On the Frontlines of the Cold War: Voices of the Veterans Vol. II

SrA D. Fair, United States Air Force

Air Force Security Police

Memmingen, West Germany /Barksdale Air Force Base, United States

My interest in serving the United States as a member of its armed forces began when I forged a bond with a childhood friend whose family had moved to the United States from England. His parents were older than most parents in our community who had children my age. One of the things that stood out the most to me was that his parents had grown up through the German Blitz and the Battle of Britain during the Second World War and hearing their stories of their wartime experiences and descriptions of the German Luftwaffe aircraft they saw soon inspired me to one day join the United States Air Force with hopes of one day being assigned to Germany. With German ancestry in my family background it would be an interesting experience to witness my cultural heritage first hand and soon I became determined to make my dream a reality.

Nothing could prepare me for the experiences that I had while serving in the United States Air Force. My enlistment took me not only to Germany but also warranted me inclusion into a small unit independent of the larger Army or Air Force organizations which allowed for greater immersion into the German culture. The unit had a manpower strength of roughly 120 personnel, dependents included and placed us in a Bavarian community away from the areas with greater American presence.

By the time I came of enlistment age I was more than ready to go. I had grown up in a small town in Ohio which was mostly rural and afforded not much else beyond the scope of agricultural work. I had about a year’s worth of college under my belt, but coming from a relatively low income family I saw military service as a way of improving my education while learning an occupational skill. My dream to join the United States Air Force officially became a reality when I formally enlisted in July of 1983. Due to the amount of people wanting to join the Air Force at this time, my shipping off to basic training was postponed until 1984 when I was sent from Cincinnati, Ohio to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Following the completion of basic training, I was awarded my first stripe and the rank of Airman partially because of my previous college. After basic training, I progressed on to Tech School where I went to the Air Force Security Police Academy also located at Lackland. As the Air Force is not a primarily land focused combat organization, the Security Police in the Air Force fulfill multiple duties. One of the best ways to describe the Security Police is as a combination of Military Police, Security and Infantry forces. Some of the training involved included guarding sensitive areas such as silos housing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and undertaking the appropriate measures necessary to ensure their safeguarding. One of the primary missions of the Air Force Security Police is defending airbases in the event of attack as well as guarding aircraft, components and munitions. 

Soon I came under orders to report to West Germany. With the risks associated with performing security assignments in Germany, all Security Forces had to participate in the Air Base Ground Defense or ABGD course.  The Air Base Ground Defense course was essentially a training course in infantry tactics which provided familiarity with a wide variety of weaponry ranging from individual small arms such as the M-16 rifle to crew served weaponry such as the M-60 machine gun. This portion of my training took my fellow Security Policemen and myself from Lackland Air Force Base, to Camp Bullis part of the Army’s Fort Sam Houston installation also in San Antonio.  Going from an Air Force facility such as Lackland to an Army facility such as Camp Bullis provided a bit of a culture shock. Almost overnight we went from having nice dormitories to plywood huts on slabs in the middle of Texas. We went from running a mile and a half in basic, to two miles in the Police Academy to having to run in combat boots during the ABGD course. Running was always the most difficult part of physical training for me and I disliked it. Being from Ohio, I was not prepared for blistering Texas heat of summer. Another part of our training included Nuclear, Biological & Chemical Warfare Training often abbreviated as NBC. This trained us in how to  prepare and respond to a potential situation if the Soviets or the Warsaw Pact employed chemical or nuclear weapons against us. This training continued yearly throughout the duration of my enlistment and we I can’t recall exactly how many times we were gassed. As part of this training we became familiar with not only our individual gas masks but also the individual ChemSuit along with rubber gloves and boots.

After completion of the ABGD Course, I briefly returned home to Ohio before shipping out to West Germany. My destination was Memmingen, a small town in the Swabia region of Bavaria. I would arrive here in December of 1984 where I was assigned to the 7261 MUNSS Munitions Support Squadron. This was a small unit comprised of security, munitions maintainers and support personnel who were assigned to support the West German Luftwaffe’s Jagdbombergeschwader 34 or ‘34^th Fighter Bomber Wing’. The JaBoG 34, was a unit of the West German Air Force assigned under the 4^th Allied Tactical Air Force or 4 ATAF responsible for the defense of the southern approaches into West Germany against Soviet or Warsaw Pact offensive operations. Our unit and the Germans forged a close bond and many of those friendships remain intact even up to this day. The 7261’s commanding officer was a Lieutenant Colonel named Worthen and my Chief of Security Police was a Captain named Rivera. Daily, we carried M-16 rifles complete with a two day supply of ammunition, a canteen, gas mask, ballistic resistant flak jacket and a steel helmet for personal protection.  Due to the JaBoG’s status as being a quick reaction force and front line fighter unit, the upmost measures for facility security were in place and German K-9 units were on hand to further augment the already strict security measures.

By September of 1985, I was training to become an entry controller for our facility, but on the final day of training I broke my leg when I deployed from a Mercedes Benz two ton truck we used for transportation around the base. The tailgate on these vehicles are very high and with my rifle in one hand and kit bag in the other I leapt from the vehicle and landed on the cement curb causing great damage to my ankle and left leg. By this time I had received a promotion to the rank of Airman First Class, and now with my injury I was temporarily assigned to assist the NCOIC Law Enforcement. Intended to be a temporary assignment while I recovered from my injury, it became permanent and I became accustomed to filling out police reports, vehicle registration, as well as processing and issuing ID cards along with other administrative duties. When I finally recovered from my injury, I returned to pulling sentry duties across the installation. These duties would often prove uneventful with long hours spent with no personal contact however occasionally the monotony was broken by the sound of alert sirens and the sight of pilots rushing for their aircraft. This would be such a thrill with a rush of adrenaline because it was always unknown whether or not it was just another drill or the pilots were actually launching on a real time mission.

The facilities at Memmingen had been constructed in 1937 and were utilized by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. One of the buildings in which I worked was one of the original structures used by the Germans during World War II and many times I often found myself wondering who had been here and used my office during the years of the Third Reich.  What happened to them? Had they survived the war? I never received these answers but it still proved interesting to think about none the less.

Our West German unit’s insignia consisted primarily of blue and white, the colors of Bavaria and incorporated two planes against a blue background over the Alps and the NATO symbol in the upper left corner of the insignia. Two of the subordinate squadrons utilized World War II era insignia with the first squadron utilizing the ‘Grunherz’ emblem reflecting their title ‘Green Hearts’ and the second squadron utilizing the Edelweiss insignia as their emblem.

Training exercises were a regular occurrence during the duration of my assignment in Germany. These exercises varied in scope and scenario ranging from small scale exercises to the larger NATO exercises which included the REFORGER exercises. West German and Canadian armed forces fought mock battles on the airfield and on several occasions friendly aircraft from other NATO nations would fly low level mock air attacks on the base facilities. I was confident in our Luftwaffe partner’s ability to fight a coordinated effort alongside us. At the time, Germany was a warzone without being exposed to an exchange of gunfire. Battle tanks and artillery moved freely through towns and villages and combat aircraft were constantly flying in training scenarios to prepare for conducting live combat operations in the event of war in all weather scenarios to maintain the upmost state of combat readiness. One of the things I’ll never forget is the sounds of working at Memmingen, between the roar of the F-104G Starfighters taking off and landing day and night and on occasions ground crews test firing the Starfighter’s 20mm Vulcan cannon you tend to get used to the noise of daily operations.

There was always a looming threat for potential terrorist encounters particularly during that time. The Baader-Meinhof Gang and Red Army Faction amongst other groups were a threat we took very seriously in the mid 1980s. We were always receiving or conducting detailed briefings on terrorist activities in the region and we were constantly on the lookout for them within the vicinity of our facilities. The local German Polizei and the Air Force OSI services worked hand in hand to ensure we had the latest detailed reports on the groups and any potential threat. Sometimes I would work as a liaison between our unit and our Luftwaffe counterparts. I was on duty the night of 15 April 1986, when President Ronald Reagan authorized Operation El Dorado Canyon which was a series of strikes against targets in Libya.  The event came as surprise when our shifts that usually were eight hours were extended to twelve hours. The heightened state of alert caused much excitement and we were never quite sure of what was exactly going on or the cause behind some of the things we were doing but we were ready none the less. The going joke was that even though we were ready to go to war at a moment’s notice we would go to neutral Switzerland which was only some forty miles away.

