My little world and: BFN !!!

Oh well, so it's all sadly coming to an end now with the British Forces in Germany,...

My father was serving in the far East in the early 1950s, I only met him at the age of 4. Didn't he look SMART in his battledress!
(He was RAOC, with was it 18 Inf Wksp? 12 Inf Bde? That yellow-and black patch on his sleeve, shaped like a Chinese version of the letter "H"?)
We moved to Dodesheide, Osnabrueck, Ellerstr, into a block of flats next to the Primary School, which again was next to the "Globe" Cinema (where I was absolutely fascinated by the film "Carry On, Sergeant").
In the vicinity was - and still is - the pub "Zum Kleinen Mann", the name of which my father found hilarious! Not realising, that the name in German means "the common man" and not the translation "the small man".

Anway, my parents bought a "modern" radio, a monstrous box operating with valves, it would take minutes to warm up. How I loved to listen to BFN!
My favourite tunes in those days were "Crazy with Love", "Singing the Blues" (Guy Mitchell), "Sprechen Sie Deutsch" (I must learn to sprechen, I gotta get crackin', I must learn to sprechen Sie Deutsch!)
"Ape Call", "Messing about on the River", "Davy, Davy Crockett..."
Today, I often call them up on You Tube, where available...

Announcer Chris Howland (aka "Heinrich Pumpernickel") had just swapped sides, was now on German Radio......
There was "Letter from America" with Alastair McDougall - which I HATED as a kid, and also "Movie Go Round", but I LOVED the theme tune,
and my question is: Can anyone name the title? I habe been unable to trace it so far....
And there was announcer Bill Crozier.

My parents bought a second hand VW Beetle, with the oval rear window, I believe there was a waiting list for 2nd hand cars days then, we often visited the beer-garden next to the water-mill in Nettetal, they still serve the same bacon sandwiches as they did in those days! ("Schinkenbrot")

Then came my father's pride and joy: a portable radio, a Philips, valve operated, the size of a small suitcase, the main battery the size of a brick! That meant, BFN was now available outside also! I believe I was its main user....

Today, I often travel to Dodesheide, to relive fond memories...The MQ Estates have obviously been taken over by German owners/tenants, but that enormous camp at the top of the hill (was it Mercer Bks?) is now a ghost town...

I have worked for the Army now for 42 years, as a civvy, in Bielefeld, Harrogate Bks, Richmond Bks (which was then Brixton Bks), Catterick Bks to date, which has now become HQ BFG...and hope to reach pension age there, then move to my beloved Osnabrueck? Or perhaps the "Duemmer See"?

We shall see....

Yours,

Ms_OS (Miss Osnabrueck   )

Alistair Cooke sent the Letter from America

Pborn3 wrote:

Alistair Cooke sent the Letter from America

He didn't send me one!  

too busy listening to:

http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/radio1/1960s_jingle_page.htm

[quote="Ms_OS"]


Announcer Chris Howland (aka "Heinrich Pumpernickel") had just swapped sides, was now on German Radio......
There was "Letter from America" with Alastair McDougall - which I HATED as a kid, and also "Movie Go Round", but I LOVED the theme tune,
and my question is: Can anyone name the title? I habe been unable to trace it so far....
And there was announcer Bill Crozier


Hi Ms_OS and welcome to the Messageboard, fascinating memories. The theme tune from Movie go Round was The Carousel Waltz by Rodgers and Hammerstein:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDS9DjSQ25iD0&v=S9DjSQ25iD0

@ pborn3:

Yes, of course, it was Alastaire COOKE-
So you must be getting on a little, also?   

@ Shelldrake:

Wow, thanks for the tune, you_ve made me the happiest gurl in this world, for this eve, at least   

BFN sank in my esteem, when they suddenly called themselves "BFBS".
Whatever was wrong with British Forces Network?

The usual "change for changes sake", I suppose.

And uniforms....well, I guess I'm just an old-fashioned gurl. Everything was fine with me, as long as there were epaulettes on both shoulders. Then there was suddenly just the one, on the chest, on DPM.
To me, that didn't look military any more. And today's uniform - looks to me like a skater's outfit,
pockets everywhere for fashion's sake, tunic hanging outside trousers, to me a pyjama-like appearance, all it needs is a baseball cap in the same pattern, worn the other way round...

And the battledress dismissed at the time, because it was considered "slovenly"?

Wasn't the "woolly pully" smart? Copied all over the world? And worn with lightweight trousers?

But, as mentioned, I'm just an old-fashioned gurl...  

Yours,

Ms_OS

used to like chris howland on bfn , johnny cash was a young upand coming star on afn , bloody good broadcasting in the 50s . ginger

"They" circulated a DPM cap half way between a baseball cap and the standard head dress of the GSO (with roll down ear flaps) in 1970 - an RSM refused to let the RQMS sign for the packages! - even as a trial - told him there would be a very real trial if he did!

Hey, thanks for your contributions so far.

So a little more reminiscing.

