Miscellaneous


 

Hoisting the Flags The flagpole was raised next to the museum last year. Now it stands in full glory. The flags of Great Britain, Germany and The Netherlands can now be seen from a distance as they flutter in the wind. This is not only an enhancement for the museum complex, but also a symbol of good neighbourly relations. Thanks to:- Leo for hoisting them.

Building and Restoration Both the "Ladies" and "Gents" have now been finished, with new units fitted, new tiles and a new ceiling. A new "Emergency Exit" with "Safety Door" has been fitted at the rear of the main building with concrete steps to the outside. The window frames of the main building have also been re-painted. Thanks to:- Bruno, Leo, Wacky and Wolfgang. We have started to renovate the entrance and front side of the "Astra Cinema". On the sides of the cinema, broken windowpanes have been replaced with plexiglass and the entrance double-doors have been sanded down and filled ready to be painted. Broken glass-panes in the doors will also be replaced. The pavement in front of the cinema is also being refurbished. The status of the renovation will be reported in the next news. Last but not least, the Foyer of the Astra will be used as an exhibition area, showing exhibits that are not affected by the cold. This area of the cinema would be to expensive to heat!! Thanks for this work goes to:- Fred and his team, who by the way also look after the area around the complete museum complex, and to Hans who obtained the wood required and carried out the Carpenter work required.

New Location for the Quadruple A.A. gun The quadruple "flak" is an excellent magnet for visitors with cameras. No problem! However things were getting a bit out of hand, with people climbing over the fence to have their pictures taken sitting on the flak. In order to lessen the opportunities of this happening in the future,and to preserve this RAF "Prize" from "Desert Storm, we have moved the gun, appropriately as some think, inside the fence in front of the RAF Regt. exhibition. It fits the theme and looks better there. Thanks to:- Fred and his SOS Kinderdorf team.

Presents Rod returned from England with 3 aircraft models given to him for the museum by British Aero Space. They were a Jaguar 1:24 in IAF ( Indian Air Force ) colours. A Tornado GR1 prototype in 1:24, and a Tornado GR1 in 1:12 in RSAF ( Royal Saudi Air Force ) colours. The Jaguar has been re-painted in 2Sqn. RAF colours and codes ( as at Laarbruch ), and the other two will be re-painted in due course in Laarbruch squadron colours and codes. Our thanks go to:- Rod, British Aero Space for the superb models and Martin for an excellent "Paint job".

The exhibits presented to us last year by the last RAF personnel at RAF Rheindahlen have now been situated in the former Sacristy, a small room at the rear of the museum used for storage. From Rheindahlen we recieved a large oil-painting of a Lightning in QRA at Gütersloh, a RAF Rheindahlen Station Shield and various pictures and copper etchings. These together with two glass show cases, one containing model aircraft of RAFG, the other containing Malcolm Clubmemorabilia, have turned the Sacristy into the beginning of an RAFG ( Royal Air Force Germany ) exhibition which we are expanding. Thanks go to:- The last RAF members of RAF Rheindahlen, and Rod and Cilly for setting up the exhibits.

Contacts and Visits

These are not only to and from english museums, but also to neighbouring museums in the Netherlands, especially the Liberty Park in Overloon and the National Liberation Museum in Groesbeek. We have special ties to Groesbeek not only due to the precence of the Allies during WW2 in the whole area, but especially to the fact that the first RAF ( 2ndTAF ) airfield on German soil in WW2, was in fact here ( see B.100 Goch ).
We are intensifying our ties to Groesbeek and are planning a joint commemoration in 2015, on the 70th anniversary of B.100.
The chairman of the "former Airfield Venlo - club" ( WW2 Luftwaffe and USAAF ) also visited our museum, and a return visit is planned.
Thanks to Bernd, we now have a membership free mutual arrangement, between the " West-Alliierten in Berlin eV " and us, which was verified at the last AGM.

AGM

The last AGM took place on 6 April 2011 with about a third of our members present. The main topic of the meeting was the presentation and discussion of the conception for our museum presented by Bernd ( Dr. B. Ahlbrecht ). This concept was sent per post or e-mail to all members beforehand.
The concept was welcomed and unanimously accepted. It will however be complemented, due to the museum expansion, and discussed at the next committee meeting.

Invitation of the "Heimat-und Bürgervereins Lüttingen eV"

The "Heimat-und Bürgervereins Lüttingen eV" has invited our committee members to the opening of a memorial, to the 40th Anniversary of an aircraft crash in Xanten-Lüttingen in 1971.
The ceremoney will take place in October this year, and is in memory of an RAF Laarbruch 16Sqn Canberra that crashed, near and not in Lüttingen, tragically killing both crew but avoiding a catastrophe, due to the self-sacrifice of the crew.
The committee members send their thanks at this point for the invitation.
Terry and Rod are helping Lüttingen with organisation and research questions-problems.


Text:- M.B.
Translation:- T.M.
Photos:- A.I.