Trying to find....

Hello All

I am new here and this is my first post. I am trying to find out some general information as I am hoping to take a trip with my sister to where I was born and explore the area. I appreciate some of this information may already be posted and am working through the forums etc. But any help would be appreciated.

I haven't seen my father in almost twenty years so have no wish to obtain any information from him. My mother died two years ago so unfortunately I have very little information to provide.

What I do know through research is that my father would have been stationed at Wavell Barracks with the Grenadier guards from 1979 -81.

What I would like to know is:

-I assume families would not live on the barracks themselves, does anyone know the area/ street etc. Where the families of serving soldiers would have lived? I am in possession of a few photos from this time but most are indoors and do not elude to where we actually may have lived.

-Apart from Wavell Barracks what other sights/ places should I look to see that would have been an important part of a soldiers life?

-From the view of a civilian are there any other places that people would recommend I see that a family of a serving soldier may have visited?

-I was born in the BMH. Does the same BMH still exist today as it was back then? If so, could anyone provide a name address details if possible?

Any help is appreciated.

Thank You

Hi,

Well, seems Spandau, Berlin is the place you seek. Does your Birth Cert say which BMH? I presume it was in Berlin!

Regards
Alan

Ps. It won't be long before others who lived in Berlin will help.  One thing to remember is that Berlin was split East and West, so things then in the  early 1980's were slightly different.

PPs. Berlin is a fantastic place to visit. Don't miss it out!

Hello Alan

Thanks for the quick reply. Apologies for leaving out important info.

I don't have my certificate to hand but will be able to locate it over the weekend. It didn't occur to me that there might be more than one BMH (duh). It Is definatey a BMH I was born in though.

Also, yes, I know we lived in Spandau but not the street etc. I didn't know if the families of the soldiers would be 'segregated as such and live in a particular area of Spandau.

If there's any other information that I can provide please let me know.

Thank You

Hi,
I presume only one  BMH existed at that time in Berlin! However, there were many other BMH's in Germany until recent years. It doesn't rule out being born in another for what ever reason.

A note on the street you once lived in.  Once you find out the name, you may have problem bringing it up on 'Google Street View' due to some people blocking houses being shown. Germany is reknowned for their Privacy laws.

Alan

Woo

Welcome, the questions you have asked are just the sort of challenge relished by certain contributors to this site.

You were almost certainly born in the British Military Hospital in Berlin now known as Paulinen Klinikum Charlottenburg.

Similarly your parents would have lived in a small dedicated British military housing estate close to Wavell Barracks (could have been flats or small semi detached or terraced houses).i

Suspect they also would have been familiar with the Edinburgh House/Summit House entertainment centre in Theodore Heusse Platz in Charlottenburg which housed the main NAAFI for Berlin and an AKC Cinema

Other places would have included the Brandenburg Gate and Russian War Memorial (Soviet tank), just inside the British Sector and divided from the Russian Sector by the Berlin Wall. the then Templehof Airport and Charlottenburg Railway Station which they would have used when travelling to and from Berlin.

Here is a photocopy of a map of the area of Berlin your family was probably posted to.
.
The thick Red line to the left indicates the border between West Berlin and East Germany. The 'Berlin Wall', built in 1961, came down on Nov 9th 1989. (Map is late 1980's).

Bottom left is RAF Gatow Airfield. Top right is Tegel Airport.

I'll now leave it up to those who knew Berlin to explain where things were, and to add to/correct any thing I have written.






Map below gives you an overview of the size of the City of Berlin. Note. The RED line down the centre indicates the border between East Berlin City and West Berlin City. The RED line that encircles the whole of Berlin is the border to Eastern Germany..

Had another quick search of the internet and found a reference to The Grenadier Guards time in Berlin. Would appear that there was a Married Families "patch" close to the BMH.

The names Dickensweg, Scottweg and Swiftweg have a British literary theme and could well be the area where your parents lived. They show up on Google Earth as what appears to be small groups of houses.

Just came upon this site by accident. 77 Special Tels Wksp
I was here from 62---66 and have often wondered what became of all
the lads. "Tommy" Steele, who ran our minor units football team, big Dennis Rarity. Ian Fraser.
little Jimmy (RAOC) , Chris Reagan, BFG Elliot, Jock Grey armourer, Scotty McClure
And all the rest. Scouse Moore

Scouse

Welcome

Whereabouts exactly was 77 Tels Workshop? Was it colocated with the main Berlin REME Workshop in Spandau?

Hi 77 Tels was located within Glamorgan Barracks Duisburg
The former flak Kaserna. We were tucked away in a far corner
Out of sight of 36 Regt RA

Alan and JPW -apologies for the slow. Thank you very much for your help. It is helped tremendously with planning an intinerary for my trip to Berlin which I have now booked for March. I have been trying to find more information from family about where I lived etc but unfortunately have not been able to get anything else so will be visiting the three possible living areas you have mentioned. Thanks again

David.

Woo-1 - A new Married Quarters patch was built in 1975, called Darbystrasse, located off the Falkenseer Chausee, Spandau.
Most infantry personnel were located near Brook/Wavell Barracks. Schmitt-Knobelsdorf-Strasse, commonly called SKS, and Seeburgerstrasse were areas of Married quarters.
Memories fade after 35 years.

Woo

A copy of the Berlin military bus route for 1978.


Alexander Barracks, Koenigstr, Radelandstr, Kisselnallee, Darbystr, Elsflether Weg, Wavell Barracks, Spandau NAAFI, Walzelstr, Leubnitzerweg, Heerstr flats, Tharauer Allee, BMH, Dickensweg, Kranzallee, Kiplingweg.

Feel free to pm me, as I was in Berlin from 1977-1980