would ever sleep in such beds, but we all admitted that they were very warm and comfortable. The upstairs toilets were a little strange, for when any of us went to use them we usually had to shut the doors of other cubicles because, more often than not, at least one, if not two of the three, would be occupied by a woman, sitting there with knickers round her knee caps. For ourselves, we were much more careful.
We rose early on the Sunday morning for a walk in the forest to try and see some deer. We had been told the previous afternoon where the best place was to go, and where there was a good deer hide. We took cameras with us. We found the hide, a tall structure on stilts, climbed the ladder, and sat and waited. Our patience was soon rewarded and we watched, fascinated, as many deer came out into a clearing to graze. As the light grew stronger and the sun came out they disappeared into the trees. On our way back for breakfast we stumbled upon a dead wild boar. Then, a very aggressive live one came into sight and charged at us. Never have three fellows climbed three trees so fast! This swine kept grunting and squealing at each of our trees in turn. We were kept very uncomfortably aloft for at least half an hour until the aggressive porker made off. On returning to the Gasthof we reported the matter. Later in the morning after breakfast we went back into the forest with the local Forstmeister to show him the dead pig.2 For reasons we could not have foreseen it was a memorable weekend.
There was one Saturday afternoon that two of us were walking through Borgentreich and, on rounding a corner, could hardly believe our eyes. There, ahead of us, was one of our Sergeants (a very Irish Sergeant) sat, bareback, and very drunkenly, atop a large grey bridled mare - the horse's rightful owner tagging along behind. Sergeant Trigg was shouting orders to his mount in what we could only describe as vernacular Erse while heading it towards the front door of Lappe's bar.3 On nearing the door he was last seen by us trying to get the horse to mount the steps. At that point, we decided to use discretion and withdraw round the corner from whence we had come. No doubt the matter resolved itself and was surely better for us not having been seen.

The deer hide.



The dead wild boar.



Karl, Ursula & son Thomas Schrader outside their home in the old Hardehausen monastery.

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2 Forstmeister = head woodsman (literally 'forest master').
3 Lappe's had another name but was known to us only by the innkeeper's name. It was Out of Bounds to Officers.
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