I read with interest your letter concerning information about my time in BAOR, and will give you any info I can come up with. However you must remember that over a quarter of a century has gone by so some of the stuff is a little hazy.

I was stationed in Werl, which is in NordRhinWestPhalia. Quartered in 26D,Ahorn Allee approx 1 mile from the center of town. The whole quarters complex was shared all be divided by British; Belgian & a small American detachment. There was a NAAFI shop & in their sector a Belgian ran equivalent. We had a civilian ran/owed bar in the middle of the British quarters & believe it or not a strip club called Der Rota Salon at the far end ( much to the annoyance of the wives!!! ).

 We took over the quarters & the barracks from the Canadians in 1969 having had a three year tour in Ireland. It was different as until now all married quarters had been in typically English style brick houses, three or four in a row, now we were in apartments, so it initially felt a little strange. All the furniture had to be totally replaced as it did not conform to British Army standards!! ( in most cases it was better!!!) The Canadians were throwing wonderful huge refrigerators off the balconies because they were told that we, the incoming persons, did not have a refrigerator on our household utensil entitlement!!!  A complete, fully functioning indoor ICE RINK went the same way!! It was gutted out & the equipment was bulldozed into the ground. I can't remember the name of the Barracks; it just had our name on it I think.
It was on the road to Wickeder, a small town nearly destroyed when the Dam Busters blew up the Mohne Dam during the war. After a very short time many of us had integrated into the life of the local town. I and a number of friends used to drink in a bar called the Anchor ( not a harbour or a ship for hundreds of miles.....? ) then we started an Anglo/German Darts team at a pub called the Vollenburg, ran by Ida & Theo Vollenburg, on Liebfrauen Strasser. One of my German friends became Godfather to my son. This club was still active when I left after about three years as I had been posted to the Regimental Depot in England as an instructor. II Queens stayed for another eight months in Werl. I left the army 3-4 years later but two years after that I went back to Germany on business & went to Werl. What a change. 3rd Battalion, Queens Regiment had taken over from us & the wonderful relationship we enjoyed with the town had been destroyed. The bars in the town were either off limits or refused to serve soldiers. Such a shame.

I was fortunate in that I was able to go on things like Exercise Snow Queen which was were the would send us to Bavaria for three months & we would then teach basic ski techniques to small groups of soldiers who rotated every two weeks. I went to the Eiffle mountains, where we taught canoeing & sailing; and to the Hartz mountains for arctic survival training & cross country skiing. Apart from going to Ireland for three months each year I had a wonderful time in Germany. I now live in New York but my best friend is German & we still break into speaking German without thinking about it!

Sorry if I have babbled on for a bit. I have many tales about sneaking off to go to Hamburg from Sennelager Training area; being accommodated in an old missile factory hidden in the Hartz mountains but all these can wait for another time if you would like.

My best friend in my unit I last saw in Germany & I have often wondered what happened to him. His name was Alan Gower. He married a German girl from Werl. Last week, with the help of the internet I tracked him down, living in Eastbourne!! I have attached a couple of photos.

I hope some of this helps,

KevinAkehurst
24104874, Cpl., 2 Queens