A question was posed to me about the
first hash club in Germany.
After a bit of research, the records led me to
Richard
"Mountain Rescue" McAllister, founder of
FIVE hash clubs in Asia
and Europe, specific clubs are:
-
Kluang H3 in
Malayasia in 1966
-
Longmoor H3 -
the first Hash club in the United Kingdom in 1969
-
Lübbecke H3 -
the first Hash club in Germany in 1971
-
Dharan H3 in
East Nepal in 1983, and the
-
Buller &
Aldershot H3 also in the UK in 1985
Below is his account
of his founding of the Lübbecke
H3.
On-On,
Hazukashii
Sadly, I have no record
of the precise start date for the first Hash in Germany but it
was in the summer of 1971 and was made up of members of the
staff of Headquarters 2nd Division in Lübbecke, near Minden.
The photograph shows that
first group of fourteen who formed on the lawn outside the
delightful Officers Mess, a building previously used by Hitler
for his Youth Leader trainers.
We met every week in all
weathers. The Mess was set in the midst of the Teutebergerwald
surrounded by trees and was ideal Hash country.
View Larger Map
Trails were
laid in sawdust (even then, German law would not allow us to use
the paper trails we were used to in the Far East) that was
readily available at no cost to the Hash from local woodcutters. We became experts in
recognizing the age of sawdust as the
concentration of deposits increased around the close area of the
Mess. Beer was always at hand in the bar...
Numbers grew and
enthusiasm flourished. Occasionally we would motor further
afield for a change of venue. We didn't have official Hash T
shirts, nor did we have names, although I was called 'Wheeze'
(despite being a non-smoker and non-asthmatic, I used to puff a
bit on the many hills round and about). It was still a men's
non-athletic running club although the institution of the Hash Pash provided the ladies the chance to catch up with their
menfolk and the parties would go on well into the early hours.
I was posted out in 1973
but the Hash continued. As happens all to often in military
circles, the records disappeared when the Headquarters was moved
back to the UK sometime in the 80s.
On-On,
Richard "Mountain Rescue" McAllister
North Hants H3
21 Feb 2011
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