Unified Part 2

So - there we were a bunch of British soldiers sitting on the top of a mountain in S. Germany with skis on our feet!Image result for German mountains We were participating in Ex-Snowqueen, and I had done so for 3 years - I had volunteered (which they say you should never do in the Army) and spent 3 months of every year down here. In fact they needed me for my German language skills to translate the ski instructor, a German called Max. I did this with pleasure and it was free!
In later civilian life I was to live just down the road at Immenstadt-im-Allgau between fortnightly trips to our new home in Southern France.See original image It was an agreeable part of my life, much more so than my adventures in Northern Ireland of which I'm not allowed to talk, until 2025
When we left the Army, my wife went back to Guys Hospital, London and I didn't have much free time.......The British Civil Service required me!
So off I went, to St. James's Square, Westminster and took up the job of assisting in the Dept of Employment's 'House' Magazine called 'TEMPO' before ending up in the London Gazette as deputy editor. This publication is actually the oldest newspaper in the world although I didn't see it as a newspaper at all!
Image result for London Gazette Basically the Honours list needed to be published here before it was official and all bankruptcies, all military promotions and a lot of other stuff of an official nature needed to be in this.
It did give me the occasion to have my first dealings with Trade Unions, the Printing Unions being one of the most militant going!
Germany was still undivided and we decided to go there to work. My wife could have her old job in the hospital in Detmold again and I worked for the British Army.
It wasn't so easy, the UK was not in the EU so we needed Residence Permits, difficult and long to get.
Finally we were able to settle down in Detmold as civilians and the whole European tour started!
Detmold, Dortmund, W. Berlin (where I had been stationed) and then finally down to Southern Germany, Immenstadt and Lorrach - Yes, we had an amazing time and we did not regret any of it.
Yes - my wife (above left, surrounded by my parents and my sister, all sadly no more) sadly passed away quite young and I'm now on my last legs at 70 ...... but we had lived!
We finally passed our time between Germany and Southern France 2 weeks a month in each and there again we followed my Army trips and places.
There are accounts of this on my page:
There are a lot of other articles to be found there.........
https://sites.google.com/site/ianwmitchellswebsite/
Here is one:
https://sites.google.com/site/ianwmitchellswebsite/a-biography-part-1/berlin-tales
If your interested go have a look.
If I survive long enough then I'll try to put down more details and amusing items but until then..........Image result for Have a nice life without regrets............

Be content but never satisfied until the end..........

 Image result for photos iwmpop 

(next time around all about my story with 'La Belle France')

Ian Watson Mitchell                        8 October 2016             Vauvert, France

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