West Germany

From Foe to Friend – the British Army in Cold War Germany

  Germany has been at the heart of the British Army’s story since 1945. After the Second World War, the Army helped rebuild a devastated and divided nation. It provided protection during the Cold War and later used Germany as a base from which to deploy troops across the world.  Foe to Friend is a … Read more

Ian Black – Flying the English Electric Lightning

Ian Black is a former RAF Fighter Pilot with a passion for photography and motorcycles. He began his flying career with the legendary McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom in RAF Germany at the height of the Cold War.  After three years flying as a navigator Ian underwent Pilot Training in 1984-1986 during which time he was … Read more

Don – 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment at the Fulda Gap

In this second episode with Don Snedeker we talk to him about his time after his tour of Vietnam when he served in West Germany. From 1974 to 1986 Don served in a number of roles but most noticeably he was assigned to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Fulda, one of the locations where … Read more

My father was a Stasi spy…

Werner Stiller’s spectacular defection to the West in 1979 inflicted one of the Cold War’s most serious blows to the Stasi. At the time he was working as a case officer for the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance, the Stasi’s foreign intelligence division, where he was in charge of scientific espionage in the West. We speak … 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

British Forces in Germany: The Lived Experience 1945-2019

Dr Peter Johnston is the Head of Collections Research and Academic Access at the National Army Museum in London and the author of a lavishly illustrated military and social history of the British forces in Germany during the Cold War. < Now if you like the podcast you can help to support us  for the ... Read more

Life as a Soviet Child Refugee in West Germany

In this episode we continue Andrej’s story with his sometimes, harrowing memories of how he became a child refugee in West Germany. Now if you like what your hearing then for the price of a couple of coffees a month you’ll be helping to cover the show’s increasing costs and keep us on the air, … Read more

Defending the Cold War Pershing 2 nuclear missile

Phil Logan served in the US Army from 1986-1991.  He went through infantry school at Fort Benning, Georgia was sent to Germany and assigned to the ground defence force for the Pershing II tactical nuclear missiles.  He describes in some detail defence tactics including against Warsaw Pact Special Forces, the West German Red Army Faction … Read more

Cold War Spy Stories from Eastern Europe

Today we’re talking to  Alison Lewis, a professor in German at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of several books, including one in German about love and gender in literature during Germany’s reunification and a book in German about the Stasi’s infiltration of the literary underground. We spoke to Alison in episode 71. … Read more