Surveillance Mission

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Although not from Coburg, three images of the German army training in the mid 1930s. Top, infantry squad, middle, training with the 08 Maxim machinegun, bottom, machinegun complete with water jacket in the assault. Scenes like this would have been very typical for the 6 MG Bn at Hindenburg Kaserne in 1935.
--Stefanowicz

German soldiers swear their oath of allegiance to the German people and the Army at Hindenburg Kaserne, Coburg. Active units had the training responsibility to integrate each new wave of soldiers as they were called up in the pre war years.
--Hans-Jürgen Schmidt

Post card image of Hindenburg Kaserne from the pre war years. Very similar to Manteuffel, it was a rectangle with a total of six barracks along the long sides and mess halls and administration buildings at the ends with parade field in the middle. Motor shops were behind the barracks buildings. Surrounding card is a graphic detailing the composition of the 6 MG Bn: 1 - combat company with 3 MG platoons and one motorcycle platoon, 2 - HQ + staff, como plt, support troops, 3 - technical building and NCO barracks, 4 - heavy company with engineer platoon, cannon platoon, AT platoon and mortar section, 5 - technical building, mess, EM club, NCO barracks.
--Hans-Jürgen Schmidt

Men of the 6 MG Bn returning from the Anschluss of Austria.
--Hans-Jürgen Schmidt

Command inspection of the 6th Constabulary Squadron by MG Ernest Harmon, Commander of Constabulary Operations, 1946.
--Ritter / USAREUR Historian

Three troopers at Coburg in typical Constabulary dress.
--Hans-Jürgen Schmidt

In 1946, troopers of the 6th Constabulary Squadron parade at Hindenburg Kaserne for Major General Ernest H. Harmon, first commander of Constabulary Forces.
--Hans-Jürgen Schmidt

Neustadt crossing point in the 6th Constabulary sector.
--Ritter / USAREUR Historian

At left, interior view of the barracks area and at right, the back gate.
--Hans-Jürgen Schmidt

In 1949, following major exercises and reconfiguration to a full combat unit, the 3rd battalion, 14th ACR returns to Harris Barracks.
--Ritter / USAREUR Historian

Tankers and scouts, happy to be finally home.
--Ritter / USAREUR Historian

Main gate to Harris Barracks / Hindenburg Kaserne featuring dual signs once the BGS established their operations.
--Hans-Jürgen Schmidt

After the 3 - 14 departs in the final days of the Constabulary period, a representation of the site plan at Harris / Hindenburg, the US troops use #1 as the mess, #2 as a company + size barracks and HQ, #3 as PX and #4 as the gym.
--Hans-Jürgen Schmidt

Nice view of an unknown cavalry platoon as it moves into Camp Harris in the early 1950s. The left file features scout section jeeps, then M41 tanks, M75 mortar carriers and finally the infantry squad ½ track. Second file, more of the same plus the support wheels.
--Hans-Jürgen Schmidt

A few years later, the equipment has changed as another unidentified scout unit, jeeps, M58 APCs and M48 tanks visible, occupies Camp Harris. This would probably be about 1960.

--Hans-Jürgen Schmidt

From the Gray Bell collection, service at Camp Harris with the 2/14 ACR sometime in 1970.

Camp Harris-Hindenburg Kaserne: From Constabulary to the Coburg Cubs

In the cavalry, it always helps to know who is on your flanks. For US troopers stationed in Bad Kissingen, to the northwest, the next sector was the responsibility of 1/14 ACR-1 /11 ACR depending on your time frame. This squadron was stationed at Downs Barracks in Fulda and their border observation mission was centered at OP Alpha. To the southeast, as the Eaglehorse sector ended, the border was patrolled by American forces operating out of Camp Harris-Hindenburg Kaserne at Coburg. A wide array of units passed through this barracks to include troopers from the 14th ACR, 2nd ACR, 3 ACR and 3rd Infantry Division. It is an interesting chapter in the story of the American cavalry on the border and the threads of history that pass through Coburg extend to the Americans at Bad Kissingen and the 2 Kradschutzen Bn of the Third Reich era.

