21

Meppen.

Following the previous reasonably intensive flying session I was, with some misgivings, on Sunday May 30th, temporarily posted for a week to Meppen Range as Range Safety Officer and i/c the Unit based there. RAF Oldenburg was its parent Station, but as long as things went well there was no need to bother them, except for the occasional phone call to the Flying Wing Adjutant to let him know we were still alive and well.
One of the Jever MT Section drivers took me to Meppen with enough kit for a week's stay in a small hotel in the town. There was no Officer accommodation on site. My expenses would be refunded on my return.
It was a lonely posting with virtually nothing to do in the evenings except go for a walk, have a Pils in the bar, or go to my room to read. Day times turned out to be little better. The entire establishment was of no more than 20 personnel including a Sergeant and two Corporals. The other personnel were made up of a cook, drivers, Medical Orderlies, and range crew. Fortunately it was a friendly site which had been set up as recently as 1952 and most of the lads were capable of doing at least part of each others duties.
There was a garage separate from the main building and on to this was built the CO's office, my office for the duration of my stay. We had an ambulance, a Landrover, and a couple of trucks. The single storey main building included all accommodation, rest room, kitchen, and Mess. The Sergeant saw to it that all was kept in order and maintained discipline, not that there was ever a problem.
When there was no flying (during the time I was there, flying and firing on the range only took place on two days) the Airmen occupied themselves with keeping the place tidy and routine maintenance. They had dug a vegetable garden both for their own amusement and for the fresh produce. There was also, of course the standard RAF 'garden' comprising a bed of sand on which the words RAF Meppen were spelled out in whitewashed bricks. There was no perimeter fence and no Guardroom. This, the domestic site, was too isolated from any habitation to attract even passing interest.
Nearby were demolished buildings, blown up by the Army, which had housed the generators and offices of what had been the wartime Krupp munitions testing ground. In this heathland setting were huge quantities of unexploded munitions, shells, mines, bombs, and other nasties scattered in the scrub and heather. It was extremely unwise to stray from marked paths. On my arrival all ranks were quick to advise me of the hazards of exploring, which I didn't do; the dangers were too obvious anywhere more than 50 yards from the RAF buildings and cleared area. Not far away was a huge shell. It was empty and must have been all of 16 inches in diameter and stood some 5 feet high. It had never been fired for it was obvious that the inset copper rings which would have gripped the rifled barrel of a gun were unmarked. Some of us thought it might have been either a naval shell or one designed for a huge railway-mounted gun.
There were a couple of Germans who 'worked' the area, picking up and defusing some of the ammo, then burning out the explosive before selling the metal for scrap. Dangerous work, but they eked out a living from it.
One afternoon there was an enormous bang, and a few minutes later one of these chaps came staggering up streaming blood, with torn clothing, and clearly about to pass out. The Sergeant and I saw him coming towards our buildings. One
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