Military

The lazy schoolboy who became a Cold War Vulcan pilot

Kevin was born in Wigan in North West England and joined the RAF as an apprentice in 1956 with only 3 O Levels. He came top of his course, but was posted into supplies at RAF St Mawgan.  However he quickly became in charge of their clothing stores and by a fortuitous route became a … Read more

Flying the Cold War A10 Tankbuster Part 2

  You are listening to part 2 of my chat with Joe who joined the USAF in 1981 and was trained to fly the A10 Warthog a single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft designed to provide close air support to ground forces by attacking tanks, armoured vehicles, and other ground targets. Part 1 is here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode305/ In 1985 … Read more

Flying the Cold War A10 Tankbuster Part 1

  Joe’s father served in World War 2 in the USAF. His service inspired Joe to try and join the USAF or the Naval Air Force despite having no flying experience. It’s the aftermath of the Vietnam War so forces are being reduced, however with the arrival of a new President, Ronald Reagan, defence spending … Read more

Soviet MIG shoots-down a US reconnaissance plane

  On 1 July 1960, a United States RB-47H reconnaissance plane was shot down by the Soviet Air Defence Forces while performing signals intelligence in the Barents Sea, near the Kola Peninsula, off the Arctic coast of the Soviet Union. Four of the six crew members died. The shootdown occurred exactly two months after the … Read more

US Army tank platoon commander in 1980s Cold War Korea

Tom Sullivan was a tank platoon commander in Korea in the early 1980s responsible for six tanks and their crew We hear why he joined the US Army, his training, and his first impressions of Korea in the Winter of 1982. He is assigned to Second Platoon, C Company, 1-72 Armor under the toughest Company … Read more

Cold War Polish People Army Radio Operator conscript

Communist Poland had universal conscription and the armed forces were huge by contemporary standards. The Polish People’s Army, Navy, and Airforce had just over 400,000 troops for most of the 1980s in a country of 36 million. Tom was a conscript in Polish People’s Army from 1987-89. He served as a radio operator in Legnica … Read more

Cold War Canadian airborne anti-submarine missions

    Colonel Terry Chester’s flying career spanned some 42 years, and 10,000 flying hours. He joined the RCAF in Sept 1964 and in 1968 was awarded Navigator Wings. Terry flew for 3,000 hrs on the Argus Maritime patrol aircraft where he spent a good portion of his RCAF career hunting for Soviet Submarines in both … Read more

Transferring from the East German Army (NVA) to the unified German Army (Bundeswehr)

  Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! We continue Steffen’s story where he tells of serving in three armies – firstly, the NVA, secondly the East German Army between the first free elections and unification, and finally the unified Bundeswehr. Listen to his previous episode here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode286/ We start the … Read more