Coburg and Hindenburg Kaserne

Coburg is a small city located approximated 65 kilometers east-northeast from Bad Kissingen and it is one of the affordable, hidden jewels of central Germany. The old town part of the city has most of the charm of Bad Kissingen although it is not a Kur Stadt has no casino. Above the town, on a towering hill, is a spectacular castle. Coburg offers great shopping for china, Hummel figurines and world famous stuffed toy animals for children. The wives of many US servicemen may recall Coburg more than their husbands, day trip bus tours to the china and toy factories were a staple of Rec Service operations at dozens of US bases in central Germany. Indicative of just how much has changed in Germany, Coburg is now home to major festivals celebrating New Orleans jazz and Brazilian Samba! Here is an English language link:

http://www.coburg-tourist.com/englisch/index_1.html

Hindenberg Kaserne in the pre war and WWII years

Hindenburg Kaserne, located not too far north of the town, shared a similar history and design with Manteuffel Kaserne. Built in the early -mid 1930s, the major tenant unit was the 6th Machinegun Battalion. An experimental unit configuration, fully motorized and containing the most modern equipment available to the Reichswehr and then early Third Reich Heer, it appears to have been a combination reconnaissance and shock attack unit. For a brief period, as the 2 Krad Battalion moved from Eisenach to Bad Kissingen in 1937, it shared the Kaserne with the 6th MG Bn.

Once the war started, 6 MG Bn participated in the fighting against Poland, France and the Low Countries and both the unit and individual soldiers were highly decorated. As was the normal pattern, the Coburg barracks became the home to the training center for replacements designated for that unit. In 1941, the battalion returned from France to Wildflecken, was reconfigured and redesignated as the 40th Kradschutzen battalion, part of the 10 Motorized Infantry Division. With this, the unit training and replacement home moved from Coburg to Regensburg and Hindenburg Kaserne became home to a variety of Panzergrenadier replacement training units. As with all the Kradschutzen battalions, in 1943, 40th Krad was reconfigured to an armored reconnaissance battalion and spent the balance of the war fighting in the East.

Coburg, Constabulary and the 6th Squadron

The United States Army had two major missions in immediate post war Germany. The war against Japan with the anticipated invasion of the home islands required that dozens of divisions be quickly moved half way around the world to a new theater of operations and, the basic law and order structures of a society needed to be maintained in Germany while the future shape of the county was considered. As early as 1944, planning was well underway to determine how to configure an American occupation force in Germany that could be sufficiently flexible to assume a variety of non wartime missions. Units needed to be fast, mobile and motivated; they would be in almost constant contact with the civilian population.

In the American zone, by the Summer of 1946, with the issue of Japan almost settled, the formal "Occupation Plan" gave way to the "Zone Constabulary" with a tentative list of primarily armored reconnaissance battalions as the major participating units. A wide variety of missions were planned for: control of smuggling, control of refugees, basic law and order in assistance to the German police and vigorous patrolling of both the roads and countryside as a show of force to deter lawlessness. Constabulary units had their own MTO & E, based on light equipment, no tanks and plenty of M8 "Greyhound" armored cars and jeeps. Among the many former Wehrmacht barracks used to support Constabulary operations, Hindenburg Kaserne, located close to the line separating the American and Soviet zones in southern Germany, became the home for the 6th Constabulary Squadron. In addition to all other requirements, they also were responsible for monitoring a legal crossing point into the Soviet zone at Neustadt, northeast of Coburg.

The 6th Constabulary Squadron patrol area included the Rhoen region that many years later would be the Maneuver Rights Area and border area of the 2/14 ACR-2/11 ACR. Running to the east, their operational area also contained a large block of terrain towards Czechoslovakia. Interestingly, Bad Kissingen never was a major Constabulary post. Apparently, one Troop was located at Manteuffel Kaserne until the entire barracks was vacated to make way for the World Refugee Organization. The northern region of the future Eaglehorse area was patrolled by Constabulary personnel from Hammelberg, Schweinfurt and Fulda.   The German Zoll police, the first reconstituted national German law enforcement organization, kept physical watch on the border between the American and Soviet zone; the Constabulary troopers assisted and monitored all other civil-police aspects of society. The Americans had arrived, the Constabulary period went better than anyone expected.

Follow this link to a very nice web page recalling the 6th Constabulary Squadron at Coburg:

http://www.geocities.com/usconstabulary2/Stovall6sqCoburg.html

Get the tanks!

