King Alfred School, Plön

King Alfred School, Plön, was a boarding school for children whose parents were British military or civil service personnel working in Germany; between 1948 and 1959, it educated approximately 4000 pupils aged between 11 and 18 years old. As a result of Operation Union, King Alfred School (KAS), Plön was opened as the second British Families Education Service (BFES) boarding school in Germany by the Minister of Education, George Tomlinson MP in May 1948. KAS was a co-educational, bilateral-comprehensive, secondary, boarding school for children whose parents were serving with either the British or Canadian Armed Forces or the Allied Control Commission, Germany throughout the British Occupation Zone of Germany. It was established in the former Kriegsmarine Ruhleben Kaserne, a barracks beside the Grosser Plöner See, near the Holsteinische Schweiz town of Plön in Schleswig Holstein. During World War II, the Kriegsmarine used Ruhleben Kaserne for U-boat crew training. After WW2, these barracks were renamed HMS Royal Alfred by the Royal Navy's Flag Officer, Schleswig Holstein, Rear Admiral Tom Baillie Grohman. Subsequently, this Royal Navy's 'ship's' title, became the basis of the school's name - King Alfred. Currently, the German Navy's Marineunteroffizierschule (MUS) is stationed there. The school's facilities included teaching and library buildings, craft workshops, assembly and dining halls, a double gym, a running track and playing fields, stables, a boathouse and school clinic.Supplementary Information: Red Dragon, Summer 1949, Page 39: School Map The only significant British building was St George's School Chapel constructed from two Nissen huts; it is now a listed building. The founding Headmaster was Lieutenant Colonel Freddie Spencer Chapman who introduced Kurt Hahn’s Gordonstoun ideals of service, discipline and strength of personality into the school ethos. The last Headmaster was Mr 'Hugh' Wallis-Hosken. The school was manned with British teachers and administrators as well as German support staff.