The award-winning podcast preserving the stories of the Cold War before they are lost…subscribe for free. Produced by Ian Sanders FRHistS
In 1945 the Soviet Red Army captured Berlin. For the next four years, a handful of charismatic but flawed individuals – British, American and Soviet – fought an intensely personal battle over the future of Germany, Europe and the entire free world. Checkmate in Berlin tells this exhilarating, high-stakes tale of grit, skullduggery, and … Read more
In April 1966, a state-of-the-art Soviet aircraft, the Yak-28P crashed into the British Sector of West Berlin. This intelligence gift to the Allied forces resulted in a tense confrontation with the Soviet forces We speak with historian Bernd von Kostka of the Allied Museum in Berlin-Dahlem who has researched this story for his upcoming book Capital … Read more
Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google Podcasts This is the 2nd part of our conversation with Major General Sir Robert Corbett, KCVO, CB who was the last Commandant of the British Sector in Berlin. We join as I ask what were the British Army’s plans in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion … Read more
Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google Podcasts Major General Sir Robert Corbett, KCVO, CB was the last Commandant of the British Sector in Berlin. We start his story with the description of his first experience of Berlin as a young Army captain commanding a military train across East Germany into West Berlin just … Read more
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
Michael Paterson first visited East Germany just after the fall of the Berlin Wall and provides a vivid account of its subsequent decline and fall during the move to reunification with West Germany. Michael is a military historian, author, researcher and illustrator. He began his career on the military magazine ‘Battlefields Review’ as a writer … Read more
Our interview today is in a different format. Cold war Conversations is working with the Imperial War Museum on a project called Voices of the Wall. We will be capturing personal testimonies of people’s experiences of the Cold War which will later become part of the podcast. Therefore, this episode is a composite of previous … Read more
Our interview today is with Iain MacGregor, the author of a new book on Checkpoint Charlie subtitled The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the most dangerous place on Earth. Weaving together personal testimonies, this book is described as a gripping narrative with vivid interviews with those on all sides whose lives were directly … Read more
James spoke with Fred Taylor, a historian who has written several books on Germany, about his book ’The Berlin Wall 1961 – 1989’ which will shortly be reprinted to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of The Wall. James and Fred spoke about the origins of The Wall and the division of Germany and … Read more
Today I speak to 98 year old Gail Halvorsen aka “The Candy Bomber” who flew in the Berlin Airlift in 1948. The Soviets had started a 11-month land blockade against West Berlin. The blockade was broken by a massive U.S.-British airlift of vital supplies to West Berlin. Gail tells an incredible story of an iconic … Read more