TWINNING

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="043c8b83.jpg"> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC33" FACE="Arial" ><B>My R.A.F.Days & After</B></FONT> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#333399" FACE="Arial" >   |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My R.A.F.Days After">home</A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="R.A.F. UPPER HEYFORD">R.A.F. UPPER HEYFORD</A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BERLIN AIRLIFT">BERLIN AIRLIFT</A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LUBECK">LUBECK</A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OLD LUBECK">OLD LUBECK</A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="AFTER THE R.A.F.">AFTER THE R.A.F.</A>   |   <A HREF="my_years_with_the_a_a.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MY YEARS WITH THE A A.">MY YEARS WITH THE A A.</A>   |   <B>TWINNING</B>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="NEWTON ABBOT">NEWTON ABBOT</A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BESIGHEIM">BESIGHEIM</A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="AY CHAMPAGNE">AY - CHAMPAGNE</A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="KINGSKERSWELL">KINGSKERSWELL</A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LONSEE">LONSEE</A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ITS A KNOCK OUT">"ITS A KNOCK OUT"</A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="GUEST BOOK">GUEST BOOK</A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LINKS">LINKS</A></div> <div> TWINNING</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 9996 WIDTH="588"><div> <B><U>The following 7 pages are on my experiences of Twinning. This is NOT an official Twinning website.</U></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>The first British - German twinning was between Bristol and Hanover in 1947.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Newton Abbot has been twinned with Besigheim in Germany since 1979.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The wife and I got involved in 1983, when the Besigheim Red Cross (Deutsches </B></div> <div> <B>Rotes Kreuz) invited the Newton Division, of the British Red Cross, (we were </B></div> <div> <B>both members), if they would send some of their members out to a celebration</B></div> <div> <B> for their 50 years as a unit in Besigheim.</B></div> <div> <B>After getting permission from the British Red Cross, National Headquarters, </B></div> <div> <B>to go and take our uniforms with us, we were told we could only wear them for</B></div> <div> <B> the official celebrations and not at any other time, the planning began.</B></div> <div> <B>There were six of us, five ladies and myself. The day finally arrived and found us </B></div> <div> <B>outside the bus station in Newton Abbot ( the bus station has long since been </B></div> <div> <B>demolished) waiting for our coach to London Airport. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="123fe5c0.jpg" border=0 width="510" height="348" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>The flight was on time, next stop Stuttgart.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="124005d0.jpg" border=0 width="512" height="349" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>First down was me, to take the photos, then it was Marion, Nellie, Louise, Joan and </B></div> <div> <B>my wife Barbara last.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Our new friends from the DRK were there to meet us.</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="125fe570.jpg" border=0 width="510" height="343" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>They were from left to right, my wife Barbara, Marion, Gerd, Louise, Ulrich and</B></div> <div> <B> Joan, where Nelly had got to I don't know, she could be taking a photo beside me?.</B></div> <div> <B>On the way we were given a running commentary of the places we passed.</B></div> <div> <B>On arriving at Besigheim we were taken to the DRK House and introduced to </B></div> <div> <B>everyone and told who we would be staying with. </B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="22cf9fa0.jpg" border=0 width="249" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="126fb5b0.jpg" border=0 width="507" height="347" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>As we were not certain we would be staying at the same house we had packed two </B></div> <div> <B>cases just in case but we need not of worried as we were together in the same house. </B></div> <div> <B>Neither the wife or I spoke any German and the little I had picked up when I was in</B></div> <div> <B>Germany in 1948 with the R.A.F., on the Berlin Airlift, was not as good as I thought</B></div> <div> <B> but we had no worries because most of the DRK spoke very good English. Our host</B></div> <div> <B> Wolfgang Bopp was the President of the Besigheim DRK and spoke very little English </B></div> <div> <B>but his wife Monika spoke it fluently. I took a photo of them outside the DRK House </B></div> <div> <B>before we went with them.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="128fb5e0.jpg" border=0 width="507" height="350" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>So started a friendship that still goes on today.