No 7 Civil Internment Camp 1945-1946

The newspaper clip below taken from The Polar Bear News 21 Dec 45 that was printed in Iserlohn for 49 Inf Div units so now can add to the Wikipedia quote

"After the war the barracks of the Stalag, renamed to Camp Roosevelt were at first used as a camp for detaining Nazi prisoners. 1947 it was renamed to Casernes Ardennes and were used by the Belgian army till 1955. After the establishment of the German Bundeswehr the barracks became home of a tank battalion in 1957. Originally simply named after its location on the Jüberg hill, it received its final name, Blücher-Kaserne, in 1964"

606 Regt RA was a wartime TA unit but unable to find much about it assumed disbanded when 49 Inf Div was disbanded Oct 46 as it was reformed in UK 1947 Wikipedia in German has a BOAR unit taking over Nov 45 from the US Army and running the camp to Sep 46...any more info out there?

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Steve

Read your query with interest but cannot help with any detail

However in Emden at the same time there was a 639 Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment part of 305 Infantry Brigade. The 3xx Infantry Brigades were formed up in the latter stages of the War from surplus Gunner Regiments to carry out Lines of Communication Security tasks thereby releasing Infantry Battalions for more demanding frontline duties. Most were disbanded by late 1945

If you can establish a link between your 606 Regiment and a 3xx Brigade you might be able to tease out further information.

JPW wrote:

Steve

Read your query with interest but cannot help with any detail

However in Emden at the same time there was a 639 Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment part of 305 Infantry Brigade. The 3xx Infantry Brigades were formed up in the latter stages of the War from surplus Gunner Regiments to carry out Lines of Communication Security tasks thereby releasing Infantry Battalions for more demanding frontline duties. Most were disbanded by late 1945

If you can establish a link between your 606 Regiment and a 3xx Brigade you might be able to tease out further information.

JPW

Found this website but 606 Regt is not showing attached to a Bde
http://www.ra39-45.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/infidx/index.html
Assuming a roaming unit under 21 Army Group allocated where required and sent to 49 Inf Div HQ Neheim their Bde could be 103 AA Bde who looked after a similar camp at Heiden near Siegen to the south of the Div area

Just received copies of war diaries for the Irish Guards post May 45 so lots to read
Cheers
Steve

Steve, my grandfather was Irish Guards during and post WW2. How would I go about obtaining a copy of these important papers. His wife, my grandmother, is 100 years old next month and has always had strong links with the IG due to my uncles also having served. It would be nice to have somthing such as this to give her on her birthday.

Cheers,

Crunchie
Which battalion if 3 Bn have copies of their war diaries Aug - Dec 45 kindly sent by www.ww2guards.com if required please send a PM with your email address
Cheers
Steve

Many thanks for the e mail Steve, I found a picture of my grandad, taken I think in Hamburg, with other members of 3 IG.

steve wrote:

The newspaper clip below taken from The Polar Bear News 21 Dec 45 that was printed in Iserlohn for 49 Inf Div units so now can add to the Wikipedia quote

"After the war the barracks of the Stalag, renamed to Camp Roosevelt were at first used as a camp for detaining Nazi prisoners. 1947 it was renamed to Casernes Ardennes and were used by the Belgian army till 1955. After the establishment of the German Bundeswehr the barracks became home of a tank battalion in 1957. Originally simply named after its location on the Jüberg hill, it received its final name, Blücher-Kaserne, in 1964"

606 Regt RA was a wartime TA unit but unable to find much about it assumed disbanded when 49 Inf Div was disbanded Oct 46 as it was reformed in UK 1947 Wikipedia in German has a BOAR unit taking over Nov 45 from the US Army and running the camp to Sep 46...any more info out there?

As mentioned elsewhere, this site is now the site for the Landesgartenshau and a new, and rather odd looking, tower has been erected on the Jüberg hill. Some of the old barracks remain, of course, and have been converted to offices and such for the garden show (it's apparently a major deal in Hemer each year).

