Hildesheim

The Barracks
Created: 04 May 2003 Updated: 7 June 2007

Plan Tofrek Bks

A transcript of the use of the Hildesheim airfield during WW2 as written by Heinz Kempe, presumably for Lt Masters. Thanks to Gary Binns for the papers.

Interview by Herr Heinz Kempe. Herr Kempe, served with the German Parachute Regiment in WW2 until 1943 when captured by the British and spent until 1946 in a POW camp near Peterborough. Herr Kempe saw action in Belgium, the taking of Eben Emael, Crete, Corinth and Russia. He still belongs to the Parachute Battalion Comrades club, taking an active part.

Flugplatze Kaserne was built in 1935 before the site became an airport as well as a sports centre. In 1935 the camp was occupied primarily by the German Air Force and a Long Range Recce School. It was not until 1939 when the first parachutists arrived under the command of Captain Koch.

My name is Heinz Kempe and I was an "oterjager" with the Parachute Regiment under Herr Koch. The area that became the barracks started as a sports airfield. In 1939 the camp started being built as a long range Recce school. The camp became split as it is today with the long range Recce school occupying what is now 1 Regt AAC and the "Sanitaz" Bn and the Parachute Bn occupying what is now (or then) 1 RTR. The Long Range Recce School was built in order to train in the use of aerial photography and interpreting aerial photography, understanding the strategic value of them. The Parachute Regiment first came in in 1939 from the 1st Parachuting Regt Training School in Stendas, which lies between Berlin and Magdeburg. Arriving in the winter of 1939 under Captain Koch because this was a secret mission they were given the name "friedrieckshafen"; ie: the experimental dept Friedrieckshafen.

The first company that arrived consisted of a platoon of engineers. The parachutists also had to be trained as engineers for the task that lay ahead. In the winter of 39 the Bn consisted of 180 men. In the course of 5 years the Bn grew up to 750, there was no chain of command. The soldiers of Koch were directly responsible to Hitler himself.

The camp has changed very little since 1939. A cinema now where the Sanitz Bn was used to allow the soldiers to catch up on current events. 4 Training wooden huts was where (cannot read next two words) in containing the 2nd Coy due to overcrowding. What is now the cook house for the Sanitz Bn was the School of Photography. 1 RTR RHQ was, in 39, the HQ for Capt Koch as well as the Admin Officer. Gen Fisher who commanded the Luftwaffe in the Barracks used Ironside House. He was in charge of the Recce School as well as in Silesia. Rivalry between Koch and Fisher (existed) because he was able to override Fisher.

The Guard Room was as it is today. Fishers orders were to turn away any soldiers who wore a silk cravat as the parachute soldiers used to wear. Against Dress Regulations!  Captain Koch would override this. Security within the area was extremely strict. Nobody was allowed to leave Barracks and no cap badges nor ensigns were worn to indicate the nature of the troops. This was until 40 when they successfully took the Eben.  On arriving back at Köln, the population stoned them, thinking they were Belgian prisoners! Even the people of Hildesheim did not really know of the true nature of their mission. The taking of Eben was to clear the way for the Blitzkrieg of France and to avoid having to go through the Ardennes to complete the pincer to (exit of) Dunkirk.

Having arrived back from Eben the Bn was made up of recruits from various Parachute Schools subsequently to make it up to 750 men. These men were then going to be trained for the attack on Greece. Herr Kempe jumped as one of the forces to capture bridges. Everyone succeeded with the exception of one bridge which had been blown. A Jewish doctor right in front of him was killed on jumping, by a bullet in the throat. It was unique to have a Jew in the Army, he was under the personal protection of Hermann Goering. Took off from Köln, 3 days in Köln, they trained on the local canal.

That is where the narrative finishes..................

Information on individual buildings within Tofrek as at 03 Dec 1986.

Bl 39: was called "wuft" or "Woft" which meant aircraft repair bldg.

Bl 4 East: there is still a shaft in there which indicates that it was used for bomb dropping training.