As the Cold War began in the late 1940s, the lightly armed Constabulary forces were seen as no match for any possible Soviet attack. These units had been through several different reorganizations and the logical step was to initially rebuild combat units from select Constabulary forces. The 14th Constabulary Regiment was redesignated as the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment and directed to reconfigure under a combat unit MTO & E on 7 October 1948. The 10th Constabulary Squadron in Fritzlar was redesignated as the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry, the 1st Constabulary Squadron was moved to Schweinfurt and redesignated as the 2nd Squadron and in Coburg, the 6th Constabulary Squadron was redesignated as the 3rd Squadron, 14th Cavalry.

While still under the Constabulary command structure, the 14th Cavalry drew M24 and M26-46 tanks, ½ tracks and all the other equipment authorized to a combat unit. They embarked on a vigorous training program to insure proficiency with both equipment and tactics and otherwise were relieved of normal Constabulary police and civil functions.   LTC Charles A. Corcoran, in command of the now designated 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 14th ACR, road marched through gates at Hindenburg for seven straight weeks in the field and on the ranges. Upon return, there was a major rotation of personnel to the US and Major Van Duyn assumed command.

Welcome to Camp Harris

On 2 June, 1949, Hindenburg Kaserne was designated as Harris Barracks to honor the actions of 2 Lt James R. Harris, 756th Tank Battalion, who, had posthumously had been awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in combat at Vagney, France, 1944. In summery, his award recalled that after a German raiding party of tanks and infantry had infiltrated US lines and attacked the battalion CP, Harris personally led a counter attack with one tank and a squad of soldiers to engage the superior enemy force. Fighting dismounted, Harris directed the fire of his tank until it was destroyed and continued to lead the squad despite severe wounds. After the sharp fight the German force withdrew and Harris died of wounds prior to evacuation.

The following year, the 3 -14 moved to Fritzlar and in 1952, to Bad Hersfeld. In Coburg, the first of many different US Army units arrived to call Camp Harris home.

The 3rd ACR assumed the border mission along the long southern portion of border running from Germany to Czechoslovakia and ending at the Austrian border for much of the 1950s. Also during this period, the Blackhorse Regiment, deployed to Germany as a Gyroscope unit, had their first experiences on the border to the far southeast.    Troop sized units from 3 ACR were rotated from Bamberg to Coburg during this period and in 1958, the 2nd ACR assumed the mission. 3 ACR returned to the United States.   For the next thirty years, a wide variety of VII Corps company sized units passed through the gates and border mission at Camp Harris.

Willkommen BGS ...

The West German internal security agency tasked with border security, the Bundesgrenzschutz, BGS, was formally authorized and funded for staffing in 1951 and early on located units at Hindenburg Kaserne. For much of the Cold War, they occupied 2/3rds of the available space at the barracks. The Americans recall it as an amicable relationship. By 1987, for example, Hindenburg Kaserne was home to both BGS Southern Command "South 1" training unit and the active border surveillance "Guard Battalion South 2". Erwin Ritter began his BGS career at Hindenburg Kaserne. Along with the normal BGS observation functions along the border, they also monitored the activities at the Neustadt crossing point, although as with Eussenhaussen in the Eaglehorse sector, the crossing point was primarily a Zoll operation.

Into the 1960s ...

There are areas still unclear in the story of Camp Harris as we reach the mid 1960s. The 2 ACR had assumed the border run in southern Germany and Czechoslovakia and in 1966, the 2/14 ACR in Bad Kissingen was detached from the parent regiment and formally attached to the 2 ACR. This brought the border responsibilities in line with existing Corps boundaries in the event of war. Of the troopers we have interviewed, they fall into two distinct camps and it is odd how memories
vary.

Former officers and enlisted men alike recall Coburg and Camp Harris as either a normal border responsibility for the scouts from Daley or, as a camp they only used on occasion, when the 2 ARC could not send a Troop due to major training activities such as Level 1 gunnery. Either way, enough trips to Coburg occurred to be recalled by several different troopers from 1966-1972. In 1970, Terry Smith of Troop G, 2/14 ACR, recalls Camp Harris and border duty at Coburg.

Terry Smith:

"In my days it was called just Coburg or Camp Coburg and as a general rule they split the Troop up with about half to Wollbach and the other half to Coburg. Don't remember a lot about Coburg other than I was surprised the first and only time I was there because they had permanent billets just like at Daley.   I figured it would be like Wollbach but I do remember a lot of guys telling me that I would really like Coburg and they were right about that. That place was what all border duty should have been like!   It had permanent barracks and was really very nice."

