To mark the arrival of 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade in Bulford following their rebasing from Germany a ceremony was held at Ward Barracks last Friday to formally open their new Headquarters building.

The ceremony began with the Brigade padre, Peter King, holding a short inter denominational service and then sprinkling the building with holy water saying it was ‘A joy to bless our new headquarters building’.

The brigade commander Brigadier Dom Biddick gave a welcoming speech, thanking everyone who had helped the smooth move from Germany back to the UK and then a ribbon was then cut by GOC 3rd (UK) Division, Major General James Swift to formally open the building.

The new open plan HQ is a huge change from the old German barracks in Paderborn and was welcomed by the staff officers of the brigade as a huge improvement.

Commenting on the move, the brigadier said “We are really grateful for the welcome that we have received, with Wiltshire Council saying that they are proud to have us here calling us ‘our Army’. We want to contribute to the local community, 70% of our spouses are employees and we hope that we can practically add to the local economy.”

“We will be the High Readiness Brigade next year that means that we will be conducting a number of missions, Estonia, Afghanistan and then holding the united Nations line in Cyprus. I have got seven units in the brigade and all seven will be gong on operations over the next two years.”

For one Salisbury soldier, Warrant Officer Class1 (Artificer Sergeant Major) Maz Hoer, 37, this will be her first time serving in England, except for training courses, since she joined the Army.

“I left to join my first unit in Germany in 2001, and apart from two courses, I have been in Germany the whole time except to visit my parents who live on the Devizes Road.”

“I will miss living in Germany, Paderborn was a beautiful and friendly town, very much like Salisbury, I will miss my German friends. I am glad to be back here; everyone has been very friendly. The infrastructure is all here, we have got a doctor and a dentist, no trouble, lots of cycle paths, coming back is really positive.”