The award-winning podcast preserving the stories of the Cold War before they are lost…subscribe for free. Produced by Ian Sanders FRHistS
The Cold War years were a period of unprecedented peace in Europe, yet they also saw a number of localised but nonetheless very intense wars throughout the wider world in which airpower played a vital role. I speak with former Cold War Tornado pilot and acclaimed aviation historian Michael Napier who has written Flashpoints: … Read more
In 1964, pilot Captain Hansen found himself unemployed. He began to send out feelers to several companies including one that had placed an ad in the Washington Post called Air America. When he was called in for an interview which primarily consisted of two questions – can you fly good and do you drink a … Read more
The British Nuclear Test Veterans Association (BNTVA) is the Charity for UK Nuclear Veterans and last year they very kindly invited me to the annual conference. I met many veterans including Peter Lambourne and this is his story. Peter joined the Royal Navy aged 15. He describes those early days including serving on HMS … Read more
When the Cold War split Berlin in half, between East and West, one neighbourhood was trapped in the middle, and became a symbol of Cold War tensions. For more than twenty years, the hamlet of Steinstuecken was caught in a tug-of-war between the Americans, the Soviets and the East Germans. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on … Read more
Frank Baldwin was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1979 and served for ten years, rising to the rank of Major. The first battlefield study he planned was in 1989 for HQ 4th Armoured Division. Since then, he has been a guide or historian for over 200 realities of war tours, battlefield studies and staff … Read more
Ian Foulkes was exposed to the deadly nerve agent Sarin in 1983 at the Porton Down Chemical & Biological Defence Establishment. Porton Down is one of the UK’s most secretive and controversial military research facilities. Ian describes in detail the process and the ill effects this caused him and shares details of a little-known … Read more
Bob Wallace joined the US Army in 1968 as a reluctant conscript. He describes the draft process, and his attempts to avoid conscription. After basic training, Bob is assigned to a long-range reconnaissance unit and ambush unit in five or six-man teams in the Mekong delta. Bob served with Company E, 75th Rangers from 1968-1970 … Read more
John Andrews joined the Royal Navy in 1981 and went on to serve aboard the HMS Repulse, one of the UK’s Polaris nuclear missile submarines from 1982. His role was Missile Compartment Control Patrol which included security of the nuclear missile compartment as well as assisting in the maintenance of the missile tubes and the … Read more
I speak with Colin Ferguson a veteran from the British Army‘s covert Special Observation Post Troop which was founded in 1982. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google Podcasts The “stay behind” Special OP Troop consisted of selected soldiers in 6 man patrols whose task was to dig in large underground hides known … Read more
For almost half a century, the hottest front in the Cold War was right across Berlin. From summer 1945 until 1990, spying was part of everyday life in both East and West Berlin. I speak with historian Bernd von Kostka of the Allied Museum in Berlin-Dahlem who has co-authored with Sven Felix Kellerhoff the book Capital … Read more