"While I was there, we occupied OP 20 and there were two others 21 & 22. OP 20 was directly across the border from a village with a communal barn if my memory serves me right. One day on OP duty we were observing the fields around the East German village and the farmers were chopping hay and harvesting it. That struck me as being a little different because were I'm from up in Minnesota, they chop the hay and let it dry in the fields before they harvest it. I talked to one of the guys I was pulling duty with, can't remember his name, but I remember his face ... he was always STRAC looking even after 24 hours on the border .... the rest of us would look like we got dumped out of a duffel bag."

"I was b's ing with the guy about how the Germans on the other side were harvesting the hay and hauling it to the communal barn without letting it dry in the fields. He was from NY City so he did not understand what I was talking about and asked me to explain. I told him how green hay, if it is wet and put up without being dried, was known to spontaneously combust and that farmers where I was from just didn't do that unless it was a really wet Summer. I asked him if there had been a lot of rain while I was gone on leave and they said "no", so I just racked it up as another strange thing that the krauts do."

"Well ... about three hours later I was looking at the communal barn and I thought I saw smoke, just a wisp and I told the other guy and we both watched the barn. Within 15-20 minutes the whole damn barn was burning and this was the biggest barn I had ever seen ... it had to be at least 400 feet long. When it became apparent that the krauts were going to have a 20 alarm fire we started sending in a spot reports and kept sending them in every time something happened ... we reported each fire truck that arrived etc. It was the most exciting time I'd ever had on the border!"

"Jesus did that barn burn. When everything ended and we were relieved the next day, what had happened was the talk of the Troop and I got all the credit for pointing out to one my buddies that this had a high potential for happening. We told and retold that adventure over a lot of beers."

BG (Ret) Mike O'Connell, SCO of the 2/14 ACR, recalled that as part of the re-flag in 1972, he was happy to be rid of the duel camp requirement. With a smaller sector, he wanted the entire Troop committed to a single camp for the border rotation and this led to a serious look at Camp Wollbach for expansion.

The 14th ACR re-flagged to the 11th ACR in 1972 , the Second Squadron returned to the Blackhorse the following year, only after much discussion and negotiation between V Corps and VII Corps. There were a number of issues at stake, the Corps boundaries in the event of war and the ability of the 2 ACR to stretch and observe a seemingly ever growing length of border while still maintaining all aspects of combat readiness were major talking points. A search began for new units to be included in the observation mission to assist the 2 ACR.

At Coburg, responsibilities ended for the troopers of the Blackhorse. It appears that the Coburg sector became the responsibility of 2nd Squadron, 2 ACR as one of two forward border camps.   Early on, the 3-7 Cavalry Squadron, divisional cavalry of the 3rd Infantry Division located in Schweinfurt, was tasked to support the mission.   In the old divisional structure with three ground Troops in the unit, it was a burden but there was plenty of augmentation assistance available from other battalions in Schwienfurt.

The otherwise excellent William E. Staley study of US border Operations in Germany on line at the Center for Military History,

http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/documents/BorderOps/content.htm

does not address in any detail this period at Camp Harris. It does state that the placement of the 3-7 Cav under 2 ACR control for border operations did not officially occur unit September 1977. Perhaps in the immediately previous years there had been a less formal command structure.
Bob Suckman recalls border duty at Coburg with the 3-7 Cav during the 1972-1974 period.

"A few weeks before we were to be deployed, we would start hours of classroom training and review. We would learn recognition of Warsaw Pact military equipment, such as uniforms, personal weapons, vehicles, planes and helicopters. We would learn how to complete the necessary paperwork for our particular jobs: spot reports, weather reports, vehicle status reports. We would learn how to use the code books and properly decipher messages. We would also go over proper radio procedure. We would learn how to read maps, terrain features, grid coordinates."

"The vehicles that we were going to be taking with us, were all thoroughly checked and given high priority for needed parts to bring them up snuff, even appearance wise. If I remember correctly, we would take jeeps, 1/4 ton trucks, M113 APCs, M114 scout tanks, Sheridan tanks, tank retrievers, 2 1/2 ton trucks. We also took an array of weapons with us: 45 pistols, M16 rifles, M60 machine guns, 50 caliber machine guns, LAWS and I think grenade launchers. Of course we took all the ammo that went with the weapons and weapon systems."

