318 Motor Transport
Mixed Service Organisation
Royal Army Service Corps

The following information and pictures are kind courtesy of Mr Lucian J. Holc, who was based in Hamburg with 318 MT MSO in 1955.

The barracks:

I do not remember the mailing address of the barracks. They were in Hamburg next to a park.

Barrack occupants:

British Army Headquarters for Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.
British families with children.
A MSO Guard Unit and the
318 MT MSO Unit.

The picture above shows the men preparing for their monthly stables parade.

The unit had about 220 members. All members had living quarters in the barracks. Many members had families living in Hamburg and surrounding areas. They would stay with families over the weekend or whenever they could. The unit had a kitchen and dining halls. Also the unit had an entertainment hall.

The Commanding Officer assumes command of the parade

All members of the unit were former members of the Polish Army with the exception of one Ukrainian and one Lithuanian. Also a British Army member, a blacksmith, was attached and worked in the maintenance squad. MSO could not find a Polish blacksmith.

All had to be fluent in the Polish language. I was the youngest member with 21/22 years. I left the unit in 1955 and went to the US – Chicago.

318 MT Unit organization:

Six Squads:
Headquarters.
Maintenance.
Four transport squads.

318 MT Unit management Officers and NCO’s:

Headquarters:
Chief Superintendent – MT Unit Commanding Officer.
2 Superintendents.
A number of Assistant Superintendents.
A number of Chief Wardens, Wardens and Assistant Wardens.

Each squad:
Superintendent.
2 Assistant Superintendents.
Chief Warden
A number of Wardens and Assistant Wardens.

All other members were First Class and Second Class Tradesmen.

The strange names of the Officers, NCOs and the Tradesmen were because the Kremlin objected to using military designations. Around 1950 all Polish members of the MSO lost their Polish citizenship.

The unit had 4-ton lorries and tippers. I do not remember how many. The trucks in the photos were parked for a monthly inspection. The unit also had a number of personnel carriers and motorcycles for messengers.

The unit had attached one Captain and two Sergeants of RASC. I worked in Headquarters as a clerk because I spoke Polish, German and English.

Here can the men be seen looking extremely proud in their custom black uniforms.

Here the lectern is adorned in the flag of Poland, with the Orzeł Biały (White Eagle) placed upmost central.

I had a camera and was told to take photos of the event. So I was running around and taking photos. I made all the photos myself – develop the films, copy and so on. A lot of fun – my hobby at the time.

I am on the “MSO 14” photo. There are 3 persons: I am the tallest on the right side. On the left, the shortest, is my older brother. In the middle is our father. At that time, my oldest brother was a warrant officer in the RAF.

In about 1958 the 318 MT unit was dissolved. Most members were let go and some transferred to other units.

Until 1954 the Headquarters of the BAOR were located in the town of Bad Oeynhausen. NRW. Attached to it was the Headquarters and recruiting offices of the MSO. I was there 4 weeks. The MSO boot camp was in Bremerhaven. north of Bremen. The marching band in the boot camp wore leopard skins over the uniforms when marching. I was there 2 weeks.

The MSO was organized by a British Army colonel. He was Scottish, short and skinny and had a red mustache. He supposedly wanted to make the MSO into a British Foreign Legion. I saw him once.

Some interesting persons in the 318 MT unit:

1 – The Chief Superintendent was a former Polish army colonel. His name was Goelner.
2 – Assistant Warden, name Just, supposedly was a spy of the communist regime in Warsaw. After the end of the unit he vanished without a trace.
3 – Gunter DeLong was the only colored soldier in the Polish army in 1939. One of his parents was from Cameroon. He was born in Berlin and lived with his parents in Poland. His parents were French and performed in Cabarets all over Europe. He spoke French, English, German and Polish.
4 – John Fox decanted from Scottish guards of a Polish nobility family. He did not speak a word of English. The British could never understand that a person with his name did not speak English.

Two members of the 318 MT unit I met on a street in Chicago in 1958.

On the web page the first photo – the chief warden standing in front of the unit is my father. The MSO tried to keep families together.

A well earned break taken over a cigarette. Note the 318 MSO circled on the wheel arch of the 3 ton 4×2 Bedford OYs.

In the foreground can be seen 4×2 Dodge 3 ton tippers, with 3 ton 4×2 Bedford OYs featuring further down the line

The photographs below show the funeral procession of a MSO officer based at Hamburg. The funeral took place at Hamburg’s Olsdorf cemetery

Barracks chapel – memorial mass.

The priest in the procession and the chapel are the same person. His name was Monsignor Father Golniewicz. He was a member of the MSO and had the rank of either Superintendent or Chief Superintendent. He was responsible for all Catholic religious events in the MSO units in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony. In religious matters he reported directly to the Vatican.

He died in a Catholic hospital in Hamburg in 1960 or 1961. During WW2 he was in a concentration camp and was used for medical experiments. My wife was at that time a nurse in that hospital and was at his side when he passed away.

Photos above courtesy of Mr Lucian J. Holc, ex MSO