 |
Karl-Heinz Mühlenschulte Chief translator 4 CMBG 1953-1987 Born on 08.10.24 in Hamm, North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Deceased on 11.05.2006 in Lahr, Baden-Württemberg, Germany |
| Karl-Heinz was born in Hamm in the Northern German industrial area known as the "Ruhrgebiet". At school he showed a talent for languages. However, he belonged to the generation who had to finish their education early so that they could be conscripted into Hitler's Wehrmacht. His army service took him to France, Norway and then Eastern Europe where his linguistic abilities were always an asset. He finished the war in Bavaria where he was made prisoner of war by the Americans who were glad to use him as an interpretor. He returned to his mother's home in Hamm but had no money to study at university so he did various jobs. At the end of 1953 he heard that the Canadian military headquarters in Soest were looking for translators, so he just went along and applied in person by talking in English to one of the officers there - so he was hired, not knowing he would spend the rest of his working life with the Canadian Forces! In1956 he met his wife Denise in a dance hall in Hamm, who was there with four other female French-Canadian teacher colleagues. Denise had arrived in 1956, among the second batch of francophone teachers. She taught at the Canadian francophone junior school located in nearby Werl. They got engaged in 1959 and could have gone to Canada at the end of Denise's four-year contract but Denise prefered to stay in Germany. They got married in Hamm on 30 June 1961and lived there until the whole of the Canadian brigade was moved down to Lahr in1970. In fact the Canadian Werl school had been closed in the summer of 1970 and handed over to the British Forces, but it was re-opened for a term because there were so many Canadian families still living there due to lack of accommodation in Lahr. Therefore Denise and Karl-Heinz actually arrived in Lahr on 1 January 1971 and lived in the Hotel Löwen for a whole month before they finally found an apartment in a new block on Doler Platz. Denise taught at École Vanier in the Kaserne from 1971 to 1976 but regulations limiting the length of teachers' contracts prevented her continuing. Karl-Heinz also worked at the at the Kaserne, at 4CMBG headquarters in K1. He retired slightly early, at the age 63 in November 1987, after 34 years with the Canadian Forces and working for18 generals! Denise and Karl-Heinz enjoyed an active retirement in Lahr, frequently walking in the Black Forest and going swimming at the Terrassenbad every day in summer. In 2006 Karl-Heinz was operated for cancer but actually died of pneumonia. His funeral took place at the village church in Kuhbach where both had been parish members since their arrival in Lahr.
PHOTO: in 1976 Karl-Heinz Mühlenschulte received his 20-year service |
|
