History:
I was stationed in Füssen, Bavaria which is a very old town. In the Year 170 AD the Romans built a fort and stationed their supply unit staff there to protect the important business street "Via Claudia Augusta" (that crossed from north Italy to Augsburg Germany) from the attacking Alemanns (rebels). In the year 1796 small civilian troops (Buergerwehr) volunteered with just 40-armed men to defend the town against criminals and rebels. As the French in Moreau penetrated into Pfronten (only about 15 Kilometers from Füssen) and captured the town, the Buergerwehr became larger. In 1802 the Bavaria light Infantry (kur-bayerische) fought against the French and won the town back. From then on border patrol and reconnaissance troops were stationed in Füssen.

On March 16th 1935 conscription into the military was put into place. The 1st Gebirgs-Division was formed in 1938 in Garmisch partenkirchen and became the founder for all future Gebirgs and SS Gebirgsdivisions. Since Füssen is in the Alps, it is the ideal location for the Gebirgstruppen to be stationed. On October 1936 Oberst Dietl with regiment staff, the 2nd battalion and 14th kompany from Geb.Jäger Rgt.99 moved into the new barracks. During World war two the 5th Mountainschool (Heeresfach-schule 5) and recruiting office (Wehrmeldeamt) was active. At the end of WWII U.S. armed forces controlled the barracks and it was used for repatriation. The barracks changed its name several times. In 1958 it was named Jägerkaserne, and the Gebirgsflugabwehrbataillion 8 (8th Mtn.Ada.Bn.) of todays German Army (the Bundeswehr) moved in. 

In the following years many other units of the Bundeswehr became stationed there. In 1964 the barracks were renamed "General Oberst Dietl Kaserne". The current Gebirgsartilleriebataillion 225 moved in 1970 and was the unit I served in.

to be continued......
 
 

As we arrived back to Füssen the break was only short and the stress soon continued with further training on the heavy artillery gun FH-70, the battalions main weapon. A battery has 3 Platoons (Zuege). 1st and 2nd Platoon each armed with 4 Howitzers; the 3rd Platoon (Zug) is the Feuerleittrupp (Fire command squad) that calculate and count the shots, also there is the Richtkreistrupp (survey and navigation squad) that makes sure the howitzers are in the fireposition and shoot in the right direction. The last squad in the 3rd Zug is the Beobachter (observer); they are the "eye" of the artillery and are in close combat to the enemy. They give forward information to the Feuerleittrupp which calculates shooting distance (Teilring), type of ammunition, fuse timing and propelling charge (Treibladung). The Siebentonner M.A.N., (7ton truck) and we 6 Kanoniers tow the Feldhaubitze with ammunition sitting in the back ready to hear orders from our Unteroffizier (sergeant) sitting in front next to our Kraftfahrer (driver).
 

Suddenly the 7t Truck stopped somewhere out in the field, our Uffz shouted: "Wirkungsbereitschaft herstellen!" The truckdoor opened and we jumped out and sprinted to the Haubitze, brought it into position, set up the sights, threw over the camo net and erected it (which was always a pain, because it gets caught on almost anything). Everybody had to do his job extremely fast, the Haubitze had to be in firing position and camouflaged in less than 6 minutes.

After everything was set up we practiced, "Trockenuebung", and acted as if we were shooting. As the last round out of three was shot our Uffz shouted: Stellungswechsel!" (move out!). We moved again, so fast... tore down the camo net, rolled it up quickly, removed the sights, hooked on the Feldhaubitze and jumped in the truck. It was rolling us through the terrain for just a few kilometers and then the whole procedure repeated again; "Wirkungsbereitschaft herstellen!"....“Stellungswechsel!" all day long. Weeks went by, with just training and Sport (PT). In May our next exercise was to come; life firing, but this time with the "Schwere Feldhaubitze" FH-70 in the training fields of Baumholder, together with the 4th artillery Regiment.  Again our shooting was done successfully. After those two weeks we went back to Füssen in our convoys. About 15 days we had more of a relaxed time, doing maintenance on the weapons and vehicles and had physical training. In June we got ready for our final live firing exercise in Grafenwoehr.

For two weeks again we fired many rounds in the extreme heat with surrounding mosquitos physically trying to break us down. Guard duty every night with only 4 hours of sleep, making us very tired. Protecting the crew in the truck by standing in the front cabin MG-post, pressing the MG-3 (42) against my shoulder and scanning the dusty gravel road ahead while driving 60 km/h. Again we arrived at the next shooting range to fire off more rounds. The fire was massive.

After the exercise we drove back in convoys on the Autobahn back to Füssen. For a few more weeks we maintained the weapons, vehicles and equipment. Our time in the Army was almost over and everybody was celebrating and drinking. A few of us and myself didn’t do the same because we actually liked the unit so much that we planned on staying longer. There were options available to only a few soldiers to extend their duty, monthwise or yearwise and for pay that was not bad. A minimum of at least 2 months or up to 13 months or even 4 years or longer were options. I decided to stay for 5 more months, so my time in the "Zwote" came to 15 months in total. In August Unteroffiziere from Mittenwald (the Geb.Jäger Btl.233) came to Füssen to instruct us about mountain climbing. The next few weeks after the class we climbed in the Alps over 2000 meters, it was a pure challenge.

From the soldiers who had finished duty and left, our battery was now almost empty, consisting only of volunteered soldiers, mostly Unteroffiziere and Officers. I became promoted to Hauptgefreiter (corporal) and was now able to give orders to the new recruits and help train them. They (about 90 of them) soon arrived. The battery was now filled again, and these were to be trained just like we were a year ago. Together with the Unteroffiziere we trained them mostly Infantry tactics and formation. After these 2 months of training my time in the "Zwote" moved closer to its end. There was a special battery formation set for me, with honour and gratitude.

...It was a strange feeling to leave the gate saluting the guards and knowing that I would not be coming back again. I could have stayed longer, but as we know the day will come for most of us to get back to civilian life, some day.

Gott mit Uns, Horrido, Berg Heil!

I left the Army in 1996, since then the battalion hasn’t changed.

Hauptgefreiter LINAU, P    2. /Gebirgsartilleriebataillion 225