Reorganized and redesignated 2 August 1965 as the 308th Supply and Service Battalion.

Inactivated 26 July 1971 in Germany.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

QUARTERMASTER RAIL CAR
The QM rail car was attached to a German Bundesbahn train and dropped off on sidings. While I was assigned to the rail car, the route always started at Giessen then Bad Kissingen, Fulda, Bad Hersfeld and lastly, Kassel. (See route map above.) I did not ride in the car from location to location,

I had a one-way 2nd Class round trip pass on DB. But, as I mentioned previously, I did sleep aboard a number of times - not my idea!

And, of course, the single trip to Helmstedt. I believe that Helmstedt was simply added to the route. I forget the details. Helmstedt was in the British Sector and I worked British MP's while there for a day or two.

The QM rail car stay for one full day at each location. Actually I kind of cheated the DB because I rode the train (in reverse against the one-way ticket) back from Bad Hersfeld to Fulda in order to attend German language classes. I feigned sleeping when going back! It worked!

HELMSTEDT
Early in 1966 my assignment on the Quartermaster Rail car was amended to include the British Checkpoint in Helmstedt. My understanding was that occurred quarterly as opposed to the weekly trips I did in southern Germany.

This trip proved to be quite an adventure. I was invited by a British MP (Military Police, not Member of Parliament!) to visit the checkpoint on the border between East and West Germany. Upon arrival at the checkpoint an incident occurred involving an East German civilian attempting an escape in a schoolbus. Just as we were pulling up to the guard station (see photo below) he had just crashed through the barrier under fire from the Volpos (East German Police). You can see the tower with the Volpos on the right side of the photo. Some of the rounds (.50 caliber) struck the British side which were circled with chalk and photographed by British CID to provide evidence to the UN of the Volpos firing into the sector. If you look at the photo, the vehicle I was in would have been where the jeep is located. The truck is coming from East Germany with the barrier just behind it. The Volpos tower is on the right. Note how relatively close it is to the checkpoint! Also, observe the bunker on the right. We didn't have to use it since it was over in a matter of seconds.

Interestingly, no help to the escapee was allowed under the agreement with the East German government. In this case, the East German citizen was struck by one round but did survive. All this occurred within 50 feet of where I stood with the MP! After the event, he took me to the warehouse where dozens of replacement wood barriers were stored. Apparently, these incidents happened quite frequently and it was not permitted to raise the barrier, so it was necessary to crash through. Also, even if the escaping person(s) was crawling to cross under the barrier no assistance was permitted until he/she actually accessed the British sector!