When my father was demobbed, we moved to Bielefeld. He was a hon. member of the WO’s & Sgt’s Mess at Brixton Bks.

On many a Saturday afternoon, he’d say to my mum: “Just going to 11 ASD” (which meant for a drink or two) and to me: “Coming?” That was one of my greatest delights, never would I have refused (He’d been posted to Brixton Bks just after the war, to what I assume was “11 Ammunition Supply Depot RAOC”. For him, it continued to be 11 ASD, despite the fact that it already could have been “CRAOC Central” and “AMED RAMC”, but I’m not sure.
Little did I know that I would be working there myself in years to come, i.e at “Barrack Office RAOC”.

Anyway, in the mess, I always had a wonderful time. Aiming billiard balls by hand at the various holes, a limitless supply of lemonade and crisps by Dad’s mates…
Crisps. Smith’s. There were only two flavours in those days – unsalted and salted, in the same packet. If you wanted them salted, you would open the supplied blue paper package containing salt and sprinkle it over them.
Dad’s mate Jimmy Field would play tunes for me on the piano, and sing.

But my absolute favourite entertainment was the “one-armed bandits”, the fruit machines. As the congregation grew merrier and merrier, generosity would increase accordingly and provide me with a constant flow of suitable coins.
One Saturday, my winnings were 10 (ten !) Deutschmarks, a princely sum, more than one month’s worth of regular pocket money, and which was invested immediately the following Monday in toys.
I left the mess regularly with a six-pack of assorted soft drinks and bags of crisps, to be shared with my German friends, who had not come across such treasures before, it was the early 1960s….

Ms_OS

Really enjoy your trip down memory lane Ms. OS.

Wiebka was the name of the daughter of the owner of the owner of the electrical store that many of us hired radios during our stay in NEUMUNSTER. She was a very attractive young lady and came to my wedding in Kiel with Ken Rennison any one remember them? the radios were very cheap to hire ,we spent a lot of time listening to BFN, Fraulein and All shook up were the most played records.

@ hardrations: Thx, General, that encourages me to add a further episode!



At Ellerstrasse, there also lived our neighbour Pte Doug H. with his family.

I remember his rank so clearly, because I was extremely rank-conscious. After all, my father was a WO2 - all below that rank to me were “commons”. Although Sergeants were sort-of OK, for one had acted in that cinema-film, hadn’t he?
On the other hand, the officers in their patch up the road seemed to me like “Gods on Mount Olympus”. They spoke such strange English! And in school, their kids were a right stuck-up lot.

Anyway, Doug purchased a second hand car too, and sawed out a section of the fence in front of the block, fitted hinges and a catch, to park the car on the lawn, Also, he dug up a section of the lawn for a vegetable patch. Wasn’t he proud of himself?!
On the day of their march-out, I remember a weeping Mrs H. The Estate Warden hadn’t been impressed by such enterprises.

One day, I asked my mother the price of a box of matches, expecting such a fascinating item to be absolutely unaffordable. It turned out to be only 5 Pfennigs.
So, unexpectedly, I did have the financial capacities to purchase at least a carton…
But one box appeared sufficient, and was acquired at the local German shop.
There was the German “boilerman”, a small, grumpy, bald-headed German man, whom we did our best to avoid at all times.
So us kids, meaning no harm and simply wanting to repeat what we had seen on Nov 5th, gathered old newspapers and placed them in a corner between both blocks of flats, which were joined, but slightly offset against each other. And to our great delight, got a roaring fire started, us shrieking with glee.
And around the corner comes our arch-enemy, the boilerman. I remember him yelling at the top of his voice: “Oh! Oh! Oh! Die machen hier Feuer!”
Which brought a flock of flabbergasted mums to the scene, each tearing away their individual offspring under great lament.
I can’t remember what my punishment was, but was certainly told: “You wait until Dad gets home!” And my valued acquisition was confiscated on the spot.

Occasionally, the main water supply was cut off. I remember Army water tankers coming round to supply the MQs, with the German population on the other side of the road enviously watching, us kids staring back at them with a smug grin on our faces, which expressed: “Look what WE’VE got and you haven’t…” After all, they were the enemy, weren’t they?

But I was friendly with Kuno, a young German lad. One day, he held in his hand the German-type Sandwich called “Butterbrot”, a slice of brown bread spread with presumably margarine and - Sugar. I was fascinated, what a yet unencountered delicacy! It was only later that I found out it was out of poverty…

Yours,

Ms_OS

Ms_OS

Thank you for your personal memories of "the good old days", I too am wallowing in nostalgia. More please

i dont understand the talk of hiring radios , we just approached the del boys of the m s o handed over 50 players and we were the owners of some really wonderful radios , that was in the50s , ginger

Nice reminiscences Ms Os, just a bit before my time but I can connect with most od what you describe. I was 1961 vintage and serving. The arrival of transistor radios at this time meant you could get away from the huge sets you mention and, at last, have a truly portable source of BFN. But in due course I got tired of this and bought one capable of picking up the Light Programme.

Again good memories shared there OS.

In talking about radios. One outstanding memory comes to mind.

