what was happening in my own home town of Southampton, where ten years after the war and in some instances longer there were still bomb sites growing weeds and wild flowers, buildings boarded up while local government argued who's job it was to clear the sites, local, municipal, county or the original owners if they were still around. I take my hat off to the industrious Germans, and anyone who knows me or have read some of my postings on this forum can attune to the fact that I am not a 'Jerry' lover.

Len (Ciphers)

Thanks Eric and Ciphers
My good lady and I have been together nearly 30 years...we met when I worked as a civvy in Iserlohn 1983...half of the time has been spent living in the UK and half here in Germany...despite my lack of German as we have only ever speak English together really do enjoy living here and would not return to the UK...could go on for ages regarding the "can do" attitude over here but just do not get the time as still working full time...
Cheers
Steve an Englishman abroad

ciphers wrote:

I too was amazed at the speed that rebuilding took place in the early 50's ... just 5 years after the end of the war rebuilding was going at a frenetic pace .. we would go out on a four or six week scheme and come back to Munster and wonder where the hell we were, new roads, buildings, and a 'lets get it done attitude'. I compare that to what was happening in my own home town of Southampton, where ten years after the war and in some instances longer there were still bomb sites growing weeds and wild flowers, buildings boarded up while local government argued who's job it was to clear the sites, local, municipal, county or the original owners if they were still around. I take my hat off to the industrious Germans, and anyone who knows me or have read some of my postings on this forum can attune to the fact that I am not a 'Jerry' lover.

Len (Ciphers)

I'm surprised that they didnt fill the craters with water and turned it into a wild life habitat jungle which seems to have a higher priority here than building houses for people to live in. Or are they still talking about it.

steve wrote:

Thanks Eric and Ciphers
My good lady and I have been together nearly 30 years...we met when I worked as a civvy in Iserlohn 1983...half of the time has been spent living in the UK and half here in Germany...despite my lack of German as we have only ever speak English together really do enjoy living here and would not return to the UK...could go on for ages regarding the "can do" attitude over here but just do not get the time as still working full time...
Cheers
Steve an Englishman abroad

My wife and I have been together for 33 years and married for 31. I lived and worked in Osnabruck for 20 years and we returned to the UK in 92, probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life but that's another story.

We still speak German most of the time so that we don't forget the language, especially if we don't want others to know what we are talking about.

Nice one

steve wrote:

Thanks Eric and Ciphers
My good lady and I have been together nearly 30 years...we met when I worked as a civvy in Iserlohn 1983...half of the time has been spent living in the UK and half here in Germany...despite my lack of German as we have only ever speak English together really do enjoy living here and would not return to the UK...could go on for ages regarding the "can do" attitude over here but just do not get the time as still working full time...
Cheers
Steve an Englishman abroad

Steve, I am faintly surprised that you are not proficient in the spoken German.
No offence mate but most of the blokes I knew, who married German girls, were required to learn Deutsch de rigeuer.
One bloke in our battery took it upon himself to learn Plattdeusch.
All that being said, how do you communicate with the local populace ?

Moin Brum
Just about get by with the lingo missing out on the small talk...German is not required with my good lady she will tell you only her passport is German...
Cheers
Steve

That was my only failure when I was in Germany,not learning to speak German. But there again, quite a few of the Germans I spoke to could speak English.I found the German people to be very nice and formal.The only way we are going to get on is to learn each others language and understand their lifestyles.

Both my x and her mother spoke very good English but they didn't teach her (my x's) kids, none of them can speak English. And now there is even less reason for them to learn English.