On one occasion before we were to start our normal shifts, we learned from an outgoing flight coming off guard duty that one of the German tower sentries had attempted to commit suicide. In the United States, a flight is organized roughly into 100 men but due to the small size of our unit in Germany, a flight for us was roughly about ten men. An investigation was launched into the incident and it became aware that the suspect had suffered a particularly bad breakup with his girlfriend and became fixated on the idea of taking his own life. Standing guard in what was known as a mini-tower, a small two man observation post roughly six feet above the ground the sentry had taken his issued G3 rifle and placed the barrel to his stomach and pulled the trigger. By the time that I had come up for duty, the sentry had already been removed however things got worse when during my shift, several VIPs came to visit and viewed the mess left in the tower. The sentry survived his wounds but his fate following the incident is uncertain.

In April of 1986, the nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl facility in Ukraine went into meltdown and spewed radioactive clouds across Europe. We were issued strict orders not to go outside and no one was certain what would happen in the wake of such a disaster. Memmingen is located about 1,000 miles from Chernobyl but even at this distance, roughly 40 to 50% of Europe would be contaminated by fallout from the Chernobyl disaster. Although, I have had follow up checkups and appear to be healthy and unaffected, several members of the 7261 MUNSS have developed signs of exposure to radioactive materials which include loss of enamel in teeth and degenerative disk development in the spine, as well as having children with birth defects and in others sterility.  Thyroid cancer is another potential concern.  Because it is impossible to prove that Chernobyl is the cause, it is not considered a harmful source of radiation by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Due to the amount of radioactive fallout absorbed into the water and soil, were told not to eat foods grown locally such as vegetables or meats.

Life in Memmingen became routine but at times there were groups that posed problems for us. One of these groups was of course members of the United States Army. During REFORGER, several of them became intoxicated and caused some problems but never anything too serious that we could not handle. The second group, were usually Jaguar pilots from the British Royal Air Force. They would cause random mischief and in one instance even stole a restricted area warning sign from one of the perimeter fences.

My time in Germany came to an end in December 1986 when I was reassigned to Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana. This would be my final duty station where I would end my enlistment.

When I arrived at Barksdale, I was assigned under the US Air Force’s Strategic Air Command where I performed essentially the same duties I had in Germany at the airbase in Louisiana. I went from the real feel of Germany, to the simulated atmosphere of stateside duty assignments. The massive force of Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers was kept on a constant state of readiness, capable of being deployed 24-7, 365. The assignment to Barksdale did not share the same appeal as the assignment to Memmingen and I do not share the same strength of bond with service members from the SAC assignment that I do with members from the Germany assignment. Like Germany however, there were often readiness exercises conducted and sirens would sound often to the response of crews rushing to their aircraft and preparing to deploy in response to attack anywhere in the world. I would finish my Air Force enlistment at the rank of Senior Airman, and even though I was urged to attend the Air Force Non Commissioned Officer’s Academy I chose not to reenlist.

On 17 September 1987, tragedy struck when SGT. Joseph M. Burgio Sr. was killed when his Boeing KC-10 Stratotanker exploded on the ground at Barksdale. Three dozen others were injured in the disaster and following an investigation it was learned that a fuel leak caused the fatal explosion. While offloading fuel from the tanker, a generator unit ignited the fumes of the fuel and caused the explosion. I became aware of the disaster when one of my fellow service members SGT. Gray; stated that something was on fire. I turned to see a large black cloud of smoke billowing into the sky. I turned in time to see one of the largest explosions I’d ever witnessed echo through the area in a series of three blasts. The first explosion blew apart the center section of the plane, the second blew apart the nose and the final blast occurred when the wings ruptured.

Since Barksdale is the home of the Eighth Air Force headquarters, we took up defensive positions and only after it became apparent that this was an accident and not an attack did we stand down. While the investigation was carried out on the accident, I pulled security over the wreck many times.

By the time my Air Force enlistment concluded, I was a Senior Airman and I had been awarded the Air Force Training Ribbon, Overseas Long Tour Ribbon, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, as well as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Of particular significance to me were letters of service and a plaque presented to me for my service in the 7261 MUNSS at Memmingen. I will never forget the many American, German, and other European allies and friends I served with throughout the duration of my enlistment and I definitely have no regrets about my service during the Cold War. 

On the Frontlines of the Cold War: Voices of the Veterans Vol. I

“From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remember'd;

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother” – Henry V, William Shakespeare 1598

The Cold War was an intense moment in world history where at the strike of a match the fragile peace could be engulfed in a sea of flames. Although the Cold War is referred to as a relative period of uneasy peace, there were numerous occasions of incidents where blood was shed by military forces of varying nations. In Europe, the British while maintaining numerous overseas deployments battled against the insurgency in Northern Ireland as well as dealing with troublesome skirmishes by terrorist groups on mainland Europe. The United States Army in Europe was also plagued by a number of attacks from radical terrorist elements like the Red Army Faction held bent on undermining the legitimacy of the Allied cause. Most often these groups were funded by the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact groups to carry out strikes against NATO installations and forces. The sacrifices of military personnel throughout this tense period have often proven undocumented if not under documented and the stories of the conflicts gone unseen and or unheard by those outside of the entities that were there.

Operation Banner, the British military's operation in Northern Ireland for example is not as well known in the United States as it is in the United Kingdom, nonetheless they are stories that should be known and shared with the world. Men and women sacrificed so much to maintain the balance of peace that was the Cold War period and their exploits have largely gone unrecognized. While there were a vast number of conflicts that should be documented for historical purposes, this particular look is aimed at Europe and experiences documented will cover mainly the veteran’s experiences in Northern Ireland and West Germany.  It’s hard to say just how many lives were lost throughout the duration of the European Cold War period and every life has value. Losses across Europe from Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom to West Germany and across the rest of Continental Europe are hard to exactly pinpoint as well as they typical were inflicted in ones and twos rather than on a large scale as in a conventional scenario. Alerts went up and precautions were taken against terrorist elements accordingly. In an age where terrorism is a common phrase, soldiers in Europe were dealing with terrorism ever since a rogue group believed they could use violence and intimidation to gain a voice. 

The purpose of this writing is to document the stories of the veterans to preserve them and archive them for the future. To highlight the importance of the sacrifices bore by these individuals in the name of brotherhood. The unexplainable brotherhood shared uniquely by soldiers exposed to hostile areas. This writing is dedicated to the memory of the fallen who are forever fused into the history that has shaped our world, and to those who experienced it firsthand and live with their memories. These are the stories of those who were there. We salute them and We honor them. For security and privacy reasons I have altered the names of the individuals who have submitted their stories.

  

PTE M. Swift, British Army

1st Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire

Infantry

Ballykinlar, Northern Ireland

1987

Northern Ireland: I carried out patrols throughout South Armagh (Armagh County) known as Orchard Country to the world but commonly referred to as 'Bandit Country' to those that served there. These patrols took us close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. On one occasion the patrol base of Bessbrook Mill was mortared 3 days after I left. I was part of a protective cordon that was tasked with setting up and providing defense during the rebuilding and strengthening of the watch towers in and around Crossmaglenn. On that task, I heard an explosion while in a covert operations location. Later we were told that the IRA had murdered a Judge as well as his wife. Several years later during another tour they struck again at the exact same location. IRA groups were known as Active Service Units (ASUs) by us operating in Northern Ireland. While on this tour Provisional Irish Republic Army (PIRA) & Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) were feuding and doing tit for tat killings against one another. We were all pretty happy with that as it kept them busy and not attacking our forces. My first tour only lasted 3 months as the regiment then got posted to Catterick in North Yorkshire. Although short and relevantly uneventful, it was none the less an exciting tour and experience for a young 18 year old soldier.

CPL A. Steventon, British Army

252 Provost Company (Volunteers)

Royal Military Police

Hameln, Hannover, Sennelager, Paderborn, West Germany

Participated in Exercises Keystone & Keyflight in 1987 & 1988.

