Artists not in any particular order of popularity:
The Beatles The Rolling Stones Elvis The Animals The Byrds Sonny & Cher The righteous Brothers The Kinks Donovan Dylan Mamas & Papas Hermins Hermits Sandie Shaw Cilla Black Jackie Trent The Beach Boys Ike and Tina Turner James Brown Peter & Gordon Procol Harem Moody Blues Georgie Fame Seekers Tom Jones Unit Four Plus Two Cliff Richard The Hollies Walker Brothers Ken Dodd Spencer Davis Group Manfred Mann Dusty Springfield Chris Farlow Troggs Small Faces Four Tops Jim Reeves Troggs Johnny Cash
Louis Armstrong Tremeloes Scott Mckenzie Bee Gees Frank & Nancy Sinatra James Brown Nat King Cole
Top songs of 1965:
Beatles Songs from the LPs; Hard Days Night, Beatles For Sale, With The Beatles, Help
Beatles Day Tripper/ We Can Work It Out
Georgie Fame Yeh Yeh
Moody Blues Go Now
Righteous Brothers You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling
Kinks Tired Of Waiting For You
Seekers I’ll Never Find Another You, The Carnival Is Over
Tom Jones It’s Not Unusual
Rolling Stones The Last Time, I Can’t Get No Satisfaction, Get Off My Cloud
Unit Four Plus Two Concrete & Clay
Cliff Richard The Minute You’re Gone
Beatles Ticket To Ride
Jackie Trent Where Are You Now
Sandie Shaw long Live Love
Elvis Crying In The Chapel
Hollies I’m Alive
Byrds Mr Tambourine Man
Sonny & Cher I Got You Babe
Walker Brothers Make It easy On Yourself
Ken Dodd Tears
Louis Armstrong Hello Dolly
James Brown I Got You (I feel Good), It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World
Barry McQuire Eve Of Destruction Top Songs 1966:
Spencer Davis Group Keep On Running, Somebody help Me
Walker Brothers The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore
Over Landers Michelle
Nancy Sinatra These Boots Were Made For Walking
Dusty Springfield You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me
Manfred Mann Pretty Flamingo
Rolling Stones Paint It Black, Ruby Tuesday
Frank Sinatra Strangers In The Night
Beatles Paperback Writer, Eleanor Rigby, Yellow Submarine
Ike & Turner: River Deep Mountain High
Kinks Sunny Afternoon
Georgie Fame Get Away
Chris Farlowe Out Of Time
Troggs With A Girl Like You
Small Faces All Or Nothing
Jim Reeves Distant Drums
Four Tops Reach Out I’ll Be There
Beach Boys Good Vibrations, Sloop John B
Tom Jones Green Green Grass Of Home
Top songs 1967
Monkees I’m A Believer
Petula Clark This Is My Song
Engelbert Humperdink Release Me, The Last Walz
Frank & Nancy Sinatra Something Stupid
Sandie Shaw Puppet On A String
Tremeloes Silence Is Golden
Procol Harem Whiter Shade Of Pale
Beatles All You Need Is Love, Hello Goodbye, Lady Madonna
Beatles Lps; Revolver, Rubber Sole, Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
Scott Mckenzie Sanfrancisco
Bee Gees Massachusetts
Foundations Baby Now That I’ve Found You
Long John Baldry Let the Heartaches Begin
Georgie Fame The ballard Of Bonnie & Clyde
Love Affair Everlasting Love
The Animals: We got to get out of this Place
Titbits
Shiny 7
The Corps Song
The Corps Song. 'Hurrah for the CRE' originated among RE units during the South African War. The words part in English and partly in Zulu are sung to the tune of the traditional South African song Daer de die ding. The Zulu words are a complaint that as there is too much work for too low wages and little food they are off.
The words are as follows:
Good Morning Mr Stevens and windy Notchy Knight,
Hurrah for the CRE
We're working very hard down at Upnor Hard,
Hurrah for the CRE
You make fast, I make fast, make fast the dinghy,
Make fast the dinghy, make fast the dinghy,
You make fast, I make fast, make fast the dinghy,
Make fast the dinghy pontoon.
For we're marching on to Laffan's Plain,
To Laffan's Plain, to Laffan's Plain,
Yes we're marching on to Laffan's Plain
Where they don't know mud from clay.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah,
Ooshta, ooshta, ooshta, ooshta,
Ikona malee, picaninny skoff,
Ma-ninga sabenza, here's another off.
Oolum-da cried Matabele,
Oolum-da, away we go.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah,
Shush ....................... Whoow!
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon for a Sapper
Around her neck she wore a yellow ribbon
She wore a yellow ribbon in the merry month of May
And if you asked why the hell she wore it
She wore it for a sapper who was far far away
Not far enough Not far enough
And in the spring she had a bouncing baby
She had a bouncing baby in early February
And if you asked why the hell she bore it
She bore it for a sapper who was far far away
Not far enough Not far enough
Behind the door her father keeps a shotgun and
He checks it’s loaded every single day
And if you asked him why he keeps it
He’ll tell it’s for a sapper who is far far away
Not far enough not far enough
Royal Engineers A.F.C.
