Barker Barracks

Barker Barracks was a military installation in Paderborn, Germany.

Barker Barracks
Paderborn
Aerial view of Barker Barracks
Barker Barracks
Location within Germany
Coordinates51°43′13″N 08°47′09″E
TypeBarracks
Site information
Operator British Army
Site history
Built1930s
Built forThird Reich
In use1930s – 2019
Garrison information
GarrisonWestfalen Garrison

Description

Barker Barracks was located in the east of Paderborn, about two kilometres from the city centre. The barracks was bordered by Driburger Straße to the south, the Berliner Ring to the west, Piepenturmweg to the north-west and a rail line to Paderborn railway station to the north-east.

The installation was a typical example of Nazi-era barracks built in the 1930s. The buildings were often three-storey with a high ground floor and two higher floors. The farm buildings were two-storey with higher storey heights for kitchen and dining room use. Separate from these areas there was a technical or a functional area. Here, buildings were built that were specifically needed by the accommodated units, such as halls for motorized vehicles, guns and workshops. In addition, there was a staff building and an officers' mess.

The barracks, with approximately 54 hectares of land, were divided from south to north into three building zones. In the south was the first building zone with ten symmetrical crew quarters in north-south orientation and two buildings in east-west orientation in which the guard and offices were housed. In the second building zone there were also twenty symmetrically arranged buildings, which, like the crew quarters, were set up in north-south orientation. The third building zone in the north consisted of workshops of various sizes as well as maintenance halls, a church and a fuel depot. The crew quarters as well as the guard and the offices formed the main entrance of Barker Barracks.[1]

History

Third Reich use
  • A photograph of the HQ building in Panzer Kaserne Paderborn c1939[2]

Under Wehrmacht control, from the 1930s, the barracks was home to "training and replacement tank battalion 500". The majority of crews for the Tiger tank, to crew the independent German heavy tank battalions, were trained here.

British use
  • A photograph of a street and buildings inside Barker Barracks c1980. Taken from a high vantage point in the main HQ building it is looking eastwards.[3]
  • A photograph of A Squadron 3 RTR's tank park inside Barker Barracks c1981. Taken from ground level directly behind the main HQ building it is looking northwards.[4]
  • A photograph of the HQ building in Barker Barracks Paderborn c2016. To the right of the building is the memorial wall of 35 Engineer Regiment.[5]

For use by the British Army, the barracks was re-named after General Sir Evelyn Barker. Until 1962, Barker Barracks had been home to only a single British unit. British units stationed in Barker Barracks were:[6][7][8][9]

  • Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers:
    • unknown – Apr 1950. REME Technical Training School BAOR (moved to Glamorgan Barracks, Duisburg)
    • circa 1979. 57 Station Workshop REME
    • unknown. 20 Close Support Company REME
    • 1995 – 2007. 3 Battalion REME (moved from Hobart Barracks, Detmold) (to be renamed 3 (Close Support) Battalion REME)
    • 2007 – 2019. 3 (Close Support) Battalion REME
    • 2019. The last remaining troops were withdrawn and the barracks closed.[11]

References
  1. Barker, Paderborner Konversion. Retrieved 05 November 2017.
  2. Barker, Paderborner Konversion. Retrieved 09 November 2017.
  3. Barker Barracks Paderborn, The Green Flash. Retrieved 08 November 2017.
  4. A Squadron 3 RTR Tank Park in Paderborn 1981, The Green Flash. Retrieved 08 Nov 2017.
  5. Barker, Paderborner Konversion. Retrieved 09 November 2017.
  6. The British Army in Germany: An Organizational History 1947–2004, Watson & Rinaldi. Retrieved 07 November 2017.
  7. Paderborn, BAOR Locations. Retrieved 06 November 2017.
  8. British Army Units 1945 On. Retrieved 06 November 2017.
  9. 4th Infantry later Guards Brigade – 1947 to 1977, British Army in Iserlohn. Retrieved 05 November 2017.
  10. 35 Engineer Regiment, Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 05 November 2017.
  11. "Confirmed, 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade Will Leave Germany". Warfare Today. 17 March 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
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