"Coburg was the Taj Mahal of border camps. Big, white, clean, and well maintained buildings. The grounds were well kept, with nice lawns and shrubs. Compared to a camp I was at on the Czech border, Coburg was a resort. Upon arrival at Camp Harris, we would relieve the previous unit there, and be briefed. Road patrols would consist of two jeeps with 6 to 8 troopers assigned. Each jeep would have a driver, gunner and patrol leader/observer. Each jeep would have a combat load of 45s, M16s, M60 machine guns, grenades and ammunition."

"Everyday, a patrol would be sent out at different times of the day. Patrols would last anywhere from 8-12 hours. There were several different patrol routes that could be set up. The patrol had specific check points that they had to go to and they had to dismount and observe the border and report back to base any activity, civilian or military, also weather reports. They could get no closer than 10 meters to the actual border. They had to stay at each check point a specified amount of time. Arrival and departure times had to be recorded. Upon return to camp, the patrols would turn in their equipment and ammo, finish the paperwork and be debriefed. We had 3 patrol units, so each patrol would have a patrol day, a day off and a day for details, work on vehicles and other such activities."

"Observation posts were manned 24/7, with a 24 hour shift per team. If I remember right, each team consisted of around 8 people. I think 4 troopers were assigned as guards and 4 were assigned as observers. I'm not sure of the numbers, but you get the idea. The guards were assigned to patrol the road entrance to the OP and were armed with a M16 and a telephone connected to the OP."

"The observers would watch the area to the front of the OP and call in ' Spot Reports ' of any activity, civilian or military, to the Operations Center back at Camp Harris. OPs were usually located in a wooded area on top of a hill. The area being observed usually was a well traveled road or area of military activity. The OPs were set up with an area in the front of the post for observation equipped with radios and telephone, binoculars, scope, map and manuals. The back area of the OP was for troopers to sleep when they were off."

"Along with Spot Reports, the OP would send back weather information. Spot Reports and Weather Reports were on a standard form and were relayed back to Operations by line number.
Hot meals were transported to the OP by support personnel from the Troop. On occasion, a special team of soldiers trained in the use of night vision scopes and listening devices, would set up at night along side the OP and use their equipment to observe the border. Remember, this was back in 1971 and the Army wasn't equipped yet with all the modern night vision devices as it is now. Upon being relieved in the morning, by another team, the team would turn in the paperwork and be debriefed. The OP was armed with the same basic equipment as a road patrol. I think each team had their own jeeps and kept them on sight in case they had to leave in a hurry (not sure of this point)."

"The Border Operations Center at Camp Harris was manned 24/7 by an Operations Sergeant and an assistant/runner. The center is where the patrols and Observation Posts call in the spot reports to. The reports come in by line number for ease of reporting and recording. The Op Sgt. checks accuracy of coordinates and completeness of report and then calls in the report to the next link in the chain, Nurnburg. The time of receiving the report and sending the report back out are recorded in the log book. The report needs to be sent back out in a timely manner or the information is not worth anything. Weather reports are also called in the same manner. Contact must be maintained with the patrols and the OP's. If nothing comes in from either, communication checks had to be made at least once an hour and recorded."

"The operation center had 3 teams, 24 hours on and 48 hours off. The center had phones to the OP's and Nurnburg and radios to the OP's and patrols and to Nurnburg. Also in the Operations Center, was a Crypto room and operator. No one had admittance to this area but the operator. There was also a room set up for debriefing of the patrols and OP's and briefings of any visiting commanders. The Operations Sgt. was also in charge of the code books and passwords making sure they were secured."

"In case of an invasion, the Operations Center had to be maintained to the very end, to continue sending in reports from patrols and ops. If possible, a helicopter would be sent to pull us out at the last possible moment (yeah right). The Crypto operator had explosives to destroy the center and all its contents. The Cav had an expected life span of about 10 minutes under a full invasion. We were to report what was coming, from where and to where. Real comforting to know we were expendable but what we did would give the rear areas time to repel an invasion and slow it down. As I look back on it now, I liked the cav assignment in Schweinfurt and I enjoyed the border, it really opened your eyes."

