Wales welcomes the Germans
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The late Lord Home of Hirsel, then Foreign Secretary at the Annual Dinner of the Anglo-German Association with Ambassador von Etzdorf and the Chairman of the "AGA" "Bob" Martin.
At the end of August 1961 an Anglo-German invasion took place in Pembroke, South Wales, shattering its peaceful atmosphere. Like the characters in the famous Pirandello play they - in this case representatives of the German and British media - seemed to be searching "for an author". Microphones, cameras, pens were held in readiness for reactions of the local inhabitants to the landing of Panzerbataillon 84 for a training exercise. British reporters discovered a woman who had been married to a Polish refugee who had died in the War. Her disapproval of the arrival of the Germans was supported by the publican of the local York Hotel.
A rival publican, however, approved of the Germans, hoping perhaps for their custom. Photographs of three German soldiers taken in front of the local war memorial appeared on German television. But the German battalion commander in Wales let it be known that he disapproved of that incident and that disciplinary action had been taken against the officers concerned for what was regarded as a tactless act.
There was general surprise when the German soldiers turned out to be courteous and well behaved. "They clearly wanted to make a good impression", commented a local paper that was not too well disposed towards the new NATO-allies. But on the whole Pembrokeshire was welcoming. Some hundreds of letters were received in the Castlemartin Camp, many offering hospitality. These German visitors have since become a regular feature of South Wales. In the past 20 years more than 80,000 have come over for three weeks shooting practice in the Castlemartin training area on the Welsh coast. They have made friends with the people, taken part in sporting activities and also helped restore one of the local churches.
