Tuesday 7 November 2017

My First Overseas Posting

January 1954.
I had requested an overseas posting, stating a preference for Hong Kong or other far-flung areas.
The request was granted: GERMANY.
A tad disappointing - but at least it was to a foreign shore.
The "cold war" with Russia was still on. I would be 'on active service' as the RAF mentioned in my travel instructions, sailing on a noisy and very cramped troopship, sailing from Harwich to the Hook of Holland.  I was quite excited.
After the North Sea crossing, I travelled by train, through Holland and into a place in Germany, the name of which is long forgotten.  A transit camp, in an old castle, a Schloss, where I stayed overnight.
Next morning I received my travel papers to RAF Hospital Wegberg.  A brand spanking new building opened a few months earlier, not far from the town of Moenchengladbach. 
Here's my new home for a year or more.