Sennelager places remembered

Hi all,

It is now 60 years since my first trip to Sennelager, one week weapon training; once a year for RE's

Does anyone have a plan / map of the area in the early 1950's?

I remember the tank museum, which was interesting.

Street [like a film set] we had to walk down with a 303 and targets popped up at doors and windows; very difficult to decide between a soldier with a gun and a woman with a baby. Where was it? Still there?

Another day we walked in a line across open country [not flat] shooting at tin cans every 50 to 100 yards or so.

Another day was sten gun on a short range

Where would we have stayed, cant remember if huts or barracks? Sure not tents

There was a canteen [modern building] may not have been NAAFI, so could have been run by Church Army?? Where was it. I remember going there most days for a cuppa; one time hanging onto the back of a bren gun carrier [No H&S in those days]

It was a great trip for 18 plus year olds; and how to handle a 303, harder than the weapons of today

Cheers
Tony

Can't remember the names of the ranges you mention, but I remember being on many of them. The one where you walked down the trail shooting at pop-up targets, one of which was a wild boar and a barn at the end was fun. Also the night patrol course where trip wires set of everything from small arms fire to flares and sand bags rolling out of the trees at you.

I always wished I had snagged one of the maps. It was an amazing system they had with the road barriers going up at very precise times. Every barrier was shown on the map and if you didn't get through before the appointed second, there you were until they went up hours later.

Don't recall a Church Army canteen, but the Toc H was in the main barracks area, I think near the parade square.

Don't know about anyone else, but the Canadians were always under canvass. It was sort of our "Right of Spring" as it was the start of a series of exercises that ran the course of Haltern, Soltau, and culminating in the NATO ex, usually on the Weser or up near the GDR border.

No sane person I ever met would say they loved the place, but Sennelager was an amazing training area. It had everything including a Red Army cemetary and a lot of former German Army training aids like the concrete landing craft.

I'll raise a pint to the place after band practice tonight.

Normandy Barracks Sennelager was where the HQ for the training area was located together with a few permanent units and visiting units accommodation. Just past the Toc H was Theatre Lines used by visiting units, there was/is other accommodation located elsewhere in the barracks. Besides the Toc H there was a visiting units NAAFI, cinema was located in Theatre Lines. This may jog a few memories.
Bob

BobG wrote:

Normandy Barracks Sennelager was where the HQ for the training area was located together with a few permanent units and visiting units accommodation. Just past the Toc H was Theatre Lines used by visiting units, there was/is other accommodation located elsewhere in the barracks. Besides the Toc H there was a visiting units NAAFI, cinema was located in Theatre Lines. This may jog a few memories.
Bob

Its been mentioned before:-

https://bfg-locations.editboard.com/t62-skc-location

There was a Salvation Army canteen.
Remember once we were on exercise and were accommodated in one of the Barrack Blocks,which was recently vacated by the Danish Army. Our beds were Paliases stuffed with hay. As we lit the iron stove to heat up the room, a guard came along and warned us that smoke was coming out of the building,not from the chimney but from between the roofing slates. The Danish soldiers, instead of depositing the used hay outside,had dumped it in the attic, around the chimney. The AFS was quickly on the scene .

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies.
Must have been the Salvos canteen that I remember.

I guess Sennelager was not a good posting; especially those working on the ranges

But for us RE's one week a year was the only time we got to fire weapons; so it was a bit of fun; and after one week we were much better prepared to use them if we had to.

I was a child in WWII so we were used to guns bombs etc, living not far from London

In BAOR, I was sent from Osnaburck to Chatham, Kent for a trade course in 1951, and was told to take all my kit including my 303; so how many have travelled on the London Underground carrying a rifle in peace time? Did not have a trigger guard.

Cheers
Tony

Quote :

how many have travelled on the London Underground carrying a rifle in peace time?

Not very many,i should imagine

burgess720 wrote:

Hi all,

Street [like a film set] we had to walk down with a 303 and targets popped up at doors and windows; very difficult to decide between a soldier with a gun and a woman with a baby. Where was it? Still there?

Cheers
Tony

Sounds like 'silver city' which we used for Northern Ireland training in late 1973.

Firing plastic rounds.

They used a tannoy for controlling us in the 'game'.

The camp was also ancient as used by the SS we were told.

Only cold water in troughs using standpipes in the open air. No cover.

The toilets were a row of about 30 thunderboxes all open so that if you sat up you could see the bloke at the end thrutching one out. A bloody culture shock the first time. The Bundeswehr blokes used them and laughed at us when we opened the outer door and saw the row of blokes crepping.

[quote="pete26"][

Sounds like 'silver city' which we used for Northern Ireland training in late 1973.

Was that an upgrade ? We called it "Tintown" in '72.


"You could see the bloke at the end thrutching one out."

Thrutching One Out eh ?

So familiar to us but I can just see a English - learning German popping up with his note pad.

Wie bitte ?

Thrutching One Out eh ?