The constant requirement for a unit at Camp Harris led to new opportunities for VII Corps units. To relieve some of the burden from the divisional cavalry squadron in Schweinfurt, a heavy augmentation plan was developed which gave soldiers who might otherwise have never seen the border an opportunity to participate in the surveillance mission. Erwin Ritter had a chance to visit the office of the USAREUR Historian and go through files related to the US Army and the border mission. He found an article from the First Armor Division newspaper,"Ironsides", dated September 23, 1983 titled: "Blowout! Infantrymen react at a moment's notice" From this article,

"The 1-6 Infantry soldiers spent 28 days at Camp Harris guarding 160 kilometers of the East-West German border. While many of them had pulled duty before on the Czech border at Camp Pitman, this was something new for the soldiers. ... ' When we were offered the mission of augmenting the border, I jumped at the chance,' said Captain Steve Herbert, Company Commander. ' It's a CO's dream ... all the training you get up here-soldier combat skills, terrain walks, learning the border itself, maintenance and sustainment NCOPD classes and interfacing with the German agencies.'".

The article continued with several photos to detail life at Harris and the mission from the perspective of several different soldiers. An extensive train-up period had first been conducted to insure that all aspects of the border mission were thoroughly understood by the entire unit. To a man, the interviewed soldiers commented that it was a great experience and certainly opened their eyes to the reality of the East-West conflict.

Also appearing in the records of the USAREUR Historian was a mid 80s summery report from the 3rd Infantry Division reflecting the reorganization of subordinate units to Division 86 configuration and the transition of the cavalry squadron to the new MTO & E featuring only two ground Troops and two air Troops. Specific paragraphs detailed the major training events of the 3 -7 Cav to include winning the Flynn Challenge Cup, a VII Corps competition testing border unit readiness, knowledge and professionalism. A few years later, Gary M. Tobin recalls the continued involvement of the 3-7 Cav on the border

Col (Ret) Gary M. Tobin:

"I commanded the 3-7 Cav in 1986-1988 and recall border operations at Camp Harris. The squadron was in the Division 86 configuration so we had two ground Troops and two Air Troops.   The rotation had been greatly expanded to meet the requirements and I certainly recall the infantry battalion in Schweinfurt and perhaps the tank battalions as well sending companies or teams to Camp Harris. But having said this, there also were times my squadron assumed the entire border mission of the 2 ACR. We would staff all of their camps and perform the mission when they departed for gunnery or major maneuver training."

"We had an excellent Border Officer living in Coburg and a very good training program had been developed to insure that as a company or team deployed to the border, they were fully trained. As a unit went to Harris, it reported to the 2 ACR. In our sector was a legal crossing point at Neustadt and that was always interesting."

"I do not recall using any fixed OPs at the time, I believe everything was done in the Humvees and of course, we had plenty of air assets as well. My recollection is that it was a smooth running operation but one day, a tour bus full of American wives from somewhere in Germany took a wrong turn and ended up in the 1 K zone. Our patrol came upon them and escorted them to the camp. I guess we would have liked to have found a way to just get them on the right path but ... this was a serious incident in the SOP so we couldn't depart from the rules. I'm sure it gave them all quite a story to tell!"

"The border was something of a distraction to all the other things we wanted to get done, but it did give the troopers a chance to see something they otherwise would have missed and it did build espit de' corps. If I had the choice to remove the squadron from border responsibility, I never would have done it. It was a great opportunity for the entire chain of command."

The end of the border mission came in 1990 with elements of the redesignated 3-4 Cavalry Squadron at Camp Harris. The Hindenburg Kaserne area was returned to full German control in April of that year. The BGS continued to maintain a presence there for a while but in the mid 1990s, a reorganization led to the closing of that facility. We searched for on line articles in the German press related to further developments and found that as expected, the closing and attempts of local politicians to bring the BGS back had been matters of great local concern.

A lengthy article detailed Coburg civil police conducting major training exercises in a part of the Hindenburg Kaserne complex and we noted, that along with Samba and jazz, baseball has found a niche home in Coburg. One on line notice called attention to the local Coburg baseball team conducting Winter practices in the former BGS gym. I guess the "three-six-three double play" would be translated as the "drei-sechs-drei Doppelaus".

The Roman empire left coins and spear points all over the world, the British empire spread English and common law where it passed and the Americans, as empire builders always the most bashful and willing to leave when the job was done, left behind baseball.

The barracks area that was in constant use from the Constabulary days to the end of the Cold War, basically unchanged from the mid 1990s and certainly recognizable, now waits for redevelopment. The baseball field is well maintained. Play ball!!