German behaviour

brum wrote:

pete26 wrote:

I think the Germans put up with a lot off us.

I mean, how many thousands of drunkards did we used to put out on the streets every weekend ?

Looking at your "battle honours" Pete, "thousands of drunkards", "Hohne" ?
Surely not !

I'm afraid so Brum.

And when you attach all the many thousands of squaddies all over Rhine army in the 1970s, the Germans must have had the patience of JOB.

pete26 wrote:

brum wrote:

pete26 wrote:

I think the Germans put up with a lot off us.

I mean, how many thousands of drunkards did we used to put out on the streets every weekend ?

Looking at your "battle honours" Pete, "thousands of drunkards", "Hohne" ?
Surely not !

I'm afraid so Brum.

And when you attach all the many thousands of squaddies all over Rhine army in the 1970s, the Germans must have had the patience of JOB.

Made a few bob out of it though. On the other hand they could have had hoards of Russians on their soil. Which would you choose if German?

Teabag wrote:

pete26 wrote:

brum wrote:

pete26 wrote:

I think the Germans put up with a lot off us.

I mean, how many thousands of drunkards did we used to put out on the streets every weekend ?

Looking at your "battle honours" Pete, "thousands of drunkards", "Hohne" ?
Surely not !

I'm afraid so Brum.

And when you attach all the many thousands of squaddies all over Rhine army in the 1970s, the Germans must have had the patience of JOB.

Made a few bob out of it though. On the other hand they could have had hoards of Russians on their soil. Which would you choose if German?

Oh no doubt. The mass rapes at the end of WW2 were disgraceful by the russkies.

I did read somewhere recently that they are still an 'occupied' government/state.

Was in some very academic papers I read.

Claymore wrote:

pete26 wrote:

The DJ would play some of what I now know as 'schlager music'.

Actually, they have a similar thing in the Netherlands to this day. In Amsterdam it's called "Amsterdamse" or "Hollandse" elsewhere. It's a bit like all your worst Eurovision ballads of the 70s rolled into one, sometimes with a touch of Volkstümliche Musik just to get the party swinging.

At a certain time of night, the manager will wind up the bar sound system and the locals, from octogenerian, to dribbling drunk, to screaming queen, to heavily pierced teenage goth will link arms and 'gie it laldy' to Andre Hazes or similar.

Completely impenetrable to most Brits.

Don't suppose you've got the name of this Bar by any chance?

This bar in Holland certainly rocks when the lads arrive

http://jackw102.multiply.com/video/item/107/Uni_bar.avi

pete26 wrote:

Surely they don't still do the foxtrot, or do they ?

I gather you weren't exactly chuffed ! But you were in Deutschland, that's their way. Nowt wrong with that........ Bet you didn't expect them to drive on the left, or maybe you'd have been happier with a warm beer in a pint pot !

The one thing I found very odd was the disaproving stares we got when my wife was pregnant, it seems German women didn't go out in that state, total turnaround when the kids were born though, the pram was always surrounded by adoring hausfrauen.

Some pregnant ladies get disaproving looks from my misses..Normally to do with the way they are dressed..Find i have to agree with her on some occasions..

Gordon. wrote:

Some pregnant ladies get disaproving looks from my misses..Normally to do with the way they are dressed..Find i have to agree with her on some occasions..

And me, Flip flops, fag and a mobile phone glued to their lug!!

That`s about it,except for the bottle of Bucky

ciphers wrote:

................ Most of our drinking was in the NCO's Club or the NAAFI, and of course our pay in the 50's was nothing like todays, especially for the NS lads.
Len (Ciphers)

True enough Len! Though there wasn't the drinking culture at home like there is today either. Certainly, in my experience, many of the 18 year olds hardly touched a drop, even when they had the money. And that was tight! 20p, a day for a Gunner, an extra 2.5p / day for the first stripe and, I think, another 5p/day for the second for the few who made it, and very few got higher in an RA service regt.

Then there were stoppages. Out of the total of £1.40 a week, 17.5p was stopped for National Insurance, and pay in hand was limited the nearest 25p....... i.e. £1 a week was all you got unless you had a minimal additional trade allowance. The remainder went into credits to pay for damaged kit etc. I think I'd amassed something like £10 on demob & thought I was rich !

[quote="jim"]The one thing I found very odd was the disaproving stares we got when my wife was pregnant, it seems German women didn't go out in that state, quote]

Yes, I remember that Jim and I'm talking about when girls wore maternity clothes too.
I wonder how they get on with the new "Britnaaay" inspired fashion, tee shirt stretched over the top half and trousers resting underneath the giant bulge.
Bloody awful !

I was out delivering one day when i saw a pregnant woman at a bus stop.
Tracksuit bottoms under the bulge some sort of T-shirt on top and in the middle a bulge that looked like an aerial view of Clapham Junction.
Most unpleasant to see.
She couldn`t have had any self pride.

Quote :

tee shirt stretched over the top half and trousers resting underneath the giant bulge.
Bloody awful !

Bloody revolting...

cartav wrote:

ciphers wrote:

................ Most of our drinking was in the NCO's Club or the NAAFI, and of course our pay in the 50's was nothing like todays, especially for the NS lads.
Len (Ciphers)

True enough Len! Though there wasn't the drinking culture at home like there is today either. Certainly, in my experience, many of the 18 year olds hardly touched a drop, even when they had the money. And that was tight! 20p, a day for a Gunner, an extra 2.5p / day for the first stripe and, I think, another 5p/day for the second for the few who made it, and very few got higher in an RA service regt.