The Royal Engineers AFC is a football team founded in 1863, under the leadership of Major Marindin of the Corps of Royal Engineers, the Sappers. They enjoyed a great deal of success in the 1870s, winning the FA Cup in 1875.
The 1875 Cup winning side were:
Capt. W. Merriman; Lt. G.H. Sim; Lieutenant G.C. Onslow; Lt. R.M. Ruck; Lt. P.G. von Donop; Lt. C.K. Wood; Lt. H.E. Rawson; Lt. R.H. Stafford; Lt. H W. Renny-Tailyourt; Lt. A. Mein; and Lt. C. Wingfield-Stratford.
The team drew 1-1 against Old Etonians F.C. with a goal from Renny-Tailyour and went on to win the replay 2-0 with a goal each from Renny-Tailyour and Stafford.
The Royal Engineers were the first football team to go on a tour, which they did to Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield in 1873.
Sir Frederick Wall who was the secretary of the Football Association from 1895-1934 states in his biography that the passing game known as the Combination Game was created by the Royal Engineers A.F.C. in the early 1870s.
They have maintained their character as an amateur team (as was the tradition early on in football history) and have not played in top competition since the 1890s, competing instead in matches against other armed forces teams.
Club Honours
FA Cup Winners :1875
FA Cup Finalists : 1872,1874 and 1878
References Sir Frederick (2005). 50 Years of Football, 1884-1934. Soccer Books Limited. ISBN 1-8622-3116-8.
Cox, Richard (2002). The Encyclopedia of British Football. Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-8230-6.
Royal Engineers Museum When the Sappers won the FA Cup 1875
Items familiar with 7 Squadron days in Osnabruck
Osnabruck Memories Pay parades
Trips to Amsterdam Pay book Exercises in Denmark Pay credits POSB Being skint Belfry Eric Elgie Snake Pit Stan the man Fearnley
Capri Bar Crowbar Kochloffel (wooden Spoon)
Repairing old cars Bed checks & Lights out
Rum and coke Dress for out of barracks Bratwurst mit zemph Duty NCO Bockwursts
Milk Bar
Mixed service Organisation RP Staff Pommefrits mit mayonnaise Guardroom Halbe hanchen
Heart break hill Duty telephonist Weiner cutlets G1098 Schwein cutlets 1033 The Winkle AFG 3518 The Oxo BFG card
The Santa Klause Petrol coupons NAAFI ration card
Extras
252 Tich the Barber Sqn duty driver Quick train Regt duty driver Channel Link Regt duty driver veh inspection Parade behind the guard Frontier pass Sqn PRI 277 unit vehicle identity Admin parades MSO drivers Sick parade with small pack POM Compo Full Scale Marching Order Nuffield trust Sqn minibus 37 Pattern Webbing Bramsche marches The Green Lantin NAAFI pies Achmer NAAFI breaks Soltau
Squadron vehicle types in Osnabruck 1965-1968 2/77
Potted History of Achmer
In 1944 ME 262A Jet fighters operated from Achmer under the command of the highly decorated Ace, Kommando Major Nowotny, who was shot down and killed at Epe, near Achmer on the 8th Nov 1944 whilst intercepting allied bombers. The Allies would hover high over Achmer and pounce on ME 262A jets on taking off and landing, when they were most vulnerable.
Late April 1945, and in the final push of WW2, 139 Wing comprising of RAF 98 and 180 Squadrons, and Royal Dutch Navy 320 Squadron, equipped with Mitchell bombers, moved up into Achmer, Germany, to help finish the war. When they arrived at the airbase it was like a lunar landscape of thousands of overlapping craters; all neatly inside the airfield boundaries. Many craters had, however, been filled in despite appearances from the air. After a very bumpy landing, tents and kit were unloaded and set up. The next day a large party of German civilians approached the airbase, they were the civilian staff of the airbase, and expected to be taken on by the 'new management', which they were. 139 Wing carried out ops from Achmer, the last on the 2nd May, then soon after, the war ended. After the war 139 Wing converted to Mosquitoes and left Achmer airbase in September 1945.
The left profile of last aircraft of Major Nowotny - Me 262 A-1a, white 8, W.Nr. 110400. Kommando Nowotny, Achmer, Germany, 8th November 1944.
Gainsborough Tractor
1 Ton 4 wheel Trailer
Hillman Car
WW Beetle Car
Bedford Water Bowser
Sankey Water Trailer
The Berlin Wall did have it's uses!!