BAOR: I performed Provost operations in West Germany and some Police work mainly RTA accidents. I also performed border patrol along Berlin Wall and saw East German NVA troops and Soviet troops regularly. My main job was convoy movements. I used to sign up routes to get ALL the BAOR troops to the battle front or FEBA as we called it and to Brigade HQ's, rendezvous points etc. We set up TP's (traffic posts) IP's (info Posts) BDE HQ (Brigade HQ's) etc. We also secured areas in the infantry role using GPMG, SLR, SMG and Browning 9mm. I got the chance to work alongside US aggressor forces on enemy evade and capture exercises near Nordhausen. We captured them and handed over to intel for interrogation.

I dealt with a fatal road traffic accident in Unter Oldershausen in September when I was on guard duty at a Brigade Headquarters. A Regular Dispatch Rider of the Royal Engineers came to my Information Post (IP) looking for his Brigade HQ. He was fatigued and tired and got his grid reference, he then and drove up the road and was killed instantly by decapitation. I was the first to respond to him following the accident and the last to contact him when he passed away. It has haunted me ever since. It has been nearly 25 years and I've only now found out his name this year, Sapper Dougie Hogg 13th Postal Courier Squadron Royal Engineers 25 years old from Lancaster in Lancashire.

Another assignment I held was to look for Soviet Mission on the Rhine spies (SOXMIS whom used to drive around taking photos for intelligence purposes mainly of troop numbers, vehicles, strength, equipment, movements, locations etc. If we saw them we detained them under a special card we carried and handed over to Intel Corps.

I was nearly killed during an attack by the PIRA in 1988 whilst serving in the Royal Air Force (regular Forces). While in Hereford, the PIRA planted an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) outside of my barracks block but one of my mates found it in the trash can before it could be detonated.

My reflections on the Cold War period are that it was a very tense time with many occasions we thought we were going to war with the Warsaw Pact. Alerts were issued regularly for war footings. We lost hundreds of troops in accidents on the big exercises which people forgot and we never got any recognition for the sacrifices we made over there, not just in encounters with Warsaw Pact forces but also with PIRA in Northern Ireland.  They were very active and as a result many British troops were killed. The days were long but times were fun and enjoyable. The Germans were very good to us unless they held ties to the previous regime the Nazi party. I enjoyed my time spent over there and loved the country. I'll never forget it.

SPC S. Moore, United States Army

558th Military Police Company

Military Police

Rheinland Pfalz, West Germany

2 Years in West Germany

USAREUR: I pulled physical security on a NATO Missile site known as Site No. 107. During the duration of my deployment to West Germany, we were plagued by constant bombings and attacks at clubs mainly by the Red Army Faction which peaked in 1987.

My West Germany assignment was similar to dealing with modern day terrorism. Movements were always done on the high alert with the upmost suspicion of everyone. Between the Soviets and Red Army Faction encounters taking out small groups of service members, travel was usually done in packs for security. Whenever there was an incident it was briefed to all of United States Army Europe (USAREUR). Working on a Nuclear Compound, National Security concerning Nuclear Warheads was of utmost priority so the 24/7 security of the facility was monitored very closely. While I was assigned to Site No. 107, there was an incident at different Nuclear Facility where the perimeter had been breached, the guard house was infiltrated and all of the security forces were shot in their sleep. None of the nuclear materials were disturbed in the attack. It was just done to prove that the security of a sensitive NATO site was indeed penetrable.

RFN D. Harding, British Army

2nd Battalion, Royal Green Jackets

Infantry

Belfast, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Northern Ireland

Multiple deployments from 1985-1996

Northern Ireland: I served as a military dog handler in Northern Ireland performing searches in the Palace Barracks area of operation around Belfast. Our Tactical Area of Responsibility which we covered included Fort Whiterock, North Howard Street Mill, Girdwood and Woodburn which was a Royal Ulster Constabulary station. My first two initial tours in Northern Ireland were fairly quiet. There were two occasions where there were attempts made to engage our patrols by enemy forces which were thwarted by our experience. As a result of the thwarting of their attempts, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) Active Service Units (ASUs) launching an attack and shooting up the Sanger of Clogher, Royal Ulster Constabulary Station. The second year, residential operations were quite hectic but again most incidents of attempts against the battalion were thwarted thanks to good scenario drills and patrolling techniques. Sadly, we lost seven members of the Battalion, due to accidents including a Lynx crash in Gortin Glen.

The period of 1993-1996 was hectic as well. There were incidents almost daily with an upsurge in shootings, bombings and sectarian murders. It was during this particular tour in Northern Ireland that I was blown up by a PIRA explosive device which resulted in the loss of the majority of the hearing in my left ear and half in my right ear. Due to the constant rotations into Northern Ireland I was diagnosed with complex combat related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The worst encounter during this tour was the aftermath of the Shakhill Bombing, when Fizzel’s Fish Shop was targeted for twenty one days. Following that attack I was lucky to get an average of three hours of sleep per day due to tit for tat murders carried out by rival factions.

CPL M.Sandham, British Army

Parachute Regiment/Royal Military Police

Infantry/Royal Military Police

Roberts Barracks, Osnabruck, West Germany, Aldergrove & Clooney Base, Northern Ireland

4 Years Regular Forces & 3 Years Reserve

BAOR: While assigned to the British Army of the Rhine I primarily performed Garrison policing duties. The experience of serving in West Germany also allowed me the opportunity to train alongside our allied military unit counterparts including American, West German and Dutch military police. I also participated in several large scale military exercises in Germany the primary two being Exercise Lionheart and Exercise Spearpoint.

Northern Ireland: In Northern Ireland I mainly performed mobile patrols, search and intelligence gathering operations, performed raids on suspected enemy strongholds which often including pubs, bars and clubs as well as escort duties. When performing operations in the Londonderry areas we were often brought close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. City Center security patrols were also another task we were frequently assigned. In Northern Ireland we were frequently exposed to enemy actions committed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) including shootings and bombings in Belfast. Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police stations were regularly targeted for attack by PIRA elements. Some operations yielded results such as search and seizure operations which led to discovering and capturing PIRA weapons caches in East Belfast. Riot control in the Londonderry City Center was also a regular occurrence during my tour in Northern Ireland. One encounter in particular stands out in my mind, one day following a PIRA operation, we were tasked to recovery a victim’s body from the River Lagan in Belfast.

My service in both BAOR and in Northern Ireland ultimately was a great training experience. For a young Non Commissioned Officer it was an amazing introduction to life in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces. Despite the exposure to conflict zones such as Northern Ireland, I believe young soldiers today would benefit from the experiences we had during the Cold War. We gained a wealth of knowledge and experience in a short period of time and I don’t regret any moment of my service. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. 

British Forces Posted Overseas (BAOR Garrison Codes)

The British armed forces maintained their own postal service much like armies around the world, assigning each of its facilities abroad with a postal code corresponding to a garrison. The British Forces Post Office or BFPO had a system of numbered codes for its garrisons across Western Europe primarily those of I British Corps positioned in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia during the Cold War. The vast majority of these codes were assigned to British Army of the Rhine garrisons in the Federal Republic of Germany and a handful of these were assigned to garrisons in Belgium and the Netherlands. Below is a listing of British Forces Post Office Overseas assignment numbers for historical record.