</B></div> <div> <B>We arrived on the Friday 1st July and were due to leave on the Monday 4th, after </B></div> <div> <B>spending some hectic and exciting days in and around Besigheim.</B></div> <div> <B>We were taken to Monika and Wolgangs house in the town of Sachsenheim and</B></div> <div> <B> spent an enjoyable evening talking and drinking the local red wine. </B></div> <div> <B>The next morning we were taken to the Town Hall in Besigheim, and welcomed</B></div> <div> <B> by the Mayor Herr Wener Grau.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="12aee5e0.jpg" border=0 width="238" height="350" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">     </B></div> <div> <B>After we left the Town Hall we were taken for Lunch in the </B></div> <div> <B>Restaurant "The Anchor" in Church street.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="12cfe5e0.jpg" border=0 width="510" height="350" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>After Lunch we went to the Regional Head Quarters of the DRK in Ludwigsburg, </B></div> <div> <B>with the DRK Members, who gave us a tour of their offices, equipment and vehicles.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="12dfe5b0.jpg" border=0 width="510" height="347" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="12efe500.jpg" border=0 width="510" height="336" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>We then had coffee and cakes, then we were driven back</B></div> <div> <B>to our Hosts to get changed into our BRCS Uniforms for the celebrations.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>At 6.00pm there was a staged incident with the DRK,</B></div> <div> <B>Police and fire Service.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="12f004a0.jpg" border=0 width="512" height="330" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="130fe5c0.jpg" border=0 width="510" height="348" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="132fc5e0.jpg" border=0 width="508" height="350" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="133015a0.jpg" border=0 width="513" height="346" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B>During a break in the incident we were introduced to the oldest </B></div> <div> <B>member of the DRK, Karl Pfefferle.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="135f95e0.jpg" border=0 width="249" height="350" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">                       </B></div> <div> <B>Joan with the plaque made in Newton Abbot as a </B></div> <div> <B>present for the DRK.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="137c15e0.jpg" border=0 width="449" height="350" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> <B>We then headed for the DRK House for the celebrations. They had erected a large </B></div> <div> <B>marquee at the back of their House, as we approached we heard the band playing. </B></div> <div> <B>It was full of people sitting at long rows of tables, drinking and eating. We were</B></div> <div> <B>shown to our table at the front of the marquee, just by the band and were introduced </B></div> <div> <B>to the rest of the DRK Members. Then it was time to celebrate.</B></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="138fc3e0.jpg" border=0 width="508" height="318" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="139fe540.jpg" border=0 width="510" height="340" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="13aff540.jpg" border=0 width="511" height="340" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="22fd7fa0.jpg" border=0 width="215" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>After a noisy but enjoyable evening it was time to say goodbye to all our new</B></div> <div> <B> friends and look forward to seeing them all the next day, at the various functions</B></div> <div> <B>that had been organised.</B></div> <div> <B>On Sunday morning our host Monika took our group up above Besigheim to see</B></div> <div> <B> the view and the vineyards, they stretched for miles.</B></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="13b00390.jpg" border=0 width="512" height="313" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="13c00580.jpg" border=0 width="512" height="344" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>We then went back into town and had a look around and I think we had some food. </B></div> <div> <B>Took more photos of the beautiful town of Besigheim.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="13d00550.jpg" border=0 width="512" height="341" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="13fef5e0.jpg" border=0 width="495" height="350" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="141ff5e0.jpg" border=0 width="511" height="350" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>In the evening it was back to the DRK marquee for more food and drinking, this time </B></div> <div> <B>we could let ourselves go as we were out of uniform. Like all good things, the time </B></div> <div> <B>came to say goodbye to everyone and give out invites for the DRK members to come </B></div> <div> <B>over to Newton Abbot some time next year.</B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><U>TO BE CONTINUED ON </U></B></div> <div> <B><U>NEWTON ABBOTS PAGE.</U></B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>