Bl 57: has a shaft also which was probably used for drying parachutes.

Bl 50, 60 and 40: Most likely accommodation blocks, as today.

Bl 68: OC's Qtrs as today.

Bl 71: probably offices.

The Bks were not erected by the local building authorities but by their own building office of the Air Force. This probably is the reason why (looks like SHB) doesn't have any plans. Herr Lang thinks it is well possible that the old plans/drawings were intentionally destroyed so that the enemy would not get them. Signature and dated 3.12.86.

Got this email from Dave Whitter Jan 2007:

I did a bit of research about the camp and found out that the 1 KG 200 was in Hildesheim from Feb till March 1945.The KG 200 had 3 B-17s and 1 B-24.So they they could fly a longer radius the bomb bay was taken out and extra tanks were put in. The planes where hidden on the North side of the field and where only flown at night,so that hardly anybody knew that they were there. On the 20th March 1945 the B-17 left Hildesheim in a westerly direction, on board were agents of he Abwehr (Secret Service).Over Belgium by Gemmenich jumped the agents out, The next day the local town mayor was shot dead as he was put in place by the Allies. The 1 KG 200 had from June 1944 till March 1945 about 600 agents behind the lines transported.


On the 5th April 1945 1 KG 200 had orders  to fly to Fuerstenfeldbruck. On the 6th April 05.30 started the B-24 after 25 mins was hit by their own AA and had to land, after repairs where made it tried to take off but one of the wheels broke off so the crew opened the petrol tanks and set it on fire.
The 3 B-17s also took off one flew into the side of a mountain in the Thueringer forest, the 2nd was shot down by their own AA and landed by Altenburg, only the 3rd made it to Fuerstenfeldbruck. Also on the camp trained the paratroopers for a secret mission, the attack on Fort EBEN EMAEL (which is mentioned above).

Hildesheim Zeitung article showing Tank Park

Army Aviation Airfields - No 5 Hildesheim
by Captain EM anderson AAC, Captain JR Cross AAC and WO2 E Anderson

Early Days. Hildesheim airfield is quite old as airfields go, its pedigree extends back rather further than the Army Air corps, which first appeared there on the occasion of the formation of 655 Light aircraft Squadron in September 1958. It is known that civilian balloons were kept in the area from 1912, but apart from a general aircraft meeting in 1924, the formal opening of the airfield did not take place until 10 June 1927 when, at 1735hrs, a Lufthansa Dornier Komet 2 landed with 4 passengers on board. By 1935 the airfield was fully established and seemed an ideal site for development and, as part of the general re-armament of Germany, it was decided to construct hangars and a barracks immediately adjacent to the field. Completed by 1937, the area accommodated Transport Regiment No 1, equipped with the Junkers 52 and commanded by an Oberst Behrla, a WW1 ace. Alongside this Transport Regiment, the Luftwaffe set up a Fliegerbildschule, a training establishment engaged in the teaching of aerial photography and reconnaissance, to both pilots and observers using Henschel HS 126 biplanes.

The outbreak of war. At the outbreak of war, in 1939, an operational air recce regiment was formed at Hildesheim and, using the well known Fiesler Storch, this unit (Fernaufklarungs Regiment 1) provided direct support to the Wehrmacht. At this point during the war, however, operations in Europe were more Sitz than Blitz because plans were still being made for Germany's invasion of the Low countries and France. One unit training for this operation was Fallschirmjager Regiment 1, Germany's first airborne regiment, formed in 1936 at the parachute training school of Stendal. It was this regiment that detached its 5th Company to Hildesheim in November 1939. Known, for security reasons, as Experimental Section Friedrichshafen, 5th Company was commanded by Hauptman Waler Koch. They trained under conditions of the utmost secrecy for an airborne assault against 3 bridges in the area of Eber Emael, a modern fortress on the northern end of the Liege defence line. Also under Koch was a group of 55 parachute engineers, led by Lt Witzig. Their job was to be the destruction of the gun emplacements within Eber Emael itself. Unusual in the training at Hildesheim itself was the use of DFS 230 gliders for spot landings, the reason being that, although Koch's assault was to start with a normal parachute drop, Witzig's group were to land on top of the fortress itself.