British Forces Posted Overseas Numbers

BFPO 15 - Herford
BFPO 16 - Sennelager/Paderborn
BFPO 17 - Münster
BFPO 18 - Maastricht, Netherlands
BFPO 19 - Köln/Bonn
BFPO 20 - Dortmund
BFPO 21 - Emblem, Belgium
BFPO 22 - Lübbecke
BFPO 23 - Celle
BFPO 24 - Iserlohn
BFPO 25 - Brüggen
BFPO 27 - Hannover Isodets
BFPO 28 - Brunssum, Netherlands
BFPO 29 - Minden
BFPO 30 - Hohne
BFPO 31 - Hameln
BFPO 32 - Verden
BFPO 33 - Hannover
BFPO 34 - Düsseldorf
BFPO 35 - Krefeld
BFPO 36 - Osnabrück
BFPO 37 - Soltau / Brannenburg
BFPO 38 - Fallingbostel
BFPO 39 - Bielefeld
BFPO 40 - Rheindahlen
BFPO 41 - Detmold
BFPO 42 - Wildenrath
BFPO 43 - Laarbruch
BFPO 44 - Dulmen
BFPO 45 - Berlin
BFPO 46 - Bünde
BFPO 47 - Gütersloh
BFPO 48 - Nienburg
BFPO 49 - Brussels, Belgium
BFPO 101 - Wolfenbüttel
BFPO 102 - Hildesheim
BFPO 103 - Hamm/Werl
BFPO 104 - Munsterlager
BFPO 105 - Düsseldorf Isodets
BFPO 106 - Soest
BFPO 107 - Lippstadt
BFPO 108 - Kiel
BFPO 109 - Ramstein
BFPO 110 - Willich
BFPO 112 - Menden
BFPO 113 - Mansergh Barracks, RAF Gütersloh
BFPO 114 - Körbecke
BFPO 140 - BAOR Headquarters

In Cold Blood along the Wall: The Killing of Peter Fechter

The Soviet Union and the communist satellite nations it subsequently developed within it's sphere of influence often went to extensive measures to make it appear that they operated and functioned to the best interests of its people. Outwardly, they embraced the ideals of freedom from oppression and equality amongst all collectively sharing everything and making great advancements in the achievements of mankind. Large emaculate festivals were frequently held and the ideas of labor highly regarded as essential to the success of the state. However, behind this facade of loving united fronts and value for human life was often a sinister truth. Desent and criticism of the state was an intolerable notion. Those who criticized the communist government or expressed ideals that were not compatible with those of the state risked imprisonment or certain death. Imagine living in a virtual prison state where the government dictated what you could do, when you could do it, how to do it and while declaring that you have 'rights' as a citizen of that nation, your rights are slim if any. Television, radio and all other media outlets are closely controlled by the state and to make matters worst, you can't even feel safe to express your true thoughts or feelings in your own home for fear you may be overheard and members of the secret police may show up in the middle of the night to arrest you. Wouldn't you begin thinking of ways to escape? Many would attempt to flee their prison nation; some would succeed and others would not.

On 13 August 1961, the East German government deployed soldiers of the Nationale Volksarmee and teams of construction workers to positions along the border of Allied controlled West Berlin and construction began on the Berlin Wall. The first concrete blocks would be put into place on 17 August 1961. With the Wall now turning West Berlin into an exclave deep in the heart of East Germany, it became much harder for persons wishing to leave the German Democratic Republic from doing so. No one could leave the communist nation without expressed permission from the government and all attempts to do so without authorization were met with armed resistance ordered to shoot anyone trying to leave without permission. The Schießbefehl or 'Shooting Order' became official policy on 22 August 1961, and the first person to be gunned down attempting to escape the repressive regime of East Germany would be twenty four year old Günter Litfin, a tailor who while attempting to escape by swimming across the Spree Canal was shot and mortally wounded by officers of the East German Transportpolizei. Litfin, would be the second confirmed casualty tied to the Berlin Wall, but he would be the first to die by being shot. Sadly, he would not be the last. After a tumultuous several months early on, life with the Wall began to normalize however escape attempts still became common place.

By the onset of 1962, the Wall and the defensive network that were associated with it had been vastly improved creating new challenges for those that wished to escape. By August of 1962, one young East German named Peter Fechter had like so many others decided that enough was enough and now he would take on the risks associated with crossing the Berlin Wall to seek better opportunities in West Germany. Peter Fechtner was 18 years old when he decided he would defect along with his close friend Helmut Kulbeik. The two young men developed a daring plan to first hide in a carpenter's workshop located close to the section of the Wall on Zimmerstrasse. They would then watch the Grenztruppen guards closely and after it was clear to do so, they would jump from a window over the initial barricade into the area known as the "death-strip", a strip of cleared area running between the main Wall and a parallel fence which was heavily patrolled by border guards and sentry dogs. Upon entry into the death strip they would attempt to run across it and climb over the 6.5 foot Wall which was topped with barbed wire and then fall into the safety of the Kreuzberg district of West Berlin not far from Checkpoint Charlie.

The date of execution of their plan would come on 17 August 1962. Initially everything went as planned, they hid in the carpentry workshop and dropped into the death strip sprinting across and reaching for the Wall itself. As they began to climb the concrete wall section, they were spotted by members of the East German Grenztruppen who began firing their weapons at the would be defectors. Fechter's friend Helmut Kulbeik managed to get over the wall, but Fechter still clinging on to the wall trying to pull himself up and over was struck in the pelvis by rounds from the East German rifles. On the West German side of the Wall, a large group of onlookers had gathered to watch the escape attempt and the wounding of Fechter was witnessed by hundreds of Western onlookers. Wounded, Fechter could not maintain his strength and fell back into the death strip on the Eastern side of the Wall but remained in plain sight of the horrified Westerners. Several people in the gathering crowd turned out to be western journalists who now had witnessed first handed how East Germany dealt with people it deemed as traitors.

Fechter lay in the death strip screaming for help, screaming in pain but his cries went unnheeded. The East German government issued orders not to provide medical assistance for persons wounded in escape attempts and to add to this, East German border troops were afraid of being fired at by West German policemen stemming from an incident several days earlier. Furthermore western citizens did not react to Fechter's cries for help out of fear of being fired upon by the East German border troops. All in all Fechter had no real chance of survival, the impact of the high caliber rifle round into his right hip had caused severe internal injuries and he was losing blood rapidly. He would lay in the death strip for one hour before he succumbed to his injury, bleeding to death before a shocked western audience. When his cries ceased, it was only an hour later still, that East German border troops and policemen finally entered the death strip and retrieved his body.

The subsequent stories regarding the shooting of Fechter enraged the West German government and brought a wave of negative publicity to the East German regime. Hundreds of people in West Berlin organized demonstrations against the German Democratic Republic, shouting "Mörder!" or Murderers! at the East German Grenztruppen border guards. As a direct result of the Fechter murder and the following backlash, the East German government revised its orders to the border troops with revised protocol including more direct restrictions on the use of shooting in public settings particularly in front of a crowd of onlookers. Furthermore, the government authorized the granting of medical assistance to any would be escapee who was wounded in an attempt to flee from East Germany. Although Fechter would not live to see the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, in the years leading up to the end of the division of Germany he became a martyr in the struggle for German reunification. Memorials would be erected in his honor and those of others murdered trying to escape. Numerous tributes would be dedicated in his memory and his death would became the subject of many films, documentaries and books. Although he would not be the last person to die trying to escape over the Berlin Wall, he was instrumental in reforming policy in dealing with would be escapees. 

Imprisoning a Nation: The Birth and Death of the Berlin Wall

Following the end of the Second World War and the division of post war Germany among the victorious allies, the areas of occupation gradually began to adopt the ideological policies of their governing authorities. Josef Stalin, premier of the Soviet Union revealed his intention to communist allies in eastern Germany by 1946 that he planned to undermine western efforts to democratize Germany first by undermining British authority in it's zone and he expected the Americans to withdraw from its zone of occupation within a span of two years which would lead the way for Soviet invasion and the domination of Germany under a purely communist regime. With the war over and a semblance of normalcy beginning to return to the land, the majority of the populations living in the newly acquired areas of the Eastern Bloc aspired for national independence and wanted the Soviets to leave their homelands. This was not to be. The East German government was closely modeled on it's Soviet overseer  complete with an extensive network of often redundant organizations and security apparatuses installed to suppress the population to which it claimed to represent. Property and industry were largely nationalized in the East German zone along the lines of the Soviet collectivization ideology under communism. In 1950, the number of East Germans leaving for the West numbered 187,000. This number rose to 165,000 in 1951, 182,000 in 1952 and 331,000 in 1953. Fears of further Sovietization of eastern Germany led to a sharp spike in the number of people fleeing West, this was reflected by the fact that in the first six months of 1953, some 226,000 Germans packed up and moved West.