Viewing pics of it as it is now I am struck by two things: One -- they've done a nice job of making it accessible and pleasant for the locals and visitors but Two -- it's difficult for me to overlay my memory of how the old camp looked onto the new version...nothing seems to 'fit'.

Also, as mentioned elsewhere on this, there are some pics over on Flikr, posted by diddidum, which show it as it is now.

As the British were there for a short time will continue to search for more details/photos all I know from the local 'Reservistenkameradaschaft' that the barracks construction was not finished when WW2 started have found that post WW2 the Belgian Army were under command BAOR in the local area and later an Ardennes Brigade existed...waiting for more details...in the meantime have updated the HEMER page
Regards
Steve

Civil Internment Centres were Military Prison Cages for serious political components of the NAZI regime (for various reasons following the surrender the Allies did not recognise axis (Germans) as Prisonners of War)  - there was in any event no provision for removing high power members of the Party from circulation to reduce their influence, escape, or attempts to thwart the Allies.  
The British – Civil Internment Centre(s) under British Military Admin: Estab was 5 Offrs and 82 - 92 OR. There would be increments (Guards, Outer security, Med Staffs, Dvrs etc) from nearby or garrison units. Staumühle Lager had a Searchlight Battery/Regt and the Resident Inf Unit from Schl. Neuhaus as QRF. There was political uncertainty and friction between the military occupiers and the concept of the Control Commission for Germany becoming the Standing power for the BR sector so it was 15 Apr 46 before the Home Office supplied appropriate Prison Staffs to the UK Foreign Office who ran the Internment Camps through CCG instead of the military.  However from MAY 1945 until this handover of power, field force units had their main armaments withdrawn but remained in Germany as Guard Forces and occupation troops.

CIC No1 at Neumünster
CIC No 2 at Sandbostel near Bremervorde (formerly PoW Camp Stalag Xb
CIC No 3  at Fallingbostel (formerly Stalag XI b)
CIC No 4 at Recklinghausen
CIC No 5 at Staumühler between Sennelager and Hövelhof (had been numbered No. 92CIC by US Forces up to May 45) (formerly SS Reinforcement Barracks) see WO171/ 8302 at PRO Kew for War Diary
Guard force included at one time 54 Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry Regt RA
CIC No 6 at Neuengamme near Hamburg (formerly Konzentrations Camp (KZ) Neuengamme.
CIC No 7 from Sep 46 at Eselsheide (Stukenbrock-Senne)
[CIC 7 had been at Hemer "Camp Roosevelt" up to Sep 46] ( formerly Stalag 326 VIK - Rusian PoW).  Guard Force had included 606 Regt RA  / details in next post.
CIC No 8 at Westertimke (30 km NE of Bremen) (had been Marlag for RN and Milag for Interned Merch Navy pers) see http://www.usmm.org/milag.html.  Guard Force from 1945 to May 1946 was 5th Cameronians.
CIC No 9 at Esterwegen near Papenburg in Emsland retitled>.
101 Prison Camp Esterwegen after Jul 46

No 1 Civil Internment Settlement Adelheide nr Delmenhorst (May 47 - Aug 48)

No 74 Combined Services Interrogation Centre Bad Nenndorf (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Nenndorf_interrogation_centre
or
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/apr/03/uk.freedomofinformation)[/b][/b]

606 Regiment RA Guard Force at No 7 CIC

Here is a little on the origins and service of 606th Regiment, RA.

46th (The Lincolnshire Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, R.E. (T.A.)
HQ, 382nd-385th Coys: Grimsby

The regiment formed part of 39th AA Brigade in September 1939 and part of 57th AA Brigade in February 1941. It transferred to the Royal Artillery on 1 August 1940 as 46th (The Lincolnshire Regiment) Searchlight Regiment, R.A. (T.A.) with 382nd-385th Batteries. 385th Battery was disbanded on 25 February 1944 and 384th Battery became independent on 20 September 1944 (disbanded on 8 October and cancelled on 1 November).
The regiment was converted to 46th Garrison Regiment, R.A. (The Lincolnshire Regiment)(T.A.) on 4 November 1944 and then reorganized as 606th (The Lincolnshire Regiment) Regiment, R.A. (T.A.) on 12 February 1945. It served in Northwest Europe from November 1944 until the end of the war. War Diaries at PRO Kew under refs:

WO 171/5053 606 Regiment 1945 Mar.- Dec.

