Tri-Service
Forces Honour Closing Sailing Centre
Events have been taking place to mark the British Army's departure from Germany's most northern state.
A tiny joint service sail training centre at Kiel near Hamburg closes later this year.
It’s the last remnant of a British presence that dates back to 1945.
The Band of the Queen’s Division entertained the public on Kiel’s waterfront marking the end of the British forces seventy-one year presence in the coastal city.
It’s where more than a hundred thousand military personnel have learned to sail.
But now the Kiel Adventurous Sail Training Centre is closing.
The fleet of ocean going Halberg-Rassy yachts will no longer be moored here.
Second World War bullet scars on the city hall walls are a reminder of the British arrival in 1945.
The same building now marks their departure this time by flying the Union flag.
British military sailing began in Kiel in June 1945 thanks to a Colonel William Fryer.
He requisitioned some boats and launched The British Kiel Yacht Club.
Only three months after the war ended the club held its first Kiel Week regatta.
The Kiel sail training centre is the smallest British forces unit in Germany.
Now as it leaves it’s awarded the biggest German military honour - the Fahnenband ribbon.
The huge send-off reflects the numbers of personnel trained here.
It also reflects what seems to be a genuinely warm relationship with local people.
More: Drawdown From Germany
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