Home to:

2nd Field Regiment RA 1970-1978 (1)
2nd Bn Royal Regiment of Fusiliers 1977-1979
1st Bn Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment 1979-1984
2nd Bn Light Infantry 1984-1987
3rd Royal Tank Regiment 1987-1992

Closed 27 August 1992

(1) The advance party of 2 Field Regt R.A. arrived in Peninsula Barracks in late 1970, with the bulk of the Main Party arriving in January 1971.

After being constructed in the early Fifties, Fort Prince of Wales would prove home to many Canadian soldiers up until it was transferred to British hands in 1970. The barracks were then retitled Peninsula Barracks after the battle of Peninsula.

3 RTR were the last regiment to be accommodated here, the camp being handed back to the Stadt late in 1992.

I recall Peninsula Barracks as a temporary barracks that continued in use long past its sell-by date – and was probably the grimmest place I have ever lived.

I remember awful single-storey prefabricated accommodation blocks. As an example of how bad they were, the most luxurious one was the Officers’ Mess. After an extractor fan with no ‘off”` switch was fitted above the kitchen range one winter, setting up a constant 10 knot breeze that ran from one end to the other. As cold air (-20 Celsius!!) was sucked down the Canadian-built, copper-clad ranch-style chimney at the opposite end of the building it would blow out the fire in the grate and spread ashes across the carpet, beneath a swirling ankle deep layer of smoke that hugged the floor, also holding open all 3 sets of swing doors between the ante-room, the dining room and the kitchen. We dressed for dinner in those days, all right. – wearing overcoats and skiing gear!

The troop’s accommodation blocks comprised single rooms, each accommodating the better part of a single platoon, with (as I remember it) no more than 4 power sockets per room. Since we ( 2RRF) were there, on a punishment posting, we all thought, compared to our previous abode in Paderborn (1977-79), when portable cassette players were all the the rage, you can easily see how the Fusiliers felt about the place.

PS