3,000 mile Campervan T our of Germany

- in June 2013, following Germany’s worst fl oods in 100 years. Acres of fi elds were fl ooded by the River Aller, and the campsite at Winsen was closed i.e. fl ooded. The next site was open and we just got in before the gate closed at 10pm. German campsites are marvellous - clean and orderly, and the toilet blocks have all mod cons. It was 29degrees C on 7th and 8th June when we explored CELLE where Roger was stationed about 43 years’ ago towards the end of the sixties.

First stop was the old Trenchard Barracks - very nostalgic for Roger. The place has been locked up for a year but is still in tact. We took lots of photos and Roger excitedly pointed out A Company block on the left-hand side where his room was. On the top fl oor, A Company built a bar in the loft area from bamboo and wood to give it a Caribbean theme. To set it off and give it authenticity, above the bar was a large wicker basket bird cage containing several brightly coloured budgies. The opening night was a great success. Roger’s rock band “The Flunky” played with Roger Lead Guitar,

Trenchard Barracks band block.

Gordon Belcher Rhythm Guitar, Howard ? Drums and Paul Matthews Vocals, as cheap booze fl owed and fags and smoke created that familiar atmosphere of the time. Unfortunately on inspection the next morning, the budgies were found at the bottom of the cage expired - due to passive smoking. God knows what it did to everybody else! Opposite A Company was the block that contained the band accommodation where Roger was during his time with the band. He recalled that, prior to a gig, whilst they were waiting on the square to board a coach that was still manoeuvring, somebody slid his trombone case behind the back wheel and someone shouted, “Is that your trombone?” as the coached backed over it, to the amusement of all present.

At the end of the road was the Sissi Grill. Roger said originally there was a quick snack (snell imbiss) wagon there. A couple with a son about 9 years’ old used to run it, and it was popular with the troops. Anyway, Roger curiously went into the new place and I followed. I thought the restaurant looked like an adult playpen in an array of coloured small wooden chairs with lots of model chickens. Whilst ordering his Bratwurst, Roger struck up a conversation, in pigeon German, with the man behind the counter Yes, it was the very same 9 year old boy, now well grown-up and running the café in place of his parents who had subsequently died. Then it was on to the War Cemetery near the River Aller. It backed on to the M.T. part of the barracks where Roger could see the A.P.C. garages where an unmentionable incident happened i.e. some private cars were stored which unfortunately got squashed under the tracks of an out of control 432. Oops - I wonder how that happened!

Celle, like many old towns in Germany, is very well maintained, with 16thC tall terraced pretty houses with shops and outdoor cafes on the ground fl oor. We walked around the streets and into the 14thC St Mary’s with its artworks. It was Friday and entry to the Museum and Castle was

free. The Museum had loads of old artefacts and utensils, plus a big old kitchen, and we visited s ome of the state rooms in the large austere 13thC Castle. Then it was back to the pedestrianised streets with rows of outdoor cafes. We settled for an ice cream sundae, chosen from the menu which had pages of exotic, mouthFestival. Wow, the Germans certainly have fun. The event started promptly at 6pm. Two bands played on bandstands and about four other bands marched around the streets, intermittently stopping to play outside various bars. The Rue d’Anvers ‘Foreign Legion’ band were hilarious - their conductor strutted about in a kilt, white spats and pith helmet, whilst the May Day band fl irted with girls

Leaving Celle, the rest of our tour included Hannover’s Herrenhausen Garten, Potsdam’s Sanssoucci and Cecilienhof Palace, Berlin’s many sites, including Hitler’s Bunker, then Dresden’s Frauchenkirche, Gorlitz on the Polish border, Colditz Castle, Bayreuth, Nuremb and Munich, plus lots of apple strudel. In Nuremberg, we just happened to stumble across the Zeppelin Field, found an open gate and amazingly, with pomp, spectacle and ceremony, we simply walked along across the massive Rally Ground where 200,000 Nazi soldiers marched in the 1930’s! Then on to the Grand Stand where we stood on the very spot where Hitler delivered his speeches! In Munich I happily drank a whole stein of delicious dunkle beer in the Hofbrauhaus, whilst the Bavarian band played and people revelled - a fantastic end to our trip.

Sandra Downtown

Celle streets.

watering ice cream concoctions. At 5pm, close to the Rathaus high on the front of an old building, the glockenspiel played, the box opened, and little statues paraded round in a circle. And fi nally, the hunt for Alten Cellar Feld where Roger had a new house as married quarters. It’s now very built up and he didn’t recognize his old home. and encouraged them to limbodance under two playing trombones! PS Roger was inspired to buy a trombone, and he’s practising as I write.

The next day we visited Belsen Cemetery and Documentation Centre, plus the Railway Ramp and Wagon. Next Roger managed to locate Silbersee - a lake he used to drive to from the camp. (Liaisons with fraulines, I daresay!) It’s now a commercial campsite - and the trees are taller! The evening was spent back in Celle at the Trad Jazz Street