Archive - Wednesday, 25 July 2001


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Panzers plan reunion

The Federal German Army would have been marking 40 years of military presence on Pembrokeshire soil this summer.

Reunification changed all that and the last Panzer troops left Castlemartin Range in 1996.

But the bond with the local community remains to this day, symbolised by St Marys Church, Warren, a building restored with generous support from the German Army.

This church, resurrected from a state of imminent collapse, will host a major reunion planned by the Federal German Army Castlemartin Association next month.

Former commandants and soldiers, representing the tank and armoured reconnaissance battalions who trained at Castlemartin, will travel from Germany to renew old friendships.

Up to 170 soldiers had been permanently stationed at Castlemartin Range and thousands of soldiers trained there each season.

They made an important contribution to the local economy and their loss was keenly felt, particularly by the property rental sector. Over the years 130 German soldiers married local girls.

The sadness which accompanied a farewell march through Pembroke was a marked contrast to the protests which dogged the armys arrival in 1961.

Charlotte Pattenden worked as an interpreter at the Range for five years. It took a while for the local people to accept the German soldiers, there was a lot of resentment when they first arrived, she recalled.

The friendship offered by the people of Pembrokeshire turned this corner of Wales into a home from home for the German soldiers. Charlotte lives at Castlemartin village and, as secretary of the Federal German Army Castlemartin Association, is one of the reunions key organisers.

We felt it was appropriate that a service should be held at Warren Church because it is a symbol of the friendship of the German-Welsh friendship, she said.

The service on Saturday, August 18th, will be followed by a reception at the Officers Mess.

Anyone who is interested in being part of the reunion can contact Charlotte on 01646 661355.