Guernsey honours
ARRC’s German soldiers
The Channel island of Guernsey has
thanked the Allied Rapid Reaction
Corps’ German contingent – with a
commemorative plaque to mark work
done by the NATO troops on the island
last summer.
The memorial was unveiled by
Guernsey’s Lieutenant-Governor Vice
Admiral Sir Ian Corder and the ARRC’s
Captain Erik Winter of the Bundeswehr
during a simple ceremony held at Fort
George military cemetery. world now, and all nations should be
together to try and maintain peace.”
COMMON BOND WELCOME
In July 2018, British and German
soldiers came together to work on
the unique project to restore the war
graves of military personnel who had
died on the island during the Second
World War.
The NATO soldiers spent two weeks
pressure washing and repairing the
headstones under the supervision of
experts from the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission.
It was the first time the German military
had returned to Guernsey in uniform
since the Nazi occupation of the
Channel Islands that lasted until 1945.
Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey, said
at the unveiling: “It is a very different
German Captain Sebastian Kühne a
staff officer serving with HQ ARRC
added: “When we arrived on Guernsey
we had a very warm reaction – so many
people supporting us and they offered
their spare time to help us with our
endeavours, providing us with tools,
and showing us around the island.
“I feel very touched to have worked
on the graveyard and see the names
of the British and German soldiers
that died here because they are very
young, most younger than me.”
The small military cemetery at Fort
George on Guernsey’s east coast
includes 111 German war graves, as well
as those of British airmen.
It is a very
different
world now,
and all
nations
should be
together
to try and
maintain
peace.
@HQARRC
Allied Rapid Reaction Corps
ARRC NEWS
British sailors meet
the Spanish Armada
Naval staff officers serving
with the ARRC have enjoyed
a free flow of information
– after meeting with their
Spanish counterparts at Naval
Station Rota, in Andalucía,
southern Spain.
The two-day exercise aimed
to strengthen ties between
the maritime personnel from
the Gloucester-based NATO
HQ and Spanish Maritime
Forces (SPMARFOR).
British Royal Navy Commander
John Payne explained: “It’s
important for us, now, to build
those relationships so we
can understand the maritime
perspective of any operation.”
“We’ll be able to afford
much better advice to the
commander of the ARRC
and the staff on what the
capabilities and limitations
are of that maritime force.”
Ocean Wave – The ARRC’s maritime
staff met with fellow sailors from the
United States, France, Portugal
and Spain
ARRC boffins win
U.S. award
Academics working at
Headquarters ARRC have
received a rare award from
the U.S. Army in recognition
of their innovative
analytical work.
The Operational Analysis
and Research Branch (OARB)
received the accolade from
the United States Army for its
efforts “to help organise the
thinking of a modern Corps
Headquarters”.
The citation praised the
Gloucester-based boffins
for their attempt to mitigate
so-called ‘group-think’, as well
as adopting the ‘Bayesian
probability model’ – a set of
logic that allows for reasoning
while adopting certain
hypotheses.
Major Jens Petersen of the
Danish army said: “This is a
rare distinction for a non-U.S.
analytical organisation, and is
testimony to the hard work of
the OARB staff at the ARRC.”
the imjin SUMMER 2019
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