WO 171/9174 606 Regiment 1946 Jan., Feb.

Paddy

Two very interesting postings for me. May I add a few additional comments based on my ongoing researches?

CIC No 1 Neumunster.
Not come across this before apart from a brief mention in the outline history of Neuengamme that when it closed in January 1946 the remaining inmates were transferred there. A Gunner Regiment under command 8 AGRA who were initially responsible for Kreis Neumunster and Kreis Rendsburg must have provided the military Guard Force

CIC No 6 Neuengamme (Hamburg).
A very large , split site, establishment containing at one point over ten thousand inmates. Alan8376 and I were involved a little while ago in helping a Jewish Lady now living in New York trace her mother's route to freedom. She was briefly incarcerated in Neuengamme in April 1945. A synopsis of the British presence follows

Synopsis of the British Presence in Neuengamme

3 May 1945 Camp first discovered by 53 Recce Regiment of 53 Welsh Division, 12 British Corps. Inmates either Russian POW or Civilian Forced Labour. Major health hazard

9 May 1945 102 Anti Aircraft Brigade under command 53 Welsh Division given responsibility for the Camp

21 May 1945 190 Field Regiment RA assume total responsibility for the running of the Camp

24 May 1945 First German POW arrive (suspected War Criminals)

27 May 1945 Eight thousand members of the Waffen SS arrive.

15 June 1945 Responsibility for the Camp transferred to 8 British Corps. 165 Light Anti Aircraft Regiment RA tasked with the detail.

20 June 1945 Warning Order issued to 7th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders of 46 Highland Brigade of 15 Scottish Division

11 July 1945 Belgian 25 Fuseleir Regiment under command 106 Anti Aircraft Brigade (some sources say 23) assumes responsibility

10 September 1945 165 Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment RA under command 106 Anti Aircraft Brigade assumes responsibility

30 October 1945 Advance Party of the Civilian Internment Unit arrives (note key post personnel are still using former Army Ranks)

3 November CIU assume responsibility for the internal running of the Camp.

12 December 1945 102 Anti Tank Regiment RA, under command HQ 8 Advanced Base Sub Area, assume responsibility for the external Guard Force

January 1946 No 1 CIC Neumunster closes, remaining inmates transferred to Neuengamme

2 February 1946 8th Battalion Royal Scots under command 46 Highland Brigade assume responsibility

8th March 1946 1st Battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry assume responsibility

CIC No 9 Esterwegen
A Canadian Responsibility. Have yet to determine which unit was initially responsible for the Military Guard Force. However the nominally Wilhelmshaven based Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa definitely rotated a Rifle Company to undertake this task in Autumn 1945/Spring 1946. There is also a lengthy entry in one of the Wilhelmshaven based Canadian Gunner Regiment's War Diary describing the experiences of the dismounted Gun Battery tasked with providing the Guard Force for the movement by train (cattle trucks) two thousand Waffen SS from Oldenburg to more secure accommodation Belgium. a journey which it was envisaged would take 24 hours plus, in practise took 4 days and nowadays probably six hours

Adelheide Camp.
There was a Canadian proposal to rename the site Calgary Barracks but in reality the site was never used by a Canadian unit. After closure as a CIS the location was adapted for use by one of the conventional Anti Aircraft Regiments of the new 5 AGRA and named St Barbara Barracks on opening.

Finally I was amused by your remarks on the origins of 606 Regiment RA. From June 1945 to New Year 1946 102 (Lincoln) Light Anti Aircraft Regiment RA were part of the Wilhelmshaven based 31 Anti Aircraft Brigade, they also proudly displayed their origins by promptly renaming their new location in Wilhelmshaven Lincoln Barracks. Clearly atleast two Battalions of the TA Lincolnshire Regiment were reroled from Infantry to Anti Aircraft Gunners during World War 2.