The award-winning podcast preserving the stories of the Cold War before they are lost…subscribe for free. Produced by Ian Sanders FRHistS
BRIXMIS and its operations behind enemy lines in East Germany continue to fascinate the listeners of Cold War Conversations. In August 2024 I was honoured to be invited to the National Army Museum in London to interview Andrew Long, the author of BRIXMIS and the Secret Cold War – Intelligence Collecting Operations Behind Enemy Lines … Read more
I’m working on an episode of people’s memories of the opening of the Berlin Wall on 9th November 1989. If you’d like to participate, please record your memories via the voice message feature below or record on your mobile phone and send me the file at ian “at” coldwarconversations.com. Thanks
Jonny Whitlam has been a Berlin tour guide since 2010, and since then he’s been showing travellers from across the world the fascinating history of Berlin. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! We met via social media after I noticed his great videos describing well-known and lesser know 20th-century … Read more
It’s 1966 in Berlin and the city has now been divided for 5 years by an almost impenetrable wall erected by the communist German Democratic Republic. West German student Volker Heinz joins a group looking for ways to help would-be fugitives escape from East to West. Their search ends at Checkpoint Charlie, the most … Read more
Part 2, or a two part recording. Part 1 is here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode268 Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! In October of 2022, I was asked by the West Pennines Military Vehicle Trust to moderate a Q&A session with a number of BRIXMIS veterans. Attending were Drivers Neil Walton, Pete Curran, Dave … Read more
In October of 2022, I was asked by the West Pennines Military Vehicle Trust to moderate a Q&A session with a number of BRIXMIS veterans. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! Part 2 is here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode270 Attending were Drivers Neil Walton, Pete Curran, Dave Collins, and Kev Smith, plus Sandy Saxton-Warne … Read more
Dave Phillips is a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London. The Yeoman Warders have been guarding the Tower since Tudor times. Dave joined the British Army aged 16 into the Royal Irish Rangers. We hear of his early years in the Army in Northern Ireland and his posting to West Berlin. In West Berlin … Read more
From the moment East Germany was formed in 1949, many of its citizens chose to leave to start a new life in the West. By the mid-1950s, the trickle had turned into a flood as large numbers rejected Walter Ulbricht’s Communist paradise. His ‘Workers’ & Peasants’ State’ could not afford to lose the skills and … Read more
Trevor Howie’s role at RAF Gatow was advising the Station Commander on Station defence during times of war, tension or terrorist threat as well as the defence of 26 Signals Unit at the Teufelsberg listening post. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! RAF Gatow’s western side was located right … Read more
Richard Blevins enlisted aged 18 in the US Army in March of 1987. He completed Basic Training & Military Police School training in July of 1987 and was posted to West Berlin as a United States Military Policeman. He describes his selection for Berlin duty while at Rhine-Main AFB in Frankfurt and his first journey … Read more