Their training complete, Sturm Abteilung Koch moved to the airfield at Koln-Wahn from where they set off in the early hours of 10 March, carried by 42 JU 52 and 11 gliders. Two of the bridges assigned to Koch's Company were captured intact but the third was blown by retreating Belgian sappers. Witzig's group had better luck altogether, destroying nine 75mm guns, two 120mm cannons and trapping over 700 Belgian troops inside the fortress by blowing up its exits. By using the then new and experimental "hollow" charge and pressing home their assault with determination, the engineers rendered Eben Emael completely ineffective, and so speeded up the invasion of Holland and Belgium.

Mid War History. In 1943, after serving in Crete and Russia, Oberstleutenant Koch was killed in a road accident in Germany. Oberst Witzig survived the war to surrender at Zutphen in 1945 after serving in Tunisia, France, Lithuania, Poland, the Low countries and the Rhineland. It was from this audacious raid and the German success in Crete that the thoughts occurred to Winston Churchill which led eventually to the foundation of the first Army Air Corps which embodied both parachute and glider troops. The Fliegerbildschule and Flieger Aufklarung Schule continued to train personnel in all aspects of air recce and photography, including intelligence analysis of air photographs, and the schools also taught blind flying techniques to glider pilots. In addition to this, parachutists continued to train there, using balloons and gliders. Later in the war, Lastensegler (glider) Regiments "Goslar", "Hildesheim" and "Halberstadt" all belonged to 11 Fleigerkorps, were formed at Hildesheim. After the invasion of Normandy and the Allies advance to Germany, Zerstorer Geschwader 26 (Destroyer Squadron) equipped with Me 410 fighters were stationed at Hildesheim in defence of the Reich, but as the situation worsened and the fighting drew nearer, Hildesheim field was evacuated and the training establishment closed down.

The area of Hildesheim and Hannover was occupied by the American Forces in April 1945, much to the disgust of the locals who regarded themselves, and still do as "Honorary British", due to the connections of the House of Brunswick-Luneberg with the Royal Family. Indeed, many of them have pictures of British Monarchs from George 1 onwards. When the Allied Zones were established, British troops replaced the Americans in Hildesheim and also in Hannover, Wolfenbuttel, Celle and, until 1957, Brunswick (Braunschweig).

The British Move In. The barracks was given a British name soon after occupation. The most usual source of names for this purpose are either past battles or famous individuals, although occasionally geographical names occur. Tofrek is about 6 miles from suakin in the Sudan, and was the site of a battle on 22 March 1855 between the Anglo-Egyptian Forces and the Dervishes of Osman Digna, following the failure of the Gordon Relief Expedition. (Tofrek Battle) It is known that the 1st Bn The Dorset Regiment, the 3rd Bn The Parachute Regiment and the 1st Bn The Sherwood foresters were stationed in the barracks between 1945 and 1950, but after this time the camp was always home to the Royal Artillery. It is understood that 157 Locating Bty was first, followed by 2nd and 1st Regiment RHA respectively. More recently 1st Arty Bde occupied the camp from 1967 to 1977, sharing it successively with 32nd and 5 Heavy Regiments. However, since 1984, the Royal Armoured corps had taken over the station, and has been represented by 1st RTR since then.

Army Air Corps Move In. Originally BAOR had but one Air Observation Post Sqn, 652 Sqn was originally in Celle (Immelmann Kaserne); later at Luneberg (on the east side between Wyvern and Alma Bks - now Schlieffen Kaserne) and since April 1949m in Detmold. Following the formation of the present Army Air Corps in 1957, it was decided to raise two more Squadrons, thus 654 Light aircraft Squadron was formed in august 1958, equipped with Austers and Skeeters, and 655 Sqn in April 1962. Both Sqns were formed at Hildesheim and remained there until November 1963. As part of the integration of AAC units to their various locations and units, the flights of these 2 Sqns left Hildesheim and moved to their respective Brigade and Divisional locations leaving behind the Sqn HQs. In the case of 654, their affiliation was to 2 Div and so 4, 5 and17 Flights moved to 5, 12 and 11 Brigades respectively. Similarly 1 and 23 Flights went to 20 and 4 Brigades. The Divisional Flights (27 and 24) moved with their HQs and thus, as elsewhere in the integration period, the Sqn Commanders became Commanders Army Aviation as Lt Col's but without having direct command of the flying units, being employed really as GSO1's Air. 655 left Hildesheim to go to Hereford in April 1964.

However, Staffel 1 of the Heeresflieger kept the flying connection for the airfield. Formed in Buckeburg in Sept 1958, they moved into the camp in April 1962. (Older members of the AAC may remember the joint parades). They remained until 1978, when they returned to Celle, leaving only the Medical Bn in the further end of the barracks. This move coincided with the decision to station the scattered parts of Div 1's aviation in one place. When the integration period came to an end in 1969, the old 652 Sqn HQ, then acting as Aviation Staff HQ for Div 1, took back its div flight (26) and 2 Bde Flights (9 and 17) (17 changed its Div affiliation during the integration period). With 651, 657 and 658 Sqns in 3 different locations, the Regiment was, like others, finding difficulty with command and control. The general reorg and renumbering process in 1978 coincided with this decision.

Army Air Corps Move Back. 657 became 661 and joined 651 at Hildesheim, leaving the other Sqn (664) at Minden as part of 4 Regiment. This organisation remained the same except for the addition of 652 Sqn when 2 Regiment was disbanded. Their barracks at Verden and Soltau were taken over by other units and only Minden remains of the original areas occupied by the regiment, although 664 later left 4 Regiment to become the Corps Sqn on the latest reorg. (Confused? I am!) Little change occurred to the camp and airfield at Hildesheim until recently when a series of works improved the main strip and access roads.

The writers wish to thank Herr Martin Koenig of the SSO Hildesheim for his invaluable assistance.

Rob Atkinson sent me the following 2007 images in June 2007:

1. A Sqn Hangar 2. Guardroon 3. Gym 4. MT Hangar 5. NAAFI Bar 6. RHQ 7. Sgts Mess 8. Sgts Mess

From Will Smith 1 RTR:

KG200 did indeed fly out of Hildesheim. As I remember the town avoided most of the bombing until about April 1945 when it was comprehensively trashed. One of the aircraft involved was a Lancaster that was preserved and is now in a museum in Melbourne, Australia. Part of the exhibit was a list of the missions it flew. I vaguely remember a big do in the town around 1988 when they finally finished a stick by stick rebuild of the original (?) medieval part. I think the 1 RTR band were a big part of it. The Officers Mess had the plaques of the provinces as mentioned. They were down the wall facing the airfield. It was a bit of a cheat because at the date they were done, also listed on the wall, some of the states / provinces had not been annexed / invaded and some never were. The cartoons in the cellar bar were of the various squadron personalities from WW II, one on each wooden roof panel. The one I remember was of the bombing officer sat astride a huge bomb, complete with monocle! In the corridor from the cellar bar to the cellar dining room, to the right of the stairs was a mural. It depicted Goering sat astride a (?) Ju 88 with a barrel of beer under each arm and the twin towers of the Frauernkirchen in Munich in the background. The story (as I remember it) was that Goering favoured Hildesheim and frequently dropped in, on this occasion unannounced. There was none of his favourite Bavarian beer so an aircraft was duly despatched to rectify matters! The mural was unusual in that the aircraft tail had a swastika on it rather than the more usual Iron Cross. The date of the alleged beer incident and the swastika do not tie up as the swastika had been superceded by the Iron Cross by then.

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/Gallery/crete/crete-album/index.htm