Memories

I guess, other than the Pigeon Family, I have the longest association with Zweibrücken of any the IRC memberships as far as I know. My association with Zweibrücken goes back to 1965 when, as a member of the RCAF, I was posted to RCAF 3(F) Wing Zweibrücken where I served until 1969 when I was posted back to CFB Borden.

My four years in Germany were spent serving on the Base as part of the Canadian commitment to NATO during the Cold War. I was a Military Policeman of which there were 200 of us plus 100 American Military Police. I don't think most Canadians, and or Germans for that matter, knew that we had Special Weapons on the base ready to defend against the Soviet Block if needed. By 1969, things were cooling down and I was on the rear party, as they called it, as part of a small group of Airmen responsible for closing the Base and transferring all the personnel and equipment to other Canadianbases in Germany or back to Canada.

My family and I certainly enjoyed our stay in Zweibrücken and by living in a small village we were able to make many German friends. It certainly provided us with an excellent opportunity to get to know Europe and we travelled from Oslo to Rome. I suppose I should admit that it was not all work and travel as we went to Germany with one son and returned four years later with three. However, we did adopt a German boy who was 18 days old when he arrived in our home.

In closing out my Military service in Europe, this was my second tour as I was at RCAF 2 (F) Wing in Grostenquin, France from 1958 to 1960 when I was transferred to the American Air Force Base in Ramstein, Germany for an additional year. Alice flew over to Ramstein where we were married before they sent me home to Winnipeg.

I moved to Barrie in 1970 and have now lived in the same house for 51 years but now have decided to sell the house and move into a condo. I retired from the military in 1974 and joined the faculty at Georgian College for the next 20 years. In 1978, I decided to run for City Council and by the final count I lost by one vote. However, in 1980 I was successfully elected and joined Barrie City Council, off and on, for the next 21 years.

As Jean Maurice has previously said, he approached Mayor Janice Laking to see if there was any interest in twinning with Zweibrücken, Germany for all the above reasons. She asked one evening at a Council Meeting if anyone knew where Zweibrücken was, and of course I had to admit that I did. Thus, I became the chair of the Zweibrücken Twinning Committee. I must say that this twinning has gone far beyond any expectations that I had and now, almost 25 years later, I think we can say that it has been very successful. As outlined by Jean Maurice in his submissions, the recreational and cultural exchanges have proven to be a successful way for citizens of each country to get to know each other and has provided an opportunity to establish long lasting friendships. I have been back to Zweibrücken five or six times over the years and have witnessed first hand how people get to know each other very fast and learn to accept the customs and traditions of each other’s country. What more can one say?

In closing, COVID has certainly put a halt to exchanges this past year or so, but I can only hope when this is all over we will continue with the aims and objectives of the Twinning and Friendship exchanges.

Rob Warman

Chair