While doing SAS guard out by Menden, we were watching German/UK game on T.V., taking place in Germany somewhere. This was 66 or 67. We had the T.V. sound turned off and were getting a blow by blow description over BFN. The radio was down by the T.V. out of sight. One young Gunner type came in and was fascinated that we had English over a German T.V. channel. The lads told him that it was something new, a translation device was attached to the T.V. so, PRESTO, English version. He of course says Bull S**T. They said has Soupie (I was still RC Sigs then). So of course I backed up the other lads, being the on spot radio expert. Well he went off in amazement over this new technical wonder. Later caught on that we had pulled his pisser on this. He ended up a CWO (WO 1) Radar Tech. And too this day still denys that we took him in on it.

Item offered on e-bay last year for £9.99 and £2.70 postage and packing:

RICHARD ASTBURY ‘Asters Greatest Hits’ LP 1976 Comedy Barbara Windsor BFBS

Asters Greatest Hits

Plays British Forces Best Sellers

A collection of the most requested tracks from Richard Astbury’s popular radio show. Radio & TV Presenter Astbury had a hugely popular show with the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) in 1969 with postings to Cyprus, Cologne, Berlin, Belize, Gibraltar, The Falkland Islands and Malta.

Richard made a name for himself with the way he used to talk to the wives on the phone with the risqué contents that attracted the attention, not only of the British Forces, but many hundreds of thousands of German listeners. Richard was also well known for his weekly Sunday programme “Pop Around Europe”, playing hits from the European charts.

Richard spent 12 years in Germany, ten in Cologne where he became well known in the 70’s for his “Housewives Show” broadcast daily from the studios in Marienburg. This prompted the recording of his record “The Drinking Man’s Diet”, along with two other long-playing compilations and records of a risqué nature. One of which was this record

It takes in some blue 70s comedy obscurities that you just don’t hear anymore,

-Babs Windsor’s breathily sexy and hilarious Grin And Bear It –

Turning the sexual voltage down somewhat, there’s also a track called Family Favourites from Bill Oddie’s now virtually unobtainable pre-Goodies solo album of humorous songs (some of which appeared in the radio show I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again)

Warning-some of the tracks, such as ‘Belfast Belfast’ by Tommy Thomas & The Club Sound are hugely politically incorrect; managing to be simultaneously offensive to Asians and the Irish and probably the whole of humanity.

Cover- Ex- German Polydor 12 track LP

Leap Up And Down - St. Cecilia

Bare Facts - Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise

Crumpet Voluntary - Captain Electric

Big Six - Judge Dread

I Drink To Your Memory - Mister Murray

Up Je TAime - Frankie Howerd & June Whitfield

Grin And Bear It - Barbara Windsor

Family Favourites - Bill Oddie

Spam Song - Monty Pythons Flying Circus

Dear Auntie Vera - Jeremy Taylor

Belfast Belfast - Tommy Thomas And The Club Sound

The Stripper - David Rose And His Orchestra

gingerjim wrote:

i dont understand the talk of hiring radios , we just approached the del boys of the m s o  handed over 50 players and we were the owners of some really wonderful radios , that was in the50s , ginger

We had a piano in our room, sniff..........................

Found it! It's not quite the original, but very similar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3_EJ4p5jMs

I MUST add one more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEwkS57P4eE

Shelldrake wrote:

gingerjim wrote:

i dont understand the talk of hiring radios , we just approached the del boys of the m s o  handed over 50 players and we were the owners of some really wonderful radios , that was in the50s , ginger

We had a piano in our room, sniff..........................

Did your room have a wood stove in the middle of the room with a tunnel under it as well    
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbsuAbTTsV8

"I wish I could Sprechen Sie Deutch" was written by a now-famous country singer, Tom T. Hall, while he was doing the US equivalent of national service in Germany. He's getting on in years but he and his band, The Story-Tellers, came up with some great hit songs, and he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame a few years back.

I used to spend Sunday afternoons enjoying shows like "The Navy Lark" and "Beyond Our Ken" to name only two on BFN. Also "Two-Way Family Favourites" ("This one is going out to Pte Bloggs in BFPO 14 from Patricia who misses him very much....") and I still get nostalgic over "The Archers" theme song, which, unfortunately, we seldom hear in Canada. Guess we colonials don't appreciate everyday stories of country folk.
Happy Days!

john boy wrote:

Shelldrake wrote:

gingerjim wrote:

i dont understand the talk of hiring radios , we just approached the del boys of the m s o  handed over 50 players and we were the owners of some really wonderful radios , that was in the50s , ginger

We had a piano in our room, sniff..........................

Did your room have a wood stove in the middle of the room with a tunnel under it as well    
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbsuAbTTsV8

It did, how did you know that?? The end of the tunnel came out behind the NAAFI bar.   

Nostalgic look at:



http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/radio2/light_programme_drama.htm

http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/sounds/50yrs111.mp3

This is one I would have LOVED in my childhood days, wherever did they get the actors from?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kav0FEhtLug