Dont know if it’s common knowledge at all but thought I’d share a snippet on here, the British army base at Gutersloh used to be a Luftwaffe night fighter base and one of the rooms where Goering used to sleep in the Officers mess has been converted into a small museum of items that have been found over the years. One excellent part is an oak beam in the ceiling that has been rigged up by the Luftwaffe officers to collapse on a hinge that is activated from a small pull switch in the floor, the engineering work and mechanism is first class with the story going along the lines that Goering pointed to the beam while making a statement about how it would collapse if the allies bombed Berlin….. Shame it has not really been publicized as it is a great visit and full of aircraft parts recovered from the airfield.
Anyone else know of anymore hidden gems????
By: mutant - 15th August 2008 at 16:11
Gutersloh and other BFG sites with WWII history.
Does anybody have any information regarding 17 Base Vehicle Depot, Ayrshire Barracks, Monchengladbach which was reputedly a Luftwaffe station before and during WWII. (I lived nearby when I was a kid.) Unfortuantely the only information I can gleen from trawling the net is that it was called Lufthorst Neersen/Wickrath.
Any one have any suggestions or info?
Mutant
By: barry flahey - 14th August 2008 at 22:23
Gutersloh
There are some really good pics at Spotting Group Gutersloh, with aircraft photo’s going back to the 50’s. If anyone has pics from Gutersloh I think the guys that run the site would be delighted. There are even pics of Canberra XH 204 that was nicked by a Junior Tech in 1958…..
By: FL517 - 14th August 2008 at 20:12
Gutersloh
I would add that if anyones interested in visiting any of these sites, do it now. Lots of wartime sites in Germany survived extremely well into the 90’s (occupied by NATO forces), but the withdrawl of British & US forces has left many of them empty. The German planning authorities appear to have as much consideration for historical sites from this era as ours do, & I’ve been stunned by the number that have disappeared over the last few years. If you don’t believe me, just see how the Obersalzburg has changed in the past 5 years!
By: FL517 - 14th August 2008 at 19:58
Gutersloh
I was at Gutersloh for 3 years in the late 80’s & recall that the original Luftwaffe infrastructure was largely intact (original hangars, admin & living accomodation, etc). Pretty well everywhere you went there was evidence of it’s wartime use (the stairwell to the celler in my block was still signposted “luftschultzkellerei” in german script for instance). The station HQ still had the words “Freiherr Von Richthofen Haus” carved above the entrance door! I wouldn’t hesitate to say that Gutersloh was the best station I served at & the “liberated” Luftwaffe accomodation was a large factor in that (cracking facilities, room, size, heating, etc)
Across town was the former Luftwaffe Barracks (then called Mansergh Barracks & occupied by the Royal Artillery). The main gate still had the large luftwaffe eagle carved in stone (with the swastika in it’s claws neatly chipped away).
Should you ever visit the Technik Museum at Speyer, they have a very resonable on-site hotel which is a former Luftwaffe accomodation block (as indeed the whole site is part of a former Luftwaffe airfield)
A good site for comparing “then & now” in Germany is at the following;
It’s quite suprising what you can find over there!
By: WP840 - 14th August 2008 at 15:33
The old British Army base in Dortmund, Napier Barracks used to be a Luftwaffe airbase used during WW2. My Dad was based there ’88-’90 with 12AD Regt RA but where can I find out more about the barracks when it was used by the Luftwaffe?
By: Resmoroh - 14th August 2008 at 14:46
And don’t forget the ornately carved Vomitorium in the Mess bog at Gutersloh!!
HTH
Resmoroh
NB – It didn’t help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By: mike currill - 14th August 2008 at 14:13
Not really a hidden gem but a place of interest. At Hildesheim airfield (read KG200) our vehicle shed was one of the hangars and the doors and pillars still had holes ranging in size from.30″ to 20mm from WW2 when I left there in ’75. Our cable shed was in the old underground telephone exchange. I’m not claustorophobic but that place was so small that I’d still have come out after my shift finished even if it was in the middle of an air raid. I’d rather have taken my chances than stay in there longer than I had to.
Sorry if that is badly worded but I’m sure you’ll understand what I mean.
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August 14, 2008 at 2:03 pm