Recently the Professional Head of the British Army, Chief of the General Staff General Sir Richard Dannatt KCB CBE MC ADC Gen, and his wife Lady Philippa Dannatt visited Bergen-Hohne Garrison, home of 7th Armoured Brigade (the Desert Rats).

During the visit they visited the soldiers and officers of units within the Brigade as well as Unit Welfare Centres, the Army Families Federation of which Lady Dannatt is the patron and Garrison recreational facilities. Lady Dannatt also officially opened the new 4 SCOTS welfare centre for families and soldiers and the new 2 Cs Bn REME WRVS centre for single soldiers.

Lady Philippa Dannatt officially opens the new WRVS facility for single soldiers with the 2 CS Bn REME Unit Welfare Officer Captain Andy Peters.

WRVS Services Welfare Officers Barbara Ahmed and Pauline Baldwin were particularly pleased about the visit. They said: “this facility has been available to single soldiers since March and we welcome them to come in and use the facilities which include a TV room, internet terminals, an equipped computer games room and a pool and ping pong table. In addition we offer a counselling service specifically focusing on issues which affect single soldiers and are able to feed these into the chain if command if necessary. This service is of course in confidence and we have a great deal of experience in working with the forces in this way in Germany, N. Ireland, Cyprus and Canada. However, soldiers are welcome to come in and simply use the amenities here, it is a great environment for them to relax in.”

Cfn Brian Charles, Pte Kieran Watson and Pte Jonathan Rice enjoy the new WRVS recreational facilities.

General Sir Richard Dannatt talked about his impressions from the whole visit: “I have visited 7th Armoured Brigade many times in the past although this will probably be the last time in my current role. I wanted to see what developments have taken place in the Brigade and Garrison, thank people for what they’ve done and say goodbye in person.

“On operations last year and on Operation TELIC in Iraq, 7th Armoured Brigade did extremely well, I’m really proud of what they’ve achieved and grateful for what they did.  Of course the families take the brunt of things back here but the arrangements made for them in terms of welfare and recreation and the support the families gave to the troops has really paid off.  Now the Brigade is back from operations there is an excellent opportunity to have some recuperation time and a chance for Regimental and Garrison life to get back in balance.

“The important thing about the length of time which we’ve got between now and 7th Armoured Brigade’s next deployment is that we can ensure we get some general training done in order to keep some of our core skills alive. This is with a view to switching to mission specific training as the Brigade gets closer to the next operational deployment to make sure individuals, units, regiments have got the particular skills they need for the role they’ll be in.

General Sir Richard Dannatt chats to soldiers from 32 Engineers.

“I’d like to say once again, I’m delighted with all the hard work and effort that everyone in British Forces Germany has put in over the last few years and I think that just coming here to Hohne, to the home of 7th Armoured Brigade, gives me the chance to say thank you to a small number of people but I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone for all that they have done, are doing and will do in the future. In particular I would like to thank to the families because they play a really major part – so thank you to everyone and all the best for the future.”

Lady Dannatt added: “what has struck me the most about Bergen-Hohne Garrison is that the people are very positive and it is a lovely place. Welfare is my passion and since my last visit here I have seen some great developments in this area and many new, modern facilities”.

Lady Dannatt with local Army Families Federation Coordinator Andrea Denham. Lady Dannatt is the patron of the AFF.

Words by Lizzie Wood and Capt Guy Simpson,
Photos by SSgt Mike Harvey and Lizzie Wood