TV programme "SPEARHEAD"

[Davejb]

Just been watching an episode of the above , there was a scene where a soldier and his father visited Belsen, the first shot was in the museum, then the plinth with the name, and the long walk towards the mass graves and the obilisk, all the while the guns and machine gun fire from Saltau training area could be heard. This brought back some very sombre memories of when I was there in the early 70s as a corporal in the ACF. I remember vividly that you could.nt really hear people talking as if voices were muffled and then there was the strange fact that you could,nt hear any birds singing. we all thought that was a legend but I found it to be true, I never heard one bird or cant remember seeing any either, you could also see traffic going past on the Autobahn, but again it was muffled or no sound at all. If you closed your eyes and sat there listening to the guns , you could imagine how these inmates felt when they were close to being liberated. On the day I went there was some form of memorial going on, there were Jewish wreaths or banners all around the monument. I sat down on the brick work and a guy sat next to me. he asked me how I felt about being there, I could,nt explain my feelings, but he said that everyone feels the same, Because I was only 15 i did,nt understand fully, but he told me that his whole family died there and he was there the day the British Troops arrived, he said he was 16 then and one of the lucky ones, I remember tears , exactly as I am now just recalling that day, It was an experience that will live with me for the rest of my life . I do know that this man had his family with him and I feel now that if someone can go through all that and still survive and lead a seemingly normal life, my problems are nothing compared to this mans experience. One thing about that day, the "grass" over the mounds was,nt truly green but a dark greeny brown, apparently because of all the chemicals spread over the buried bodies. It was a very eerie place to be and a sober one.

[DAK D]

Hi @Davejb,

I think if you were to go back now your emotions would be exactly the same. Thank you for sharing this sobering and thought provoking story.

D

[Davejb]

When my mate and I went back to Germany a couple of years ago,( and he was with me at Belsen all those years back), we debated whether to go back there or not, we both felt that once seen never forgotten, so we did,nt go there again. It leaves you with feelings of sadness, anger, and dismay that people could treat others like that. To a 15 year old , it was at first an adventure, being abroad in Germany where a lot of your collection came from, then after that visit, it hits you pretty hard , the full realisation of the cost of war and what happened behind the battlefields, yet I see and have talked to younger people who have been there on some school trips and it does.nt seem to have the same reaction with them, perhaps because its old history and its now treated by many as a tourist site rather than a burial place, or it could be that that type of history is,nt fully explained in schools anymore.

[HetzersGonnaHetz]

Sad truth @Davejb, I went to Dachau last summer, ill never forget it

[Guest Fred Karno's Army]

@Davejb I agree with your sentiments on Belsen I visited back in 1989.Very,very emotional place.

One thing I do remember was we passed through a small village it's name now eludes me not 2-3 miles away and there was a small antiques shop and it's window was crammed with German badges,helmets and an SS flag adorning the display,95% of it you could tell was fake.Everything in its place but this was ridiculous knowing what had gone on so close,luckily it was shut as we would've had quite a lot to say to the owner.No excuse when he was obviously aiming at the tourist market with the trash,tasteless to say the least.

[Davejb]

When I was in Germany back then we were billeted in an old Panzer Barracks at Detmold, that was an experience, as all the buildings were left as they were, The troop dormitories were  long and had vaulted ceilings , huge stone steps led up to them on three floors, we were on the third, the steps were worn down , mainly in the centre, so you could imagine just how much it was used back then. The old boy who was on the gates was a German civvie ,but during the war had been stationed there as a Tanker, every night when we went to town, we would raise our hands to him as a friendly hello, but he always returned a very quick Nazi salute with a flat hand, we laughed about it, but now it shows you just how ingrained their ideology was back then ,bearing in mind it was only 20 odd years earlier since wars end. . But in Detmold town there was a sort of junk shop, and me and my pal would go there just to have a look. One day my mate asked him about Third Reich items as there was nothing in the shop military related.There was a curtain across a rear entrance door, which I thought was where his office was, but he waved us back there and my mouth dropped. There was loads of original items there, flags, uniforms,boots, helmets, caps, gas masks, you name it it was in there. I saw a lovely officers uniform tunic, so I said I would return later after I had got some more money ,,,25 Deutchmarks it cost. I did go back only to find my mate had beaten me to it, crafty bugger, so I ended up with a Luftwaffe nurses uniform, in cracking condition, the Eagle was immaculate and her name was in the breast pocket, Hartmann. that name has always stuck with me, she must have been very small as much later on after I got engaged I got my intended to wear it, and she was very petite. I must admit I should have bought a few belts instead as they were cheap, about 7 deutchmarks each,My mate had that tunic for years until he sold it in the 90s. I sold the nurses uniform a bit later

[Waffenamt]

Years since i seen Spearhead! Might look it up on youtube.