Behind enemy lines in East Germany with a US Military Liaison Mission driver Part 1


Tom Favia served with the USMLM, The US Military Liaison Mission which the Soviet Union permitted to operate in East Germany at the end of World War 2 for the purposes of monitoring and furthering better relationships between the Soviet and Western occupation forces. The British & French also had missions in East Germany and the Soviets has theirs in West Germany.

Tom tells the amazing story of his recruitment from being an art student to being deployed “behind enemy lines” in East Germany. He also describes his earlier career on the Inner German border and them we move to his USMLM career. We hear about his driver training, planning procedures and the process for exiting West Berlin as well as details of the vehicles including the “James Bond switches”.

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I am delighted to welcome Tom Favia  to our Cold War conversation…

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