For more information on the buildings at this location, please follow
the links:
(if you know how I can float these links over the map
please EMail me - the map is a JPG)
1,2,3,3a,3b,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,17a,17b,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35
Situated on Meisen Strasse, off Oldentrupper Strasse, Rochdale Barracks was the site of, amongst other things, the RAOC Bakery. RAOC bread was baked to supply both the troops in the filed and often the NAAFI itself. In a distinctive white wrapper, emblazoned with a repeat logo declaring "RAOC" printed on the diagonal and running from top left to bottom right, RAOC bread was a welcome addition to the soldier's diet. Many an egg banjo would have fallen at the first hurdle had it not been for the unique constituency of the bread produced here.
This photograph shows the entrance to the site from Meisen Strasse on 19 March 2000. The building in the foreground is Building 26. This Building is listed on the PSA Plan as housing Offices and one of the many boiler rooms on the site. Behind it can be seen the outline of one of the two silos, Block 21.
At the time this photo was taken the site is used by many charities as a holding area for donations; and by youth groups as their headquarters. A considerable amount of refurbishment work is under way in the silos. Windows are being replaced, floor upgraded and the rails alongside Block 21 are being lifted.
The small, cream coloured building
in the foreground of this photograph is a guard post. It is very new and
presumably replaces Block 1, a much earlier structure. To the rear of Block
1 and bearing a blue plate marking it as Block 3, the grey rendered building
is, like Block 1, located on the right of the gateway at the entrance to
the camp.
Before moving on to a full description of Block 3 and the adjacent garages, it is felt that the stone Gate Post in the photograph is worthy of mention for a number of reasons.
Set in to the post just below the
cap stone is an image of three ears of wheat. This image appears to date
from the building of the barracks and and clearly shows its long use as
a grain silo. A similar image adorns the left hand gate post. It is hoped
that the gate posts are suitably protected by the German State as they
are clearly of historical value.
Less clear is the history of the lamps surmounting the gate posts. The
energy saving bulbs are certainly a recent addition! (The shot also gives
an indication of the relationship of the mural to the lamp).
