Updated 23 August 2024

Original name – Hermann Göring (Flak) Kaserne

Home to:
RHQ 107th (King’s Own) Regiment RAC (1)
55th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA (2)
22nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA (3)
47 Battery – 53 (Louisburg) Battery – 58 (Eyre’s Company)
3rd King’s Own Hussars RAC 1948-1951 (4)

(1) arrived from Nordwalde north-west of Münster 29 May 45 – A Sqn arrived 22 Sep 45 – moved to Laggenbeck north-east of Münster 22 Oct 45
(2) arrived from Wilhelmshaven 28 Jul 47 – moved to UK 12 Jan 48
59 Battery – 177 Battery – 178 Battery
(3) arrived from Husum west of Schleswig 12 Jan 48 – less one Bty arrived 1 Mar 48 – moved to Menden north-east of Iserlohn 20 Jan 49
(4) arrived from Lübeck 20 Jan 49 – moved to Bielefeld Nov 51

More to follow
Source: 21st Army Group later British Army of the Rhine to Mar 49

Part II

Infantry
4 (Armd) COLDM GDS 1945 (1)
22 Lt AA RA 1948-Jan 1949 (2)
2 KRRC 1954-1956
1 R HAMPS 1956-1960
1 KSLI 1961-196e
1 QUEEN’S 1964-1966 (3)
1 QUEEN’S 1966-1968 (3)
2 RGJ 1969-1972
2 R ANGLIAN 1972-1976
1 R SCOTS June 1976-May 1979 (4)
2 GREN GDS 1979-1982
1 IG 1982-1986 (5)
1 GREN GDS 1986-1991
1 COLDM GDS 1991-1998
1 IG 1998-2003
1 SG 2003-Aug 2008 (6)
1 YORKS Aug 2008-present

RE
2 Fd Sqn RE 1957-1964 (7)
2 Armd Eng Sqn 1964-1965 (8)

RAMC
4 Fd Amb RAMC 1955?-1957? (9)
31 Fd Amb RAMC circa 1976 (10)
5 Fd Amb RAMC 1976-1982
5 Armd Fd Amb 1982-1993 (11)

(1) Occupied by 4th (Armoured) Bn Coldstream Guards, part of the 6th Guards Armoured Brigade, for three days after the capture of Münster on 3 April 1945. This period was used for tank maintenance prior to the push forward to Hamburg.
(2) Deployed to maintain law and order on behalf of the C-in-C
(3) Formed at Bury-St-Edmunds by the amalgamation of 1st Bn The Queen’s Royal Regiment, and 1st Bn The East Surrey Regiment on 14 October 1959. On 17 January 1964 the Regiment joined 6 Infantry Brigade (2nd Division)as an APC battalion. Retitled 1st Bn The Queen’s Regiment on 31 December 1966. Departed for Bahrain on 16 February 1968.
(4) Dates supplied courtesy of Colonel R.P. Mason, Regimental Secretary.
(5) Returning to Chelsea Barracks, London.
(6) Departing for Catterick.
(7) As part of 2 Div Engineers (6 Inf Bde)
(8) Retitled in 1964, becoming part of 32 Armoured Engineer Regiment. Moved to Hohne in early 1965.
(9) Information has been received of 4 Field Ambulance being in Oxford Barracks at this time. How long before and after is not known at this time.
(10) 31 Field ceased to exist on amalgamation with 7 Field (Osnabrück) in 1976. How long they had been in Oxford Barracks is not known at present. Enquiries have led to nothing as yet.
(11) Leaving for Fulwood Barracks Preston in 1993. Confirmation would be appreciated.

One of the tasks performed as the resident infantry battalion was to act as the Nuclear Escort Battalion which gave protection to 8 Regt RCT, stationed in Portsmouth Barracks.

Just to say I was at Oxford Barracks from October 1955 to July 1957. My unit was the 4th Field Ambulance and I notice this is not mentioned on the list of units stationed there over the years (they are now). I can’t say how long they had been there or how long they stayed after 1957. The KRRC followed by the Royal Hampshires were the infantry regiments I recall.

Geoff Horne

This stone carving is displayed on the Officers’ Mess
Inscription – Fearless and Faithful?