Then there were stoppages. Out of the total of £1.40 a week, 17.5p was stopped for National Insurance, and pay in hand was limited the nearest 25p....... i.e. £1 a week was all you got unless you had a minimal additional trade allowance. The remainder went into credits to pay for damaged kit etc. I think I'd amassed something like £10 on demob & thought I was rich !

I joined up in Sept 67, [17th birthday] my pay at depot was 1 pound one week, and 10 bob the next, so no, drinking for me was out! Ian.

Ian wrote:

cartav wrote:

ciphers wrote:

................ Most of our drinking was in the NCO's Club or the NAAFI, and of course our pay in the 50's was nothing like todays, especially for the NS lads.
Len (Ciphers)

True enough Len! Though there wasn't the drinking culture at home like there is today either. Certainly, in my experience, many of the 18 year olds hardly touched a drop, even when they had the money. And that was tight! 20p, a day for a Gunner, an extra 2.5p / day for the first stripe and, I think, another 5p/day for the second for the few who made it, and very few got higher in an RA service regt.

Then there were stoppages. Out of the total of £1.40 a week, 17.5p was stopped for National Insurance, and pay in hand was limited the nearest 25p....... i.e. £1 a week was all you got unless you had a minimal additional trade allowance. The remainder went into credits to pay for damaged kit etc. I think I'd amassed something like £10 on demob & thought I was rich !

I joined up in Sept 67, [17th birthday] my pay at depot was 1 pound one week, and 10 bob the next, so no, drinking for me was out! Ian.

When I was posted for a tour of Ulster in early 1974, we were the first to get paid 'danger money' at 50p extra per day....and they bloody taxed us on that.

My wage in Ulster was £17.50 per week. In Germany, where I spent most of my time, with LOA, I was on £63.50 per week.

Blokes were queuing up to buy themselves out when posted to 'blighty' in those days. You couldn't afford to live on a squaddies wage in the UK.

Quote :

In Germany, where I spent most of my time, with LOA, I was on £63.50 per week.

Bloody hell!!!I came out to avoid another posting to Germany...They must have really bumped up the LOA...

Yes Brum, decently dressed in fact. I'll keep an eye out when we're in Hamburg next week and see if I can spot any pregnant German women. on the quotes about what they wear today, oh yes I'm in total agreement.

Don`t waste your time Jim..Concentrate on the skimpily dressed young ladies instead

Yes, and some photographs please. Have a look and see if the Mural is still on the side wall of the Davidswache!

Is that the one of the guy in a German football shirt giving the Nazi salute?

No, it's a girl sat sitting with eyes agog and legs akimbo!!

Dee Z wrote:

Are you managing to get a seat at the pool Shelldrake ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LuIJqF8av6I#!

Good one!!!!

Did BW have anything to do with that???

jim wrote:

The one thing I found very odd was the disaproving stares we got when my wife was pregnant, it seems German women didn't go out in that state, total turnaround when the kids were born though, the pram was always surrounded by adoring hausfrauen.

I'm guessing that'd be in the 60s or 70s.

With our bunch (Canadians for those of you late to the party here!), it was some silly Army wife who'd never been out of New Brunswick going out in public with her hair in curlers! Or smoking on the street!! Or -- in the 70s anyway -- wearing sweat pants or pants in public or -- gasp!! -- shorts!!!!!

My mom went native while there opting to wear the uniform of the hausfrau -- a kittle. That was appreciated, truly. The only thing I recall her being 'called on' was putting the laundry out to dry on either a Sunday or some Saint's Day....just not done! Which is why so many German houses of the era (and maybe still) had those transom windows up in the attic....Frau Schmidt could go ahead and do her laundry whenever but if she was hanging it up and it was a Saint's Day or what-have-you, she was to put it up in the attic to dry and open those skylight/transom windows. So long as the neighbours didn't see (of course Frau Mueller was doing the same thing!!).

But getting back to the odd habits of the German population:

-- The sledgehammer seemed to be an ubiquitous part of every arbiter's set of tools. If all else failed, take a sledgehammer to it!

-- On any construction site you'd care to name there was always a hut that dispensed bottled beer. On morning break -- 9am-ish -- there'd they be sitting on a curb drinking a bottle or two of good German beer!! Lunch. Afternoon break. Sometimes having a bottle nearby as they wielded the aforementioned sledgehammer....

-- Not sure if this really qualifies but I remember when I was back in Soest working and renting a set of rooms from a nice German family. I'd be downstairs writing out my rent cheque and the frau nudged her husband and said "Kuekme....Er ist mit die links hand geschrieben!" (Look....he's writing with his left hand!) and her husband shushing her as if to suggest she not call attention to my obvious handicap. Not sure about now, but in the 70s German southpaw kids were still being forced to write with the right hand,something that had not been done in Canada for over 30 years at that point!

-- Every household had the following: a jade plant in the area of the stairwell linking downstairs flat with the upstairs flat. Heavily brocaded runners on the coffee table in the living room (the table could be cranked up higher to become a proper eating table, which I thought pure genius!) and other flat surfaces. A large ashtray in the middle of the table. A humongous 'schrank' along one wall. Furniture was always grouped around the coffee table (the fashion in Canada at the time -- and still -- was to situate living room furniture against the walls leaving a relatively large space in the middle. Rather 'cold' we realized. Upon returning to Canada,my mom took to arranging the living room in the German fashion, sofa and chairs grouped together for better conversation).

In fact, shortly after I moved into my small bedsitter,my landlady was up and saw I had placed the coffee table in front of the bed she had in there with the two chairs grouped in front. All I heard was "Oh!" and when I came home that evening, the bed had been removed and replaced with a foldout couch/sofa/chesterfield. She had immediately understood what I was attempting to do and so she accommodated that. I was actually quite touched. (the foldout,by the way, was uncomfortable to sleep on,but I got used to it).