The regiment took up residence in the Kaserne on 26th January 1946. Sitting on a hill above Wuppertal, the relatively new barracks had not been hit during air raids which had destroyed much of the town sitting down below. To honour the Division to which we had become a part, the Kaserne was named "Anglesey Barracks."

To the west end of the the Kaserne was a Gasthaus, thinking it would be a good place to to set up another Greyhound Inn, about a week later I requested permission from Lt. King, the Welfare Officer, to approach the Town Marshal to obtain a requisition order for the premises. The Lieutenant suggested, as he had in mind setting up a recreation facility in the barracks, the inn would be better employed to house the Sergeants' Mess adding, that he was sure if the Regimental Sergeant Major found the premises suitable, the C.O. would give his permission. Before approaching the RSM I decided to ascertain exactly what facilities the Gasthaus had to offer. I was surprised to find the premises to be larger than they appeared from the outside. Not only did it have a well equipped kitchen, laundry facilities, a spacious dining room and separate bar, but also several guest rooms and, as an added bonus, the owner Herr Hermann was a renowned pastry chef having won many awards in Berlin, as evidenced by the many framed certificates on the walls of the entrance hall. Some idea of the size of the premises may be gauged from this photograph of me propping up a tree outside the front door.

On entering RSM R.Boon's office, with the intention of "selling" him on the idea of locating the Mess outside the barracks, I was pleased to find him with RQMS W. (Tubby) Docksey who had recently become a Member of the British Empire - the photograph is of the two of them. As Lt. King has already talked with the RSM about the idea my prepared "sales pitch" was quite unnecessary, he readily agreed to inspect the Gasthaus along with the RQMS.

Before going further it is necessary to explain the role of Mess Caterer which been mine for the month of January. Despite the title, the job (or chore as was felt by many) given to other than a Warrant Officer had nothing to do with feeding the inner man. Among the duties was the collection of mess dues and monies to settle bar bills - one quickly learned to ignore pleas of hardship - to keep the staff on their respective toes and to collect supplies from the nearest NAAFI (Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes) facility.

After introducing Herr and Frau Hermann to the RSM and RQMS, following short tour of the premises we repaired to the dining-room for a conference. The RSM first saying that the premises would ideal, a conclusion doubtless reached upon finding one of the rooms to be large enough to house them both.