I was stationed at the above barracks from 1954 -1956. I can remember there being four companies H.Q, A, B, and C. There was also a small unit of RAMC and REME. We were a mechanised infantry battalion using the U.S. halftrack personnel carriers, 3 ton trucks, Austin Champs also Bren gun carriers. The halftrack vehicles were-being up dated to the Saracen armoured troop carriers. The 2nd Batt Band also were here. The Officers Mess was outside the main gates during my time here. The R.S.M. was a Mr Cooper I was in C Coy and was a P.T.I. The Sergeant Major was Mr Shreaves ?? My platoon officer was Mr Leon ( John Standing the actor ). We also had a number of displaced persons who worked around the camp. When the battalion returned to the UK we were stationed at Tidworth Hants. My basic training was done at the Peninsular Barracks Winchester Hants.

Roy Groom ex 2nd Batt KRRC.

Courtesy of L/Cpl John Carruthers, 2 KRRC

Again the main gate during 2 KRRC’s stay in Münster. Circa 1954.

Courtesy of L/Cpl John Carruthers, 2 KRRC

Courtesy of L/Cpl John Carruthers, 2 KRRC

2 KRRC servicemen with German civilian staff, Oxford Barracks. Circa 1954.

Courtesy of L/Cpl John Carruthers, 2 KRRC

20th Armoured Brigade Press Release (dated 25th September 2008)

Fur Queen and Country – Yorkshire Troops arrive in Münster with their regimental ferrets

Pictured (left to right) is Lance Corporal ‘Dutch’ Vann-Stewart, 33 from Bradford, with ‘Imphal’ and Private Michael Stacey, 19 from York, with ‘Quebec’.

Courtesy of Cpl James Williams RLC

‘Imphal’ and ‘Quebec’, The 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment’s pet ferrets, have travelled from Yorkshire to their new base in Germany to join the rest of their battalion.

The pair of ferrets, named after two battle honours, have quickly made themselves at home in Münster in their own special cage which now takes pride of place in front of the 1 YORKS Guard Room in Oxford Barracks.

The light role infantry battalion – nicknamed the “The Yorkshire Warriors” – has joined the remainder of the 20th Armoured Brigade (The Iron Fist) in Germany, after becoming part of the British Army formation in August last year.

The handsome ferrets were originally a gift from the people of Yorkshire and have since been adopted as official pets. The tradition of keeping the animals may fall back to the First World War when the troops were short of food in the trenches and would use the animals to hunt for rabbits to supplement their diet. Today the two males play a central part in Battalion life, taking part in parades and even wearing their own uniforms in regimental colours. They are looked after by the Provost Staff in the Battalion’s Guard Room.

Provo Corporal Norman Shay said: “They’re doing fine – I don’t think they’ve realised yet that they’re in Germany. We had their ‘kennel’ sent out prior to them leaving so that once they had arrived it would be all here ready for them. “They’ve got freedom of the parade ground, and they will go in and out of the troops when they’re all formed up. Most recently when we returned from Iraq we had the homecoming parade and the ferrets did the complete parade with us as well. They have a jacket in Brunswick Green with a cap badge on the side of it and they have little hats and the regimental leads which are exactly the same as our stable belts. They’re the pride of the Battalion.”

Lance Corporal ‘Dutch’ Vann-Stewart, 33 from Bradford, added: “They scratch and bite every now and then, but they are good fun. They are little characters and are generally friendly – they just don’t like being held too long. But they are a good pet and they’re great with kids. They’re entertaining.”

Having completed the move to Germany from Catterick, most of the Battalion will now deploy to Iraq in November with the 20th Armoured Brigade on Operation TELIC 13. Meanwhile B Company have already deployed to Kosovo last month as the Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Task Force (ISR TF).

Officer Commanding Support Company, Maj Dan Whiter, said. “We became part of the Brigade in the middle of last year and since then we’ve taken part in several exercises.

“We’re a light role infantry battalion and we’ve come across with some Land Rovers and some support vehicles, but most of the time we patrol on foot. We provide a specific niche capability – the light role infantry battalion is a highly sought after unit because it’s so versatile and can move into complex terrain, whereas the armoured parts of the Brigade are slightly tied down to their vehicles. We provide a bit of flexibility for the Brigade Commander.

“Now we’re actually here it’s going to be so much better.”

‘1 YORKS’ was formed in June 2006 from The Prince of Wales’s Own Regiment of Yorkshire. They have been part of 20th Armoured Brigade since returning from Operation TELIC 9 in Iraq in 2007.