Military

US Army Intelligence Analyst

  Bill was a US Army Intelligence Analyst. In 1986 he was assigned to Order of Battle Branch, Soviet Section where for three years he studied the Warsaw Pact armies working closely with the US Military Liaison Mission in Berlin which led to a transfer there in November 1989 Stationed in Potsdam he became an … Read more

Britain & the Bomb

In Britain and the Bomb Bill Nuttall draws upon insights from the laboratories, the military, popular culture and from politicians to make sense of a complex time and to challenge some widely-held perceptions that Britain in the 1960s lost her technical ambition and ability.  If you are enjoying the podcast please leave a written reviews … Read more

A 23 year old nuclear missile commander

  In the late 1980s Scott was a Pershing 2 nuclear missile Fire Control Officer which meant he was responsible for the launch of the missile. Aged 23 he was made platoon commander and responsible for 3 of these deadly weapons. The Pershing II was a mobile, intermediate-range ballistic missile deployed by the U.S. Army … Read more

Boarding Soviet ships with the Danish Navy

Lieutenant Commander Jørgen Brandsborg joined the Danish Navy in the 1980s. He met the Soviets up close and personal while serving in the North Atlantic where the Danish Navy acted as a coast guard when on patrol around the Faroe Islands, which meant boarding Soviet vessels for inspection. He also tells of Danish Navy training, … Read more

Life as a British Soldier in West Berlin

  Anthony enlisted in the British Army in 1987 and after 9 months he was posted to West Berlin. He tells the story of life as a Private in Berlin from the drinking (and the fighting) to the urban warfare training in Ruhleben & Dough Boy City. We also hear of the reality of knowing … Read more

Nuclear War in the UK (112)

For almost five decades, the United Kingdom made plans for a nuclear attack that never came. To help their citizens, civil servants and armed forces prepared those in power a variety of booklets, posters, and how-to guides. Taras Young is a researcher & writer who has produced a book, “Nuclear War in the UK”,  detailing … Read more

Serving in the British Army Intelligence Corps during the 1960s & 70s

Harry served as a soldier in the Intelligence Corps in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. His role was that of an Intelligence and Security Operator, focused on the identification of foreign and other malign activities which might undermine the effectiveness of the UK’s military presence in the country. Accordingly, he had the experience of … Read more

The first western pilot to fly the MIG-29 Soviet fighter plane

What was it like to be the first western pilot to fly the most advanced Soviet fighter aircraft? At the 1989 Abbotsford Air Show, during the dying days of the Cold War, Canadian CF-18 pilot Major Bob Wade became the first Western pilot to fly a Soviet MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter aircraft. This episode tells you … Read more

The Cold War Berlin spy tunnel – Operation Gold

Operation Gold (also known as Operation Stopwatch by the British) was a joint operation conducted by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the British MI6 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) in the 1950s to tap into landline communication of the Soviet Army headquarters in Berlin using a tunnel into the Soviet-occupied zone. Steve Vogel is … Read more