The East German security services and Soviet secret police began clamping down on the daily activities of those under the Soviet sphere of influence in Germany. If statements or decisions deviated from the prescribed party line, reprimands and in the case of persons beyond the scope of public attention, punishment would ensue, including not only detainment and imprisonment but also the systematic use of torture and even death could be the end result. The mandatory indoctrination into the Marxist-Leninist philosophy sent many citizens particularly the educated class of teachers and students in the Soviet Zone of Occupation fleeing for freedom from persecution in the western zones. Having largely grown distrustful of the Soviets following the period of brutal reprisals and vengeance as Soviet forces occupied eastern Germany in the immediate aftermath of the war, any chance to escape to the West was a welcomed change. West Germany soon became known for it's new Soziale Marktwirtschaft 'Social Market Economy' which embraced capitalist ideas which soon led to a much enjoyed twenty year period of prosperity known as the Wirtschaftswunder or Economic Miracle. As the situation improved in post war West Germany, the standard of living and economic situation also improved and many East Germans began seeking ways to reach the western zones to better themselves and further provide for their families.

With the German people beginning to flock in mass towards the West from the East, the Soviet authorities in eastern Germany soon installed a system of immigration restrictions and began closely monitoring the activities and movement of the population under its jurisdiction. A special pass was required to visit East Berlin from the West officially to prevent the movement of 'Western Agents' within East Germany's borders. Stalin advised the East Germans to begin building up their defensive network along the border area with West Germany. By 1952, this demarcation line officially known as the Inner German Border which separated the Federal Republic of Germany in the West, from the German Democratic Republic in the East was closed and barbed wire fences erected in an effort to restrict the movement between the two parts of the nation. The Berlin Airlift only a few years earlier had embarrassed the Soviets to no end and now they seeked other ways to spite the western Allied. In contrast to the Inner German Border Zone, in divided Berlin the border zone continued to remain open, in effect a severe miscalculation by the Soviets and the East Germans. Berlin soon became a hotbed for defection activities as many East German cities found it to be the only route of escape into the West. As a result of this, and West Berlin's status as a free city deep in the heart of East Germany, it became the epicenter for rising tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1955, the Soviets turned authority over civilian movement in Berlin over to the East German government. This transfer of power was not recognized by allied powers in the West who saw East Berlin as an illegitimate entity. With the increased movement of people westward, the new East German state move to restrict all travel to the West in 1956.  With the Inner German Border closed, East Germany's government attempted to further restrict movement into West Berlin by introducing a new passport system in 1957. Those caught trying to leave were heavily fined, however with no physical barriers and a subway system running between the two halves of the city these measures were for the most part ineffective in preventing those persons from leaving the country. By 1961, nearly 20% of East Germany's population or roughly 3.5 million East Germans had escaped to freedom in the West. The majority of these immigrants fleeing from the Communist system were young, well educated individuals who sought the freedoms of democracy embraced in the West. This mass exodus from the Soviet sphere of influence was quickly referred to by the communist regime as a 'brain drain'. Most immigrants officially stated their reasons for leaving were political more than materialistic.

By 1960, the 'Brain Drain' effect had left the German Democratic Republic with only roughly 61% of its population of working age, a steep drop compared to 70.5% before the Second World War. The loss of labor force was heaviest among professional services including engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled laborers. The direct cost of manpower losses to East Germany (and the corresponding gain to the West) was estimated to have been anywhere between $7 billion to $9 billion, with East German SED communist leader Walter Ulbricht demanding that West Germany pay him $17 billion in compensation, including reparations as well as manpower losses. In addition to this, the draining of East Germany's youth population potentially cost the East German state over 22.5 billion marks in lost educational investment. The brain drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility of the SED and economic viability of the German Democratic Republic that the re-securing of the German communist frontier was imperative lest the nation collapse.

Initially denying his intentions, East German communist party leader Walter Ulbricht along with support from the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev soon signed the initiative to close the borders and erect a wall around West Berlin. Khrushchev would succeed Josef Stalin following his sudden death in 1953. At exactly midnight on 13 August 1961, East German police and military units effectively sealed the border in Berlin and a force of construction units and laborers began the tedious task of tearing up the roads adjacent to the border making them impassable to vehicles and positioning obstacles along the border itself. Barbed wire fences and entanglements were installed surrounding the entire length of West Berlin effectively sealing it off from East Germany. These barriers were precisely positioned within East German territory to ensure it did not violate West Berlin's territorial sanctity at any time. On 17 August 1961, the first cement bricks were put into place to begin the construction of the physical barrier, the Berlin Wall itself. Soldiers of the Landstreitkräfte and members of the Kampfgruppen 'Combat Groups of the Working Class' were positioned along lengths of the border with orders to shoot anyone attempting to flee East Germany for West Berlin. In addition to the manpower, an assortment of chained fences, walls, minefields and other obstacles were installed along the length of East Germany's western border with West Germany. A huge no man's land was cleared to provide a clear line of fire for Grenztruppen and Volkspolizei units attempting to stop defecting refugees from reaching their intended destination.

In an instant almost overnight, entire families of Germans were separated and Republikflucht or Desertion of the Republic as it was declared was made a capital offense by the East German government. Hundreds were shot and killed trying to cross the new Berlin Wall, and estimates show that nearly 75,000 were caught and imprisoned for trying to escape into West Berlin between the construction of the Wall in 1961 and 1989. Officially East German government authorities declared the Wall to be an Antifaschistischer Schutzwall or Anti-Fascist Protective Rampart intended to dissuade aggressive or non productive influences of the West from corrupting the progressive ways of the Workers Paradise.The Wall was essentially a public relations disaster for the SED communist officials attempting to improve their image with the people of East Germany and the World, particularly in the West. There were nine authorized crossing points along the border where Berlin citizens could cross into West Berlin and these were closely monitored by Grenztruppen forces and agents of the Stasi. Several subsequent border crossing points were established for West Germany to use for crossing into East Germany and four autobahns were designated for this purpose, linking West Berlin to West Germany by road.

The East German government did not allow apartments along the length of the Wall to be occupied and thus windows and doors of many facilities were bricked up or barricaded. In many cases the only open windows and non barricaded areas were above the third or fourth floors in an attempt to guarantee any defection attempt involving leaping from these heights would ensure serious injury if not death. With the Wall effectively in place, the SED government issued what was known as the Schießbefehl or 'shooting orders' to members of the border guards when dealing with potential defectors. Under this order, the Guards were to first aim there weapons and order the defector to halt. If the person did not stop, a warning shot was fired and if this still did not prevent the person from stopping their activities, the Guard was to open fire with the intent on killing the fleeing person. The official stance from East German authorities was intended to encourage the Guards to shoot escapees stating, "Do not hesitate to use your firearm, not even when the border is breached in the company of women and children, which is a tactic the traitors have often used".

The most famous of the land based crossing points that linked West Germany to West Berlin, through East German territory was the Berlin-Helmstedt autobahn, which entered East German territory between the towns of Helmstedt and Marienborn. This crossing point into East Germany was designated as Checkpoint Alpha, and entered West Berlin at Dreilinden in southwestern Berlin. This entry point into West Berlin would be designated as Checkpoint Bravo for Allied forces. Access to West Berlin was also possible by railway in the four of four officially sanctioned routes and by boat for commercial shipping via canals and rivers. Westerners who were not German could cross the border at the Friedrichstraße station in East Berlin and at Checkpoint Charlie. Not even the areas underneath the city escaped division. Berlin's sewer system was even barricaded to prevent defection, and with the Wall erected, Berlin's complex public transit networks, the S-Bahn and U-Bahn, both a system of underground high speed railways were divided along with the city above it. Some lines were cut in half and as a result many of the subway stations were shut down. Three western lines traveled through brief sections of East Berlin. The trains would pass through eastern stations unrestricted as they were forbidden to stop at these stations which were known as Geisterbahnhöfe, or ghost stations. Both the eastern and western networks converged at Friedrichstraße, which became a major crossing point for those who had been granted permission to cross from East to West.

Escape attempts dropped drastically with the construction of the Berlin Wall, however defections did still occur with one of the most famous being the defection of a young East German soldier named Conrad Schumann during the initial construction of the Berlin Wall. With merely a low barbed wire entanglement separating Berlin, West German citizens shouted to him, "Komme über!" or "Come over!". A West German police car pulled up to wait for him. With the motivation to defect Schumann jumped over the barbed wire fence and was promptly driven away from the scene by the West Berlin police. West German photographer Peter Leibing photographed Schumann's escape, and this picture has since become an iconic image of the Cold War. See the article on Conrad Schumann here.

Other escapes in the initial days of the constructing of the Wall simply involved people jumping the simple barbed wire fortifications or leaping out of apartment windows along the line, but these ended as the Wall was fortified and reinforced.