I must admit that this is a new one on me.

I must have led a sheltered life to have missed it.

[quote="brum"][quote="pete26"][

Sounds like 'silver city' which we used for Northern Ireland training in late 1973.

Was that an upgrade ? We called it "Tintown" in '72.



A Cathederal must have been added at some time, we called it Tin City. Lydd and Hythe were also less than salubrious!!

I missed going to Tin City for NI training, due to being on exercise so had to do mine in Bally Kinler.

bigmal wrote:

I missed going to Tin City for NI training, due to being on exercise so had to do mine in Bally Kinler.

The IRA blew Ballykinler to bits just after I was there.

[quote="Shelldrake"][quote="brum"]

pete26 wrote:

[

Sounds like 'silver city' which we used for Northern Ireland training in late 1973.

Was that an upgrade ? We called it "Tintown" in '72.



A Cathederal must have been added at some time, we called it Tin City. Lydd and Hythe were also less than salubrious!!

Last time I was there ('76), there was also an estate of little houses which was called Killymurphy.

While there I was placed with the NITAT team to give a hand for a day.
First job, a small wall, two breeze blocks thick, with a Fig 12 target placed behind it. I had to fire ten rounds from a .303 at a patch target to demonstrate to our chaps that it was NOT safe to take cover behind a wall. All ten rounds and fragments of the wall, made a right old mess of the target.

I got the chance to fire a Thompson too. The rate of fire was surprisingly rapid !

Where did you get a .303 from in 76..I thought they had all gone by then...

Gordon. wrote:

Where did you get a .303 from in 76..I thought they had all gone by then...

It was from the NITAT team. (They called the .303 "The Old Lady").

They had a collection of captured weapons. As well as the Thompson they had a Garand M1, an M16 and others.

Quote :

(They called the .303 "The Old Lady").

Hmmm .Now i know why you volunteered...You didn`t know they were talking about a rifle.. tsk tsk..

I was posted to 44 (RP) Coy RAOC at Depot 90 1977 to 1979 (with our accommodation at 1CSB at Barker Barracks in Paderborn) & and the canteen at STC by that time was Church Army with 'TocH' being at Alanbrock Barracks closer to Paderborn as well as the 'Red Shield' who provided the 'Sally Ann' canteen vans to the ranges. Tin City was upgraded in 1970 as the Northern Ireland Training Range from an earlier FIBUA Range which sounds like the ones in earler posts! I was attached to NITAT on several occasions as well as for 'Rent a Crowd' etc

The STC Barracks changed a lot over the years, and writers sometimes need to identify the year they were there to compare changes. The ranges were mainly controlled by German Local Labour who knew the place like the back of their hands.

[quote="Mike_2817"]

Tin City was upgraded in 1970 as the Northern Ireland Training Range from an earlier FIBUA Range which sounds like the ones in earler posts! I was attached to NITAT on several occasions as well as for 'Rent a Crowd' etc

The day I was with the NITAT (Mind you, around that time they changed to something like NIRRT), there was that humorous Ulsterman in charge.

Later in the day we went into the control tower while some of our lads were being "put through it". It was hilarious, they would wait for some poor bugger to take cover behind a dustbin, or something equally stupid then explode a hidden charge. Oh how we all laughed ! Not so bloody funny when you're down there on your flat feet though.

We finished up having a run around the range ourselves. Every dummy that put in an appearance got blasted-women with kids, the lot.
What tickled me though, remember how a window used to open with a screech and the figure of a topless woman would appear ? That had actual bullet holes (not plastic either !) in its chest.

Oh, we were easily amused in those days !

Am i right in remembering that rounds for use in NI had a lighter load to stop tjem penetrating walls?

jim wrote:

Am i right in remembering that rounds for use in NI had a lighter load to stop tjem penetrating walls?

If that was the case Jim ,they never got around to telling US about it !

Yes they did Jim from about 1974ish onwards. They were 7.62mm rounds moulded in blue plastic including the bullet, with an aluminium base, with a reduced load and made by the German firm DAG

Just found a picture on Google Search




There was also a 9mm version for SMG & Pistol

We also had a Honest John version in case of swingers when we we firing from an outside Gun Position in Munsterlager.

Not sure about an 'Honest John' version, The Lance Missile had a concrete lump to use as a Practice warhead up on the Benbecula Ranges!

but there was a sub-calibre device for the Charlie G that looked like an AT Round which fired a 6.5mm Training Round at a target looking like a tank on a normal range!

Also a Sub-Calibre device for the 66mm LAW

Mike_2817 wrote:

Yes they did Jim from about 1974ish onwards. They were 7.62mm rounds moulded in blue plastic including the bullet, with an aluminium base, with a reduced load and made by the German firm DAG

Just found a picture on Google Search




There was also a 9mm version for SMG & Pistol

With respect Mike I think you're barking up the wrong tree there.
They're the blanks that the Bundeswehr has used for decades.
They used to be black in colour and you'd see them scattered all over the place.