The Bratty stand at Achmer
Every soldier serving in Osnabruck in the sixties will sure have been to Achmer, the army’s local training area. It was an old WW2 airfield about 18km north west of Osnabruck. I wonder how many of you viewing this page remembers the Bratwurst stall on the site. It was an old bus and you could sit inside and eat your bratty. It was used when there on driver training or on non-tactical training of sorts. I remember it used to sell these war pictorial comics similar to what we had back at home, however the front pictures always illustrated the Wehrmacht repelling the Soviets and not the Allies.
Pound/DM Exchange Rate
In 1965 the pound was worth DM11.70. In 1967 the Labour government de-valued the pound to DM9.60, from then on the strength of the pound continued to decline against the DM. At the time Germany changed to the Euro 1st Jan 2002, the pound was worth approximately DM2.25.
The Squadron Recovery Vehicle
I’m not sure exactly when, but it was either late 1965 or 1966 the MT received an American M3/16, WW2 halftrack as a recovery vehicle. The problem we had was, it was very reliable at being unreliable. It broke down every time it went out. Needless to say, we didn’t keep it very long. Does anybody remember it?
Corps Marches The Corps has two Regimental Quick Marches: Wings (the preferred tune)
The British Grenadiers
The Corps has no official Slow March.
The reason that the Corps has two regimental marches is that prior to 1870 many in the Corps were unaware that authority had been granted for The British Grenadiers to be adopted as its Regimental Quick March so it quick marched to I'm Ninety-Five, an old 95th or Rifle Brigade march. However, in 1870 the Commandant, School of Military Engineering, who was one of those unaware of the arrangements concerning The British Grenadiers, directed that the Band Committee should adopt a popular air of the day as the Regimental Quick March. The Committee chose the tune Wings. It was originally scored by Bandmaster Newstead of the Royal Engineerrs Band to combine two tunes; one being from the air The Path Across the Hills, a tune of unknown German origin, and the other Wings, a contemporary popular song by Miss Dickson.
It is believed that The British Grenadiers tune originated from a piece entitled The New Bath, which can be found in one of John Playford's dance books dating from the 1600's. The first known performance of the tune by the British Army was made during the American War of Independence (1777-83) at the battle of Brandywine (11 September 1777) and it was recently adapted for the theme tune of the popular BBC comedy series Blackadder Goes Forth featuring Rowan Atkinson.
In 1889 the Corps was ordered to adopt The British Grenadiers, but it was not until 1902 that Wings was officially recognised.
Corps nicknames
In the 19th century it became fashionable in the British Army to refer to regiments and corps by their nickname. The Royal Engineers had several nicknames, but in modern times only one remains: Sappers - from the role of 'sapping', that is the digging of saps towards an enemy's fortification. This nickname is still used today. It is used to refer to the Corps as a whole or to a member(s) of the Corps. In 1856, on the amalgamation of the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners with the Royal Engineers officers to form the Corps of Royal Engineers, Sapper was the designation of the rank given to a private soldier of the newly expanded Corps.
The word is derived from the French 'sapeur' and first came into common usage in the mid 1620's possibly introduced into the English language by British mercenaries who had served in the continental armies during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). The phrase Follow the Sapper was coined during the Crimean War (1854-56), where many of the assaults through the saps onto the Russian positions were led by Royal Engineer officers and members of the Royal Sappers and Miners. Corps Mottoes
When originally granted by King William VI, the Corps' motto was Ubique; Quo Fas et Gloria Ducant, but by custom and practice it has been separated into two mottoes: Ubique (Everywhere)
Quo Fas et Gloria Ducant (Where Right and Glory Lead)
They symbolize the Corps' service throughout the world and summarize the many Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers. The Royal Engineer Cap Badge: The motto on the Garter is Honi soit qui mal y pense (Evil to him who evil thinks)
Funny Story
One weekend as we often did, I was looking out my room window when one of the lads, Eric ##### drove his car up to the Squadron block and stopped. The lad in the front passenger seat and a lad in the back got out the car and opened the driver's door, got Eric out of the car and carried him into the block. Eric was so drunk he couldn't stand up.
Landrover long & short wheel base
BAOR Symbol
This clip was taken from a 'Soldier' Magazine in the 1960s
SLR sliding parts
SLR piston
Former occupants of Winklehausen Kaserne
In the 1960s the block on the right was 43 Field Park Squadron's block. The block in the centre was 37 Field Squadron's block in the other half of the camp ( 25 CER ) and the block on the left was the OR's Cookhouse for 2 Division Engineers. It looks just the same as it was when I was in Osnabruck, except that the uniforms were different and we didn't do that funny marching !!
Winklehausen Kaserne during the Wehrmacht occupancy.
Wehrmacht rifle racks in the block corridors
Married Quarters at Belm Powe, built in the '60s
The guy playing the guitar is a young Paddy (Ray) Haslett. 2nd from right is Jim Willshaw. He was in 20 sqn, based in Roberts Barracks 1956-58, and was a 'Snake Pit' regular. Paddy Haslett was a Wo2 SDI at Training Regiment 1964/65 when I was in training. He was muched feared by everyone, including NCOs and they all avoided him when possible.