The first death to result from an attempt to defect into West Berlin occurred when a young woman named Ida Siekmann jumped from her third floor apartment window at 48 Bernauerstraße on 22 August 1961. The first shooting death would occur two days later on 24 August 1961, when a young twenty four year old tailor named Günter Litfin was shot by members of the Grenztruppen as he attempted to defect by swimming across the Spree Canal to West Germany. 24 August was also the day that the Schießbefehl officially went into effect. East German citizens still managed to best the East German fortifications and successfully defect by a variety of methods. These measures included not only digging long tunnels under the wall but also waiting for favorable winds and taking a hot air balloon, sliding along aerial wires, flying ultralight aircraft across the Wall, and in one instance, simply driving a sports car at full speed through the basic, initial fortifications. As a response to the motor vehicle traffic as a measures of defection, a metal beam was em-placed at checkpoints to further prevent this kind of defection. The people countered this by having up to four people, usually with two in the front seats and possibly two in the trunk of the vehicle drove under the bar in a sports car that had been specially modified to allow the roof and windscreen to sheer away when it made contact with the metal obstruction. The escapees would lay flat and keep driving forward until they were clear of East German territory and reached the safety of West Germany. The East Germans responded to this by constructing zig-zagging roads leading up to checkpoints. The sewer system although with it's own network of barricades served as a means of escape. Some people escaped through the sewers, and in a number of cases with assistance from a prominent student group from the western side of the city.

Another highly successful escape occurred in April 1963 on the eve of the annual May Day celebrations in East Germany when a nineteen year old civilian employee of the Nationale Volksarmee named  Wolfgang Engels penetrated the Wall and escaped into the West. Engels having won the confidence of Soviet soldiers earlier and got them to demonstrate the operation of their vehicle, stole a Soviet armored personnel carrier from a nearby base where he was deployed and drove it right into the Wall. The vehicle did not fully penetrate the Wall and Engels was forced to exit the vehicle and became entangled in barbed wire. As a result of what was occurring he was shot at and hit twice, which seriously wounded him. A West German policeman intervened on Engel's behalf, firing his weapon at the East German border guards and removed Engels from the vehicle, which too was entangled in the barbed wire. He was removed from the scene to the safety of a West German bar and he would recover from his wounds in a West German hospital.

On another occasion, Thomas Krüger a member of the East German youth organization the  Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik, made an airborne escape attempt and landed a  Zlin Z 42M light aircraft at the British military airfield at RAF Gatow in West Berlin. His aircraft was returned to East Germany, but not without tongue in cheek slogans sprawled across it from Royal Air Force servicemen such as "Wish you were here" and "Come back soon".

Many potential escapees were wounded attempting to flee into the West and if they were within the 'death strip' area no matter their proximity to the western side, Westerners could not intervene to assist the wounded out of fear of provoking attack from East German military or security forces. East German Grenztruppen border guards notoriously left wounded would be defectors to bleed to death in this area such was the most infamous case regarding eighteen year old Peter Fechter on 17 August 1962. The negative attention garnered by the East German government as a result of the Fechter incident, prompted East German authorities to authorize and enforce stricter rules for the discharging of weapons in public view. Following the Fechtner incident, the policy of leaving wounded to die was reversed and medical care was to be offered to the wounded individual. The last shooting death along the Wall occurred in 1989 when twenty year old Christopher Gueffroy was hit in the chest by ten rounds from AK-47 assault rifles fired by Grenztruppen soldiers and left to die in the border strip.  The widespread violence associated with the construction of the Wall led many in the East to develop feelings of desperation and feeling oppressed by the ruling regime.

Throughout the duration of its existence, it is estimated that 5,000 people successfully escaped through the Berlin Wall into West Germany. Almost 200 were confirmed killed attempting to escape and another 75,000 were wounded attempting to defect.

The beginning of the end of the Berlin Wall came on 12 June 1987, when American President Ronald Reagan visited West Berlin to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the city of Berlin. In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, he openly challenged Soviet leader and General Secretary of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev. In a speech which would become famous, Reagan demanded that he open the Brandenburg Gate and tear down the Berlin Wall as a symbol of granting increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc.

On 19 August 1989, the People's Republic of Hungary began dismantling its border defenses along its border with the Republic of Austria and in the following month some 13,000 East Germans traveled first to Hungary as tourists to defect to the West through Austria. With this in effect, the Hungarians began refusing East Germans access to the border areas and sent them to Budapest to await repatriation to the German Democratic Republic. Rather than go back to the oppression of East German, these people stormed the West German embassy seeking asylum in West Germany. When knowledge of this became widespread, the East German authorities forbid further travel to Hungary by its citizens and a small incident broke out in neighboring Czechoslovakia. Protests soon followed all across East Germany which led to the widespread Peaceful Revolution of 1989.

The longtime leader of the German Democratic Republic and SED Communist Party, Erich Honecker, effectively resigned on 18 October 1989 and was replaced by Egon Krenz a few days later. Honecker had announced in January, that the wall would stand for 50 or 100 more years if the conditions that had caused its construction did not change. The Peaceful Revolution would peak in November when half a million people gathered at the Alexanderplatz demonstration, to advocate change in East Germany. The amount of refugees continued to increase as they fled East Germany through Czechoslovakia and then into Hungary or through the West German embassy in Prague. On 9 November 1989, Günter Schabowski, the party boss in East Berlin and the spokesman for the SED Politburo, had the task of announcing new relaxed travel restrictions allowing refugees to exit directly through the authorized border crossing points between East Germany and West Germany, including those in West Berlin. On the same day, the ministerial administration modified the proposal to include private travel. The new regulations were to take effect the next day 10 November 1989.

He read the note authorizing the changes out loud at the end of a conference and one of the reporters, ANSA's Riccardo Ehrman, asked when the regulations would take effect. After a few seconds'  pausing with hesitation, Schabowski having been given no further instructions on how to handle the situation assumed it would be the same day based on the wording of the note and replied, "As far as I know effective immediately, without delay". After further questions from journalists he confirmed that the regulations included the border crossings towards West Berlin, which he had not mentioned until then. With no one wanting to take personal responsibility for issuing orders to use force to subdue the growing crowds, Grenztruppen personnel were soon overwhelmed by the mass of East German citizens and at 10:45 pm on 9 November 1989, the border checkpoints were opened and people flooded in celebration into both parts of the city. Not everyone in East Germany or other Communist nations were enthused about the collapse of communism or the impending reunification of Germany. One prominent figure to oppose the reunification was British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whom in September 1989 pleaded with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to do what he could to prevent the fall of the Wall. Another person who opposed the reunification of Germany was French President François Mitterrand.

 The Wall would begin to crumble almost immediately as "Mauerspechte" or wall woodpeckers began using sledgehammers, hammers and chisels to chip off pieces of the Wall as souvenirs, often destroying lengthy parts of it in the process and creating several unofficial border crossings. A week following the 9 November announcements ten new border checkpoints were announced. These new locations included Potsdamer Platz, Glienicker Brücke and Bernauer Straße with the historically significant Brandenburg Gate being officially opened on 22 December 1989. After subsequent policies and new restrictions, for a period of time East Germans could travel more freely than their West German counterparts. On 13 June 1990, the East German government began the official dismantling of the Wall at Bernauer Straße. On 1 July, the East German government officially adopted the West German Deutsche Mark as its standard currency and all border control checkpoints ceased to be manned and operated. The inter-German border had however become meaningless for some time before that point. The dismantling continued to be carried out by Nationale Volksarmee units and later by Bundeswehr units after the NVA was absorbed into the Bundeswehr.  The removal of the border fortifications and obstacles lasted until November 1991. Only a few small sections of the Wall and its watchtowers were left to remain standing as memorials to the division of Germany.

The fall of the Berlin Wall was the first step towards complete German reunification, which was concluded on 3 October 1990 when for the first time since 1949, East and West ceased to exist and Germany became whole once again.

