Sadly I can’t recall my years as an Army brat in Canadian Armed Forces Base Hemer.

I can’t recall traveling to and from Europe by ship.

I don’t even recall the Mercedes my parents brought back to Canada on the ship.

I can’t recall speaking German well enough to have local ladies believe I was a local child. I was family translator. Dad would take me with him to the coal store to place his order.

I’d love to travel back in time to see what Hemer was like back in 1960.

In 1953 Canadian troops moved into newly built barracks in Deilinghofen (Forts Macleod and Prince of Wales) as well as two former German barrack complexes in Iserlohn (Forts QuèAppelle and Beausejour). Canadian soldiers and their families resided in two separate locations in Hemer.

We lived 17km from the base in a town Guest House. Three military families shared the upstairs of the small hotel. Parties and weddings were hosted downstairs.

One time I locked myself in the main hotel bathroom … then threw the keys out the window. They bounced into a street drain.

Rent was reasonable post-war. In fact my Dad’s monthly beer bill sometimes exceeded his rent.

The local German men had all fought on the Russian front. Astonishingly none had ever fought British, Canadian, Aussie or American troops.

related – Ruhrmemories 1953 -1971