Acronym check

Hello, I'm currently writing a biography of a 100-year-old Bletchley Park Girl who after the war got posted over to Bad Nenndorf to translate the statements of captured Nazi intelligence officers. She also (by the way) was tasked with translating Hitler's will while she was there! I have a fabulous album of photos and other souvenirs of her time out there which has given me lots more queries, but sadly she died suddenly on 11 November, before I could ask her. One of the questions is just a small thing really - an acronym that was on one of her souvenirs: BBSW. I imagine one of the B's is British, possibly Brigade, and SW South West, but I'd only be guessing. Bad Nenndorf isn't located in South West Germany... The context was, it was a funny note written on the back of a cigarette packet, 'officially' (tongue in cheek) granting her "permanent membership of the Sergeants Mess BBSW Bad Nenndorf". Signed by a JG Heathcote. Any ideas? Thank you! Really, this album is a treasure trove, and my God they had the time of their lives out there!

Welcome to the forum! There was an interrogation unit composed of army personnel and seconded MI5 staff posted at an interrogation centre at Bad Ninndorf, located just west of Hannover. It operated from 1945 until about 1947. The purpose was originally to detect and forestall any Nazi resurgence in the British Zone, but, as the cold war developed, evolved into the arrest and interrogation of suspected Soviet agents and sympathisers. This seems to square with your mystery lady who was apparently one of the MI5 types seconded to the unit. Can't figure out where "BBSW" fits in, but it must be in the context of the work (some of it allegedly nasty) that took place there. Most units in BAOR would accord certain civilians such as school teachers, etc. with sergeants or officers mess privileges, which probably is what happened in her case. From what you've described, you have an excellent treasure of documentation that will be invaluable material for a good book. Good luck with your endeavors, because I'm looking forward to hearing more from you.

While recording the early days of BAOR have found the following:

Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre (Western Europe Area) – GHQ Troops/BAOR 29 Aug 45 – redesignated 74 HQ Control Commission Germany (British Element) from Dec 46
Bad Nenndorf west of Hannover

https://britisharmyingermany.com (under construction)

Thanks both! She was a sergeant in the Int Corps (having come from Bletchley Park) and worked at Bad Nenndorf translating the statements of the captured Nazis. I don't think the Sergeants Mess had been established when she moved out there so perhaps it was something to do with it all being new. Perhaps we'll never know what BBSW stood for - that's ok but thanks for trying. I hope to publish her biography in the new year. I was given access to a whole album of photos of the soldiers at Bad Nenndorf and have put some of them into the book. I don't know what the rules are for advertising on here but I do think it could be of general interest to the group so I'll come back on here when it's published and let you know. Cheers, Victoria Walsh

Victoria, you may be interested to know that Hitler's will was found by soldiers of 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division in the garden of his adjutant in Iserlohn, I have a collection of the Polar Bear newspaper copies produced at the time, if required will dig out and scan the article.

That's interesting - I'd like to see that if possible, the reason being that the story I had read about Iserlohn was quite different. Hugh Trevor-Roper (intelligence corps officer and historian) was tasked with first finding out what had happened to Hitler and then what had happened to his wills. The hunt for the wills took him all over the place, and Iserlohn was the last. He travelled there with Major Willy Johanmeyer, who was one of the three messengers Hitler gave his papers to before he killed himself. From everything else I read, Trevor-Roper travelled alone with him (no soldiers). Johannmeyer had previously put Hitler's political testament and some other papers in a glass bottle and buried them in his garden. He got an axe (slightly alarming Trevor-Roper, because he was there alone with him at night!) but used it to crack the bottle open. Some of the details of how the wills etc were found were released (by the Americans) in a press conference shortly afterwards. So I am curious to see what the thing about the British soldiers was. I've only read of HTR being accompanied by American soldiers, when they found one of the other sets of documents, in a small village near the Austrian border.

I have found the newspaper, not digitised from a pile of A3 copies, makes interesting reading, your names and events are correct but they were taken to the garden under escort, no date of the find but 1st (British) Corps took over from the Americans on 15 Jun 45, please send me your email address as a private message and will send a scan of the front page dated 4 Jan 46.