The Berlin Wall would run the entire length around West Berlin, effectively 96 miles. The length of the border between West Berlin and East Germany was 69.5 miles, with the length of the border between West and East Berlin being 26.8 miles. 23 miles of the border would run through residential areas and the concreted wall segments would reach a height of 12 feet tall. The length of the concrete segments of the Wall were 66 miles with 41.3 miles of the border being made up of wire mesh fencing. There were 65.6 miles of anti-vehicle trenches and 79.2 miles of signal and or contact fences strung along this area. There were 302 watch towers constructed around West Berlin and 20 bunkers placed in positions around the City.

Penetrating the Blockade: How Operation Vittles sustained an encircled City

The year was 1945, Berlin much like the rest of Germany lay in a state of ruin. Her streets and buildings were pockmarked with the graffiti of war. Shell craters, smashed windows and twisted figures of stone, mortar and steel littered the streets stretching towards the sky like some grotesque carcass reaching to achieve a final grasp. Adolf Hitler, the leader of the defeated nation was dead, committing suicide to escape the western Allies held bent on bringing him and his legion of cronies to justice for the crimes they had committed over the span of some twelve years. The nation was in a state of dispair facing an uncertain future as foreign forces occupied the wartorn land. As per the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences earlier in the year, Germany was carved up into zones of occupation administered by military forces of the wartime Allies. These sectors encompasses areas associated to the current positions of the Allied armies at the time and in a minature reflection of this, Berlin would reflect the division of the nation. Berlin, a once great city  had suffered catastrophic damage. Once boasting a population of 4.6 million people before the Second World War, it was now reduced to nearly 2.8 million people with only the capacity to produce 2% of the food needed to support the population. The forces of the United States, United Kingdom and France were not permitted to enter the war ravaged city until nearly two months after Germany had capitulated, during which time the local populace suffered brutal reprisals at the hands of the conquering Soviet Red Army.

The western portion of the nation would see the British taking responsibility for most of the northern part of the country, the Americans taking responsibility for the southern part of the country and both turning over two small portions of their zones of occupation that barely contacted each other along the French border over to the forces of France. The eastern portion of the nation would go to the Soviets. One area of protest came with the status of Berlin, which put forces of the United States, United Kingdom and France some 100 miles inside the Soviet zone of occupation. The areas under Soviet control, produced much of the food that fed the nation and thus the regions under American and British control largely relied on food imports from the very beginning. With the United States, United Kingdom and France largely instilling the principles of democracy to their post war areas, the Soviet Military Administration forcibly unified the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands 'Communist Party of Germany' and the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands 'Social Democratic Party of Germany' to form the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands 'Socialist Unity Party of Germany' claiming that it would not occupy a Marxist-Leninist or Soviet stance on its body politics. Immediately after its formation, the SED Party called for the establishment of an anti-fascist, democratic regime in the form of a parliamentary democratic republic. Under this ruse, the Soviets suppressed all activities of non SED aligned political parties and expatriated many factories and equipment as well as their technicians, managers and skilled personnel to regions deep in the Soviet Union.

Soviet leader Josef Stalin made his true intentions clear before the smoke of the Battle of Berlin had even fully cleared, telling German communists that he planned to undermine the authority of the British in their zone of occupation and force the United States to withdraw within the span of two years and thus he would unify Germany as a single communist nations under Soviet control.

One of the loopholes in the agreements reached by the western Allies was that there had never been any formal agreements guaranteeing rail or road access to Berlin through Soviet occupied territory. The first signs of ensuing tensions began when the Soviets imposed a limitation on the amount of cargo that could enter its territory. The Soviets set the limitation at only ten trains per day by only one single rail line. Believing the Soviet limitations were temporary at most, the Allies shrugged it off and began proposing addition alternatives to the Soviet Union which were rejected by the Soviets. In a move to further put a squeeze on the Allies in Berlin, the Soviet Union enforced the utilization of only three air corridors into Berlin with access to Berlin being authorized only from Hamburg, Bückeburg and Frankfurt. As the situation between the former allies began to deteriorate, the Soviets halted the delivery of agricultural goods from their zone of occupation into Berlin. This was countered accordingly when the American Commander, General Lucius Clay halted shipments of dismantled industrial goods from western Germany to the Soviet Union.

Angered by the American action, the Soviets began a campaign to undermine the Allies by slandering the American mission in Germany and hinder the administrative work of all four zones of occupation inside Berlin. Having surviving harsh treatment, forced emigrations, severe political repression and a particularly rough winter of the 1945–1946 period, Germans in the Soviet zone of administration were growing extremely hostile to the Soviets and their plans. Local elections in 1946 resulted in a massive anti-communist protest vote across the city, especially in the Soviet sector of Berlin. Berlin's citizens overwhelmingly elected non-Communist members to its city council reflecting an overwhelming 86% majority. The clouds of trouble had begun building on the horizon.

In January 1948, the Soviets began stopping American and British trains bound for Berlin to confirm the identities of passengers onboard the trains, With the Marshall Plan being enforced across, western Europe the Soviets began orchaestrating a plan to force the Allies to align their interests along with the wishes of the Soviet Union through further regulating access to Berlin. To test the waters, on 25 March 1948, the Soviets issued an order that hindered the movement of traffic between the American, French and British zones of occupation and Berlin stating that no cargo could leave Berlin without the expressed approval of the Soviet Commander.Each truck or train would be searched by Soviet authorities before it would be allowed to leave the city. On 2 April 1948, General Clay halted the use of military trains and ordered that all cargo be flown in and out of the city by air. This venture would be known affectionately as the 'Little Air Lift'. On 10 April 1948, the Soviets eased their restrictions but continued to harass Allied traffic in and out of the city. The Soviets then began a campaign of violations of West Berlin's airspace with their own military aircraft which resulted in a deadly incident on 5 April 1948 when a Soviet Yakovlev Yak-3 fighter collided with a British European Airways Vickers VC.1 Viking transport near RAF Gatow resulting in the deaths of all aboard the colliding aircraft.

The final calm before the store occurred when on 9 April, the Soviets first demanded that American communication equipment in Soviet territory be withdrawn thus preventing the use of navigational beacons to designate air routes. This was followed by a Soviet declaration demanding barges from the west to obtain a special clearance before entering Soviet occupied areas. With the introduction of the new Deutsche Mark in the western part of the country, the Soviets stated that the only currency allowed into Berlin would be one that they issued in a move to keep Germany weakened and in a state of recession. By the time the Soviets began to introduce their own currency into Berlin, the western Allies had already transported 250,000,000 Deutsche Marks into the city and it quickly took over as the standard currency of all four sectors of the city. The introduction of the Deutsche Mark and the Marshall Plan which would bring upon an economic miracle to the nation was seen as a move to undermine Soviet intentions and Stalin interpreted this a provocation against him. He now wanted the Allies out of Berlin completely.

On 18 June 1948, the Deutsche Mark was announced as the new currency to be used in the allied zones of occupation. The Soviets responded by halting all passenger trains and traffic on the autobahns of Berlin. On 21 June, the Soviets refused entry to an American military supply train and sent it back to American territory in western Germany. On 22 June, the Soviets introduced their own new currency that it called the 'Ostmark' for use in it's zone of occupation as a method to undermine the integrity of the Deutsche Mark. Also on the 22nd of June a Soviet official sent a memorandum to the Americans, British and French in the city stating that both their forces and the population of Berlin would be subjected to economic and administrative sanctions that would lead to the circulation in Berlin of only the currency of the Soviet occupation zone. This was followed by a propaganda campaign in which the Soviets denounced the United Kingdom, United States and France by radio, newspaper and loudspeaker. With a large Soviet military exercise on the outskirts of the city, rumors began to circulate of an impending Soviet invasion and occupation. German communists added to this state of aggitation when they staged protests, riots and attacks against pro-West German leaders in Berlin.

The Berlin Blockade would begin on 24 June 1948, when the Soviet forces halted all communications on land and water between the western zones and Berlin. This was quickly followed by the halting of all rail and water traffic in and out of Berlin. The next day, the Soviets halted all supplies of food to the civilian population of western Berlin as well as cut the flow of electricity from power plants in eastern Berlin to the West. For the time being, road access to the city was still authorized but only after a fourteen mile detour to a ferry crossing. The official reasoning was that Soviet forces were conducting repairs to critical infrastructure. Traffic from the western zones of occupation bound for Berlin were blockaded and all arguments permitting to the occupation rights in western Berlin fell on deaf ears. Only Soviet good will towards the western Allies made access to Berlin possible, but with no formal agreement in place the Soviets could negotiate the terms of usage of transit routes in and out of its zone of authority any way that it wished.

West Berlin was now in a critical state. It had on hand only enough food for 36 days, and enough coal to last for only 45 days. Military forces in West Berlin numbered only a force of 8,973 Americans, 7,606 British and 6,100 French in contrast to a force of one and a half million Soviet troops in East Berlin and the Soviet zone of occupation which surrounded it. On 13 June 1948, General Clay sent a cable to Washington D.C. reaffirming his stance in West Berlin and declaring that their would be no withdrawal from Berlin. While, the Soviets celebrated their blockade of Berlin and anticipated the withdrawal of western forces from eastern Germany, General Clay called the Soviets bluff, believing that the Soviets would not intentionally initiate World War III, especially not having just barely recovered from World War II. With limited options at his disposal, Clay heard numerous proposals from Allied leaders including an aggressive response to the blocakde proposed by General Curtis LeMay, the Commander of United States Air Forces in Europe in which waves of Boeing B-29 Stratofortress strategic bombers and fighter escorts would engage Soviet airbases while ground troops in western Germany would attempt a breakthrough to reach encircled Berlin. This plan was ultimately rejected by Clay.

With time running, out Clay authorized the use of Berlin's airways to undermine the Soviet blockade. This was a move that the Soviets had not counted on. On 30 November 1945, the Allies had recieved in writing the approval for free access to Berlin via three twenty three mile wide air corridors. Further undermining the Soviet blockade, the usage of cargo aircraft could not justify the Soviets identifying them as posing a military threat to its forces in eastern Germany and thus put them in a very delicate position when the aircraft refused to turn back of either engaging and shooting them down or backing down. Shooting down unarmed humanitarian aircraft would put the Soviets in violation of their own agreements and cause a political uproar and backlash against the Soviet Union that it would not want. Clay initially approached LeMay with an inquiry regarding whether or not his aircraft could move amounts of coal to support the operations of the city. LeMay promptly responded that his planes could carry anything required. When they approached the British forces, it was confirmed that the British had already been conducting their own airlift in support of British forces in Berlin.

During the 'Little Air Lift' British military planner Air Commodore Reginald Waite made calculations towards the resources required for supporting the entire populace of the city. His calculations equated to a requirement of seventeen hundred calories per person per day, in the form of 646 tons of flour and wheat, 125 tons of cereal, 64 tons of fat, 109 tons of meat and fish, 180 tons of dehydrated potatoes, 180 tons of sugar, 11 tons of coffee, 19 tons of powdered milk, 5 tons of whole milk for children, 3 tons of fresh yeast for baking, 144 tons of dehydrated vegetables, 38 tons of salt and 10 tons of cheese to support the population of Berlin. In conclusion nearly 1,534 tons were needed daily to keep the over two million inhabitants of the encircled city alive. Additionally beyond the food needs, West Berlin needed to be kept heated and powered, which would require another 3,475 tons of coal and gasoline to be flown in.

Initially ill prepared in comparison to the British, the Americans began organizing the positioning of planes to support the operation. The entire thing would get the final green light when General Albert Wedemeyer, US Army Chief of Plans and Operations visited Europe and endorsed the operation. Wedemeyer had overseen the largest airlift of the Second World War when American aircraft flew from bases in India, over the Hump in the Himalayas to China in the war against Japan. The ensuing operation would be dubbed 'Operation Vittles' by the Americans, 'Operation Plainfare' by the British and 'Operation Pelican' by the Australians when they committed additional airlift capailities in September 1948. On 24 June 1948 General LeMay appointed Brigadier General Joseph Smith, then the headquarters commandant for USAFE at Camp Lindsey, to serve as the Provisional Task Force Commander of the airlift operation.  On 25 June 1948 Clay gave the order to launch Operation Vittles. The next day a force of 32 Douglas C-47 Skytrains lifted off for Berlin hauling 80 tons of cargo, including milk, flour, and medicine. The first British Royal Air Force aircraft lifted off headed for Berlin on 28 June. At that time, the airlift was expected to last for only a duration of three weeks.

By 1 July, the system was set into motion with C-47s and Douglas C-54 Skymasters arriving in mass at Rhein Main Air Base. Rhein Main would serve as a solely C-54 base with Wiesbaden operating a mixture of C-47s and C-54s. The aircraft would fly northeast and enter West Berlin through southern air corridor designated the American corridor and land at Tempelhof Airport, offload their supplies then exit through the central air corridor designated the British corridor. Upon reaching the British zone of occupation, the aircraft would then turn south and return to their respective bases. The British Royal Air Force operated a similar resupply system, flying southeast from several airports in the Hamburg area through their assigned corridor into RAF Gatow in the British Sector, and then also returning out on the central corridor. They would then turn for home or land at Hanover depending on the circumstance. Unlike the Americans, the British also ran several round trip operations using their southeastern corridor. On 6 July, RAF Avro York and Douglas Dakotas (the Dakota was the British designation for the C-47 Skytrain) were joined by Short Sunderland flying boats of the Royal Navy. Flying boats operated from Finkenwerder on the Elbe River near Hamburg, flying to the Havel River adjacent to RAF Gatow. The corrosion resistant hull of the Sunderlands better suited them to the particular task of delivering baking powder and other salt products to the city.

A maintenance system was soon coordinated to accommodate the large number of flights. Crews would work three eight hour shifts rotating between C-54s and C-47s. Aircraft were scheduled to take off at an interval of every four minutes, staggered at an altitude of 1,000 feet higher than the preceding aircraft. The initial aircraft would operate at a height of 5,000 feet and each aircraft adding an additional 1,000 feet for each of five aircraft before the sixth aircraft would return to a 5,000 foot operational profile. The first week of the airlift saw an average of only 90 tons of supplies per day reaching West Berlin, this number would increase to nearly 1,000 tons per day by the end of the second week. Soviet authorities in the East ridiculed the operation declaring it a futile attempt to save face against the superior Soviet authority.

On 28 July 1948, Major General William H, Tunner arrived at Wiesbaden Airbase to take command of the airlift operation. Having also had experience with the airlift operation in the China-Burma-India campaign, he set about to reorganize the entire operation. On 13 August 1948 a C-54 crashed at Tempelhof and burst into flames at the end of the runway and a second C-54 landing behind it burst the tires of its landing gear trying to avoid the wreckage. A third Skymaster made a ground loop maneuver on an auxiliary runway and Tempelhof was closed when the control tower lost control of the situation, a move that greatly embarrassed Tunner. Although no one was killed in the crashes, the incident became known as 'Black Friday'. As a result of the Black Friday crash, Tunner ordered that Instrumental Flight Rules be in effect at all times regardless of visibility. In addition to this he instituted a policy that each aircraft would only have one chance to land at the airport, any aborted landing would result in the aircraft returning to its base in western Germany. Sighting easier convenience for loading and unloading of aircraft, Tunner soon made the decision to replace all C-47s with C-54s or larger aircraft.

Pilots were forbidden to leave their aircraft for any reason while on the ground in Berlin and military jeeps were converted into mobile snack bars often staffed with German women to distribute refreshments to the crews while they remained at their aircraft. Clearance documents and flight information were given to the pilots while they snacked. As a result of this method, the time on ground from the shutdown of engines on the ramp, unloading and turn around before heading back to Wiesbaden or Rhein Main was set at only thirty minutes. Operating profiles were later also adjusted with flights launching every three minutes instead of four with 500 foot separation rather than 1000, stacked in altitude from 4,000 to 6,000 feet operating altitude. Maintenance was strictly emphasized and given the highest priority to maximize turn around time to implement a goal of 1440 landings in West Berlin each day. This figure would mean, an aircraft would be landing in West Berlin for every minute there was in a day. The Germans countered the problem of manpower, with Berliners serving as unloaders and airfield repair crews, a task which was rewarded with additional rations. As the crews began to improve their execution of duty, unload times dropped dramatically and a record was set first when an entire 10 ton shipment of coal was offloaded from a C-54 in a span of ten minutes and then later a twelve man crew unloaded another 10 ton shipment from a C-54 in five minutes and forty five seconds.

After only a month of operations, daily flight operations flew more than 1,500 flights each day and delivered