Canadian Inheritance

Does anyone know if we inherited any of the barracks here from the Canadians. Any help would be appreciated.

Administrator wrote:

Does anyone know if we inherited any of the barracks here from the Canadians. Any help would be appreciated.

Yeah we did..............Peninsula and Borussa! They are listed under Hemer, but were in fact in the village of Dielinghofen!!! HTH.

The Canadian camps at Deilinghofen were "officially" Hemer, even though Deilinghofen, while under the administrative district ("Kreis") of Iserlohn -- as was Hemer, was an autonomous town.

the camps were Prince of Wales and Macleod.

Both camps reverted to the civilian government of Deilinghofen and various parts of the camps, such as the ice rink and cinema, were used as is with the rest of the buildings and barracks and motor pool etc being converted to light industrial and IT industries.

These locations had a far better fate than the barracks at Soest and Werl which are now largely abandoned and derelict.

The barracks at Iserlohn, if you check my entries under "Iserlohn" eventually went to the Bundeswehr and, in the case of one which became Winkelmann Kaserne is now being used for a large flower show site...quite a prestigious flower show from what I gather.

As an aside...my father served with the Canadian Army first at Hemer/Deilinghofen (1959-62 then 69-70) then Soest (62-63 and 70-71).

He was one of 3 Canadian Army personnel to remain in NRW, closing out the old Brigade Area and transferring sites, barracks, married quarters etc to the British. At that time we lived in Iserlohn (1972), I attended Cornwall Comprehensive in Dortmund (6th Form) and spent all my social time in Hemer hanging out with the British Army kids there (mostly Irish Rangers). I returned to Soest in 73-74 to work before returning to Canada and college and my life here...

I'd enjoy hearing from anyone who remembers me from that time. I can be reached at calgaryfella1953@hotmail.com.

Stephen Lock
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

As an addendum to the above...I noticed in the 'What's New' section that Peninsula Bks are listed as being in Iserlohn.

While HQ may have been in Iserlohn, being the main city in the area, these barracks were in fact several kilometres outside of Iserlohn in a village called Deilinghofen, just east of Hemer, as one heads out towards the Hoennetal and Menden (one of the routes to Menden).

Listing them as being "Iserlohn" gets very confusing as there were also two sets of barracks in Iserlohn itself (under the Canadians they were called Fort Qu'appelle and Fort Beausejour). These two forts were quite distinctive in that they were in former German barracks circa WWI...the large, 3-storey stone buildings.

The forts out in Deilinghofen, on the other hand, like the forts located at Bad Sassendorf up near Soest and the forts at Werl, were one storey, white long barracks built, I believe, in the 50's.

Peninsula and Borassa were of the latter style (and in the former Forts Prince of Wales and Macleod).

Under the Canadians these forts were often referred to as Hemer since the married quarters were located in Hemer, the school for the dependents was in Hemer, the Salvation Army Canteen, MLS (Later Canex and CLFEX), and other amenities were all in Hemer. Deilinghofen, although an independent town in its own right with a history going back 700 years, was only a spit and a jump from Hemer and often overshadowed by it. They decidedly were not, however, in Iserlohn.

In reference to Soest. Along Highway Number one turning right, almost opposite the turn off for Bad Sassendorf is Fort Chambly. This camp is still being used today, but for civilian use only. The east end which contained both the Officers and WO`s and Sgt`s Messes, now contains Russians and such. Most if not all claiming to be German from way back.
I wish some one could show me what it is like today. I cannot find any pictures any where.
Happy days (1960-65)

Yes, I recall Fort Chambly. My father was stationed there. I also recall Bad Sassendorf as friends of my parents lived over the gasthof at that turn-off. The brand of beer sold was "Kleine Mowgli" or somesuch. I still have the cardboard backing for a calendar featuring the cartoon mascot of this beer (Mowgli meaning Mutt). I remember Bad Sassendorf as being very flat and not much there (unlike Soest!!).

As for photos of how it is now...you may want to give ruhrmemories.ca a try. There are many Before and Now photos posted of various locations (Iserlohn, Hemer, Deilinghofen, various towns Canadians lived in all through the Ruhr Region, Werl, Soest, the various forts and camps, etc).

The old Married Quarters in Hemer, along Zeppliner Strasse enroute to Deilinghofen and Stephanopel, are apparently largely housing ethnic German Russians, according to a source I was communicating with for a while who lives in Hemer now.

I am not sure about the old PMQs in Soest, although I do know they are civilian housing with some being rentals and some being what we on this side of The Pond refer to as condominiums (condos)...owned flats.

John Pat wrote:

I wish some one could show me what it is like today. I cannot find any pictures any where.
Happy days (1960-65)

Have you tried here?

http://www.ruhrmemories.ca/4cibg/album_chambly.html

Paul.