JHQ Rheindahlen

JHQ Rheindahlen, latterly also called the Rheindahlen Military Complex, is a British forces base in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. JHQ stands for Joint Headquarters and the base has functioned as the main headquarters for British forces in Germany since being built in the 1950s. Its German address is Mönchengladbach-JHQ with a post code of 41179.

Overview

In 1952 work began on the British Forces Maintenance Area West of the Rhine part of the project included the construction of a joint (Army/RAF) headquarters for BAOR in Rheindalen. Colonel H Grattan (late RE) was appointed Chief Engineer (CE) of this project, the plan was to construct:

• a main office block 300yds long by 180yds wide with three storeys providing 2,000 offices.
• 65 barracks blocks
• over 1,100 married quarters, all heated by district heating.
• infant and secondary schools
• three churches
• two cinemas
• a swimming pool to Olympic standards
• sports fields
• a NAAFI building and shops
• officers' messes with single quarters
• officers' club
• five dining halls,
• clubs for warrant officers and sergeants and for other ranks.

The complex was designed to accommodate over 7,000 British and Allied service personnel and a civilian population (mostly German) of about 2,500 for ancillary services: a township approaching a population of 10,000.

HQ BAOR moved from Bad Oeynhausen to its new JHQ at Rheindahlen in October 1954, centralising headquarters functions which at this time were scattered in several towns in Northern Germany. It was originally the HQ of the Northern Army Group (NORTHAG), 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force (2ATAF), British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and Royal Air Force Germany (RAFG). In those days Rheindahlen was populated with British, American, German, Dutch, Belgian, Australian and Canadian military personnel (and in many cases also their families).

JHQ now houses the Headquarters United Kingdom Support Command which is the administrative HQ of the British Army in Europe and until Jun 10 housed the Headquarters Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps(HQ ARRC), which has now relocated to Innsworth in Gloucestershire in 2010.

In appearance JHQ Rheindahlen is more like a medium-size town than a military base, consisting mostly of administrative buildings, living quarters, schools, shops and other areas typical of civilian towns. For much of its existence there was no security perimeter (though buildings with an actual military function were fenced and guarded), but now it is fenced in with check points at the three exits.

Many facilities exist in the complex such as the NAAFI superstore, a full medical and dental centre, several primary schools, one secondary school , several pre-schools, a travel agents, two post offices, and cafes. A number of national UK Organisations work for the community, including Scouts, ATC, Home-Start and St. John Ambulance.

The Rheindahlen Military Complex will close sometime within the next 4 years. After a government announcement in late 2010, the British Army presence in Germany will continue on a reducing basis up to 2020 further east in the Gutersloh, Sennelager and Bergen-Hohne area.

Bombing

Thirty-one people were injured after a 300-lb car bomb exploded on 23 March 1987 near the officers' mess. The IRA later stated it had carried out the bombing.