British Army Likes the Rhine

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 753, 28 August 1929, Page 11

British Army Likes the Rhine

BEAUTIFUL QUARTERS “A CUSHY JOB * Thomas Atkins thinks well of soldiering on the Rhine says Sir Percivat Phillips, writing for the "Daily Mail,” rturiug a visit to Wiesbaden. Speaking through the medium ot* a lad ill the Dorsets. whom I found taking the air on a high hill in the Tauuus. he said, in sections: "Yes. it's not so had. Rather a cushy’ job. but a bit dull at times, especially in the country. We get on well with the people. Jerry's all right. Civil enough, and minds his own business. Yes, I’d rather stay on the Rhine.” Xov that lie is headed for home, Atkins is inclined to forget the drawbacks of life here, and to remember that Catterick or Aldershot will lack many of its advantages. Atkins is well housed and fed, his amusements and his education are well looked after, and he has surroundings which in point of beautv and health-giving qualities are not to be surpassed by any other British depot. Either he is quartered in Wiesbaden. which is a pleasant, very decorous watering-place, or in one of four other military centres situated in the picturesque Taunus Hills, the furthest being less than 20 miles from the city. Army’s Sports Ground Wiesbaden mourns over the prosperity of pre-war days, when the garrison was one of the smartest in Germany, and the Kurhaus a rendezvous for ailing but affluent aristocrats. In one quarter recalling bits of Surbiton are a group of rechristeneil barracks where live the First Prince of Wales's Volunteers and the Second Royal Fusiliers. That line stone mansion. which might be the home of a millionaire, is the officers’ mess of the former regiment. Facing these buildings on the opposite s . i( * e the street is the so-called “stadium,” the principal sports ground of the army, with its three cricket pitches, officers’ tennis courts, running track, and horse jumps .‘nearby are streets of stucco-fronted houses where live the families of officers, warrantofficers, and sergeants, the whole forming a kind of little British island entirely surrounded by Germans. Drive to Bieberich. a suburb of Greater Wiesbaden, and there, in an imposing structure built in 1914 as an officers cadet school, are the Second Welsh Fusiliers, living excellently on a slope above the river. The gunners are found, appropriately enough, at Shrapnel Barracks, nearby. Drop down to romantic Bingen, on the Rhine, and see the Second Hampshires set in a picture that makes the thought of Catterick seem like a bad dream. Motor 15 miles out of Wiesbaden in the other direction, through rolling farmland and forest; climb around and above a village of steep and old-fashioned fronts; and on the summit of a. wind-swept hiU you will arrive at the spotless white barracks—like a gigautic countryhouse—of the Second Dorsets. It is like a watch-tower, looking out in every direction for miles over the panorama of the Taunus. No site could be more beautiful. Nor have the Second Leicesters reason for resenting their lodgment at Konigstein. This is another summer resort, some 15 miles from Wiesbaden. also known as "the Brighton of Frankfort.” Givenchy barracks was once a sanatorium. Life in these out-stations is brightened by cinema shows, concerts, and other simple amusements. Wiesbaden, of course, is better equipped with distractions for the soldier off duty. Two attractions wh’-h will be missed in England are the opera and the river bathing beaches. Special blocks of seats are reserved for the troops for every performance at the Wiesbaden Opera House. Bathing Beach Days Atkins can spend his off time swimming in the Rhine or sunning himself on the strand, at Bieberich or Sehierstein, two popular fenced-ofT resorts for German civilians. For Is 2d he can travel by motor-omnibus from Wiesbaden (in 25 minutes), be ferried over the Rhine in a motor-boat, and be admitted to the bathing beach. Family parties spend the day there, and British picnics are a popular institution. The Rhine amusements organisation runs a hall called Valhalla, where good British Aims are shown nightly, and dances are given several times a week. Atkins can patronise any German cafe not reserved for other ranks, and drink beer until 11.30 p.m. He is admitted to the Kurhaus for sixpence instead of Is on ordinary nights, and for Is to see the fortnightly fireworks and illuminations. The fine gardens are at his disposal, and he can go boating on the lake. The summer sports season is in full swing. Tennis tournaments, cricket matches between teams in B and C leagues, races, and other competitions, will be held. The annual horse show is booked for mid-July. The officers are able to attend the Frankfort races in mufti, of course. There is plenty of polo. They are able to frequent the cabarets and restaurants when they like, but they may i not dance there. Very few German wives will be found “on the strength,” or off it, for that matter, when the army comes home. Dnring the crash of the mark Atkins was able to keep a wife, as well as to ride in taxicabs, and matrimony became rather popular. Since the army moved to Wiesbaden the only marriages have been those of ex-soldiers long established on the ; Rhine, who have obtained employ- ' ment with the forces in some civilian I capacity.