The award-winning podcast preserving the stories of the Cold War before they are lost…subscribe for free. Produced by Ian Sanders FRHistS
On 23rd Nov 1963 at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea a detachment of US Air Force B-57 Canberra bombers were parked on an alert pad each with a live nuclear weapon in their bomb bay and ready to fly at a moment’s notice. At 0400 klaxon horns aroused the crews from their slumber and they rushed … Read more
Austria was occupied from 1945 to 1955 by the four victorious powers and like Germany was divided into four occupation zones. The Soviet , American, British and French occupation zones , divided Austria into four zones. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google Podcasts Like Berlin, Vienna was located deep in the … Read more
On 29 August 1949 at 7:00 a.m. the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! The test stunned the Western powers. American intelligence had estimated that the Soviets would not produce an atomic weapon until 1953, while the British did not expect it … Read more
Mark joined the US Army on January 6th, 1981, and went to Ft Knox KY for Basic and Armor training. He graduated in April 1981 and was selected as Instructor Tank commander and trained the next cycle of recruits till August 1981. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google Podcasts Mark was posted to West … Read more
Tim served in the USAF and the NSA from 1975 to 1988. This included stints at US Air Force Electronic Warfare Center at Kelly AFB, Texas and at RAF Chicksands, in the UK working on SIGINT collection of USS, Warsaw Pact, and other targets. He also served as part of the Cryptologic Support Group, … Read more
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
The Korean War was fought between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union while South Korea was supported by the United States and allied countries under the aegis of the United Nations. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953 when the Korean Armistice … Read more
In February 1983 US soldier Manuel Alzager was sent to a mysterious posting to the British Zone in the north of West Germany a long way from the main US forces in southern Germany. After a lengthy journey, he is picked up by a West German private and eventually arrives at the 81st USAFAD … Read more
In November of 1982, at the height of the Cold War, Samantha Smith, a 10-year-old girl from Manchester, Maine, wrote to the Soviet leader Yuri Andropov and asked him if he was going to wage a nuclear war against the U.S. When an unprecedented response from Andropov arrived, and Samantha received an invitation to visit … Read more
Brian Regal entered the US Army in 1977 and served on the M60A1 tank initially as a driver. The M60A1 was America’s primary main battle tank during the Cold War, with initial deployment in 1960 and combat service through to 1991. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google Podcasts After tank school, Brian … Read more