cologne

[Guest]

hi can anyone tell me what units stayed in cologne after the war(i believe it was occupied until 1926) as its possible my father in laws uncle married a german girl and is now buried in cologne

[centurion]

Not a simple question.British troops did not stay in Cologne after the war as they did not occupy it until then and units in the British Army of Occupation did get rotated. Unlike 1945/6 there were no orders against fraternizing so marriages and other forms of integration would be quite possible/probable

[lynedmonds]

hi, the Northumberland Fusiliers were certainly in Cologne as part of the army of occupation in the early 1920s as my grandfather was there and my mother was born in the garrison in 1923.

Kind regards

Lyn

[centurion]

The Division was part of the Army of Occupation that was in Cologne. Their Orbat in 1918 was:

he order of battle of the 41st Division122nd Brigade

12th Bn, the East Surrey Regiment (Bermondsey)

15th Bn, the Hampshire Regiment (2nd Portsmouth)

18th Bn, the King's Royal Rifle Corps (Arts and Crafts)

122nd Trench Mortar Battery joined June 1916

123rd Brigade

11th Bn, the Queen's

10th Bn, the Royal West Kent Regiment (Kent County)

23rd Bn, the Middlesex Regiment (2nd Football)

123rd Trench Mortar Battery joined June 1916

124th Brigade

10th Bn, the Queen's

26th Bn, the Royal Fusiliers

124th Trench Mortar Battery joined June 1916

20th Bn, the Durham Light Infantry (Wearside) joined from 123rd Bde March 1918

Divisional Troops

23rd Bn, the Middlesex Regiment (2nd Public Works) joined as Divisional Pioneer Bn October 1915

41st Battalion MGC formed March 1918

Divisional Artillery

CLXXXVII Brigade, RFA

CXC Brigade, RFA

41st Divisional Ammunition Column RFA (West Ham)

Royal Engineers

228th (Barnsley) Field Company

233rd (Ripon) Field Company

237th (Reading) Company

41st Divisional Signals Company

Royal Army Medical Corps

138th Field Ambulance

139th Field Ambulance

140th Field Ambulance

Other Divisional Troops

41st Divisional Train ASC 296, 297, 298 and 299 Companies

52nd Mobile Veterinary Section AVC

Caveat Emptor this is probably incomplete

[peterpiper313]

Hello,

My Grandfather too stayed on in Cologne for about a year after the war. He was in the 2/4 Yorks and Lancasters and transferred to the 1/4 York and Lancasters as Lance Corporal as part of the final cadre which I think left Germany 22 September 1919 for Ripon where he was discharged on 10 Oct 1919.

He was billetted on a farm near to Cologne. (I wish I knew where exactly) with a family named Braun, I have photographs of Herr and Frau Braun with 4 young daughters. They kept contact for some time after he returned to England and exchanged gifts etc.

It would seem he had the option to stay on in Germany longer or to return to live a civilian life there, I am not sure which, but my Grandmother would not agree to go and join him with her own 2 very young children.

David

[Robert Dunlop]

My Grandfather spent time in Cologne. He was part of the New Zealand Division that stayed into 1919.

Robert

[mbloy]

And don't forget that the Royal Navy was based there too after the war (The Rhine Patrol).

mb.

[TEW]

He was billetted on a farm near to Cologne. (I wish I knew where exactly)

David,

I can't help with an exact location but the 2/4th Y & L were with the 187th Inf Bde. This map shows where they were billeted. Not sure of any precise dates for staying within the 'Red Zone' but the map was printed by the OS in Nov 1918. Other marks on the map indicate upto Xmas 1918. As my Grandfather was also near Cologne until April 1919 I see no reason to suppose they moved out of the marked zones.

The 187th Inf Bde was based in Vlatten. Can't say where the 2/4th Y & L were. Narrows down your search a bit. But as for finding the Brauns!!

TEW

[SFayers]

My granddad was in Mausbach on the NE edge of Cologne, at least on the 10th September 1919 when he was with 260 Siege Battery RGA (he had his last medical examination in Mausbach on this date before his leave to the UK two days later for demob). Until the 6th September 1919 he had been with 136 Siege Battery, so it's possible (but by no means certain) that 136 S Bty had also been in the vacinity.

Not sure if this helps you a great deal, but that's my fourth penny!

All the best

Steve

[peterpiper313]

Thank you TEW for the map and the information., very helpfull.

Its some time since I gathered information on this. I have post cards (unposted but some dated with place names)

30 Nov 1918 Dinant "place we are near to..." according to my notes from the regiment diary they arrived at Dinant on the 30th and spent time cleaning up the roads.

14 January 1919 Photograph of my grandfather with 4 others. at Burvenich...

12 February 1919 another photograph at Burvenich.

I dont have anything to hand after that except a Cologne newspaper dated 6 May 1919 but will go through the rest of the postcards to see if there are clues to the whereabouts during the rest of 1919.

Thanks again

David