Updated 11 September 2024

Built – ?
Type – Prussian Officers Riding School
Original name – Kavallerie Kaserne
History – ?

Home to:
7th Battalion Hampshire Regiment 1945-1946 (1)
7th Queen’s Own Hussars RAC 1946-1947 (2)

(1) arrived from Winsen north-west of Lüneburg 8 Oct 45 – moved to Berlin 6 Mar 46
(2) arrived from Italy 13 Jul 46 – moved to UK 13 Dec 47

Part II

Headquarters
7th Armoured Brigade 1949 – 1993 (1)
7th Armoured Brigade HQ and Signal Squadron (207 Signal Squadron)

AAC
657 Squadron AAC ? – 1978 (2)

Support
11 Ordnance Company

(1) Moving on to Hohne
(2) Equipped with Scout and Gazelle helicopters. During an Op Banner tour in 1978 the rear party shipped out to Hildesheim whereupon they formed 1 Regt AAC along with 651 Sqn from Verden and the other half of 657 Sqn who had been based with the tankies at Wolfenbüttel.

Originally home to Königlich preussischen Offizierreitschule 2. Eskadron der Fahrabteilung 6 Hannover, Bournemouth Barracks were quite a small barracks with there being only 2 minor units plus the brigade HQ stationed there at the time. They were: Headquarters 7th Armoured Brigade, 7th Armoured Brigade HQ and Signal Squadron (aka 207 Signal Squadron) and 11 Ordnance Company. The rest of the brigade was spread between Fallingbostel, Munsterlager and Celle.

Roadside view

Blocks

The building above was in fact the Officers Mess. A small hut used to be located to the right of it at the end of the block and accommodated the Red Shields Newspaper / Snack Bar. The Commandant of the Soltau-Lüneburg Training Area was accommodated in the same building as Brigade HQ, which was to the left of the archway / main entrance. The block pictured housed 11 Ord Coy and the Sig Sqn. The NAAFI itself was inside the camp. The SSO was accommodated outside of the camp a couple of buildings down. The YMCA or Red Shields also used to be accommodated in a private house located in Harburger Straße on the B3 near the Opel Dealer until it was handed back to original owners (end of 1970s / beginning 1980s?). I worked for the Services Liaison Office in Soltau from 1981 until 1994, when we relocated to Hohne.

Val