KIEL
June 2004
The troop's annual camp commitment this year was to carry out a number of engineering tasks in support of the British Training Centre, Kiel. They needed some work doing, we needed somewhere to go and it just happened to coincide with 'Kieler Woche'.
There were many tasks to complete including improving the parking system, building a caravan park, building a mast storage area, painting and preserving wooden buildings and improving the pathways. No single job seemed to be that big, but all together there was a lot of work to get done in two weeks.
At the weekend we gave the Centre support for the Queens Birthday Regatta and the Classic Boats Regatta and also managed to get away on a cultural visit to Laboe, which is the location of Das Marine-Ehrenmal (German Mariners Memorial) and includes a display of the U-995, an original U-boat from the second world war.
In the second week nearly everyone managed to get out and take advantage of the Centre's excellent facilities and have a day out on the powerboats. They were fast and fun and there was plenty to see as there were plenty of tall ships around Kiel for 'Kieler Woche'.
We managed to complete all the jobs that we had planned and a couple that we hadn't. There were a few snags and a couple of plan changes, but that was sort of expected. The only thing that was really against us was the weather, but you can't plan for that and we worked through it anyway.
At the end of the camp everyone from the Training Centre was pleased with the amount of work completed. There was an exchange of presentations and an invitation to come back next year. If only half the offers made by the KTC are taken up on we are in for a busy and enjoyable year.
