1983 - the year the Cold War almost turned hot (316)
This week is the 40th anniversary of the Able Archer NATO Exercise where it is reckoned that the Soviet Union and NATO almost started a nuclear war. 1990 an investigation by the US President’s Foreign...
4 Nov 20231h 1min
Serving in a Cold War Danish Reconnaissance Squadron (315)
Denmark joined NATO as a founding member in 1949. However, it originally laid down limitations to NATO membership, effectively excluding the country from full military integration. The conditions were...
27 Okt 20231h 14min
The Cold War Atomic Spies (314)
On 29 August 1949 at 7:00 a.m. the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. The test stunned the Western powers. American intelligence had estimated that the Soviets would not produce an atomic w...
20 Okt 20231h 33min
Spying on NATO from a Cold War East German Army radio monitoring base Part 2 (313)
This is the second part of my chat with Thomas who worked in a secret East German radio monitoring base. He describes how a BRIXMIS or another Allied Military Liason Mission vehicle had once got into ...
13 Okt 20231h 33min
Spying on NATO from a Cold War East German Army radio monitoring base Part 1 (312)
Born in 1968 in East Germany Thomas had a "normal socialist" but happy childhood in a small town near Dresden. His family was viewed as exotic at that time as his mother had Hungarian citizenship whic...
6 Okt 20231h 19min
Cold War US Army tank gunner serves with a Bundeswehr Panzer unit (311)
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 o...
29 Sep 20231h
Uncovering Cold War Soviet secrets with the USAF and NSA (310)
Tim served in the USAF and the NSA from 1975 to 1988 during some of the most tense periods of the Cold War. This included stints at the US Air Force Electronic Warfare Center at Kelly AFB, Texas, and ...
22 Sep 20231h 41min
REME Keeping the British Army on the road during the Cold War (309)
Aged 16 Chris joined the British Army apprentice school in Arborfield, at Princess Marina College. He was trained as a vehicle mechanic in the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers otherwise known as ...
15 Sep 202331min
