Soest, Germany 1979 British Field Post Office pmk

Postcard

 

• Picture / Image:  Soest, North-Rhein Westphalia - Kirche Maria zur Wiese
• Publisher:  Papeterie Einkaufsges, Bremen
• Postally used:  yes
• Stamp:  GB 10p orange-brown Machin, 2 bands
• Postmark(s):  Field Post Office 18 - 19 October 1979 wavy line
• Sent to:  Davy Street, Anfield, Liverpool
• Notes & Key words: 

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Postage & Packing:

UK (incl. IOM, CI & BFPO): 99p

Europe: £1.60

Rest of world (inc. USA etc): £2.75

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NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information:

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Soest (German pronunciation: ['zo?st]  ( listen), as if it were 'Sohst') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Soest district. After Lippstadt, a neighbouring town, Soest is the second biggest town in its district.

Because of the fertile soil the area around Soest was occupied long before 836 when the village is first mentioned in the Dagobertsche Schenkung, although the origin of this document is historically uncertain. But there is no doubt that Soest has been inhabited for a long time; excavations in the last two decades have uncovered signs of habitation stretching back more than 4000 years. In the 11th and 12th century Soest grew considerably, making it one of the biggest towns in Westphalia with some 10,000 citizens. It was also an important member of the Hanseatic League until 1609.

A self-confident Soest from 1444 to 1449 liberated itself from the Bishop of Cologne, who controlled Westphalia (the so-called Soester Fehde). Being no longer capital of Westphalia, the city aligned itself with the Duke of Cleves. This was a Pyrrhic victory, however; the city had shown itself strong enough to defy the powerful Archbishop of Cologne, but lost much of its trade: the "liberated" town was two-thirds surrounded by territories with other allegiances. When the last Duke of Cleves died in 1609 that dukedom was inherited by Brandenburg and after a short siege Soest was incorporated into it.

The painter Peter Lely, later to win fame in England, was born in 1618 to Dutch parents in Soest, where his father was an officer serving in the armed forces of the Elector of Brandenburg.

During and after the Thirty Years' War, Soest suffered a tremendous loss of both population and influence; at the lowest point in 1756 it had only 3,600 citizens.

With the creation of the Soest district in 1817 its influence slowly rose. However, the industrialization of the Ruhr area did not reach Soest, which remained a small town.

The Nazi Party placed Soest in Gau Westphalia-South.[1] World War II struck Soest with greatest fury in early April 1945, starting when Allied forces captured the town at the beginning of the month. They were soon evicted by a German counterattack. Destructive front-line combat raged in Soest and its environs through the first week of April until the Allies gained a permanent upper hand.

From approximately 1953 to 1971 there was a sizeable garrison of Canadian soldiers and their families stationed at Soest (with the Canadian camps located just east of the town in Bad Sassendorf) as well as Werl and Hemer-Iserlohn and Deilinghofen to the southwest. There were also several Belgian Kasernes located in Soest itself. There was also an American Nike Battery (66th Battalion) situated to the south, which was subsequently turned over to the German military, and still exists.

From 1971-1993 the former Canadian properties, including the Married Quarters along Hiddingser Weg, south of the B-1, were used and occupied by British military and families. Upon the closing out of Belgian and British army facilities many of these military facilities either became used for civilian purposes or were abandoned or demolished. The former Married Quarters area was converted to civilian housing. The former CLFEX (the Canadian Army's food and clothing store for NATO families) was converted to a NAAFI under the British and finally demolished in 2006.