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16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers
1946 |
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From 1953 and for much of the next thirty
five years, the Regiment was in the
forefront of the Cold War, serving as part
of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in a
variety of roles; at times patrolling the
East-West German border, and always carrying
out a vigorous training programme as an
important part of the NATO deterrent against
the communist Warsaw Pact countries of
Eastern Europe led by the Soviet Union. The
Cold War was finally won with the demise of
communism symbolised by the fall of the
Berlin wall in 1989. The 16th/5th in 1946 were barracked at Flug Marine on the Schlei. |
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Larry Conroy
with Bren gun on the firing range at Flug
Marine Base
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Reg Kelly
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| We (16th/5th Lancers) moved into the Flug Marine barracks and
the only planes I remember -- and have
photographs of -- were the shot up carcasses
docked and/or partially sunk in the Schlie.
It was a while before they were finally
hauled away.
Years later
when I was managing a radio/TV repair
company in Los Angeles, I hired a guy who
was a marine at the base and had moved out
just before we moved in. Their commandant
had told them to make a choice, remove the
buttons from their uniforms and move out to
blend in with the population (their uniforms
could pass for civilian dress without the
buttons), or stay and become POWs. He moved
out, found work in Hamburg -- God knows how
-- that city was mostly one brick high --
and managed to get out to Japan with Grundig,
and eventually to Los Angeles where I hired
him. Small world.
Larry Conroy
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A downed German
seaplane on the Schlei at Flug Marne Base
1947. Left: "Mack", signals Sgt. of C
Squadron |
Larry Conroy's billet at Flug
Marine Barracks. 1946 |
The three
men in uniforms were snapped in 1946
outside Headquarters Squadron Offices,
part of the Flug Marine Base. The
uniform itself is the dress uniform of
the 16th/5th Lancers. Note the Uhlan
headgear -- part of an battle honor from
WWI, when a defeated German cavalry
group, gave their helmets to the
regiment. Ah, the good old days of
gentlemanly war. (Some A-hole sent the
uniforms to us at a very inappropriate
period, along with a tank engine to be
used for training. We flogged it for
several bicycles. We kept the uniforms
though.)
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16th/5th
Dress uniform 1946 |
I went to
Schleswig town on several occasions, and
yes, I think the Schliehalle existed,
but my most memorable night was when a
riot broke out with some ex-Hitler
youths (who formed much of the Werewolf
fighting arm) and a group of us from the
regiment. It left the movie house a bit
of a wreck with several rows of rear
seats being flattened.
We were
stationed at Schleswig to stop the big
name Nazis from getting across the
border into Denmark. I was part of a
specially trained small group who "got
into" some of the big estate houses
(without being detected hopefully) to
take pictures of the loot that helped
them across -- gold, silver, art work,
wine, etc. Warrants could then be issued
under international law. Kind of hairy
duty. Other times, we guarded the
border, constantly slipping in and out
of our positions, and at times getting
shot at and doing a bit ourselves.
We
amalgamated with the 17th/21st lancers
several years ago, to form The Queen's
Royal Lancers. The Queen is our
Colonel-in-Chief, as she has been since
1947 when she was still a Princess. I
was on parade for her at Lulworth, and
fifty years later met her at our present
museum at Belvoir Castle. She was very
pleasant and we had a very nice few
minutes chatting together. She joked
well, and had a good wit. I was very
pleasantly surprised, I'd expected a
dour personality. Not so, she came in
carrying a soft drink in a glass, rather
than the usually ever-present handbag.
Nice change. I introduced my wife,
Christina to her, and I think Chris now
holds the record for the most curtsies
thrown in any two second period.
Today I'm
a media coach in USA working with
everyone who appears on radio and/or TV,
from actors, to show hosts, to News
anchors and reporters, to CEOs, CFO's,
and other corporate groups. Just got
back from a couple of weeks in Los
Angeles, helping a client through his
first TV pilot comedy show. It worked,
as the show HAS sold. Hopefully, I'll go
along with it. All depends on their
budget and if they can afford me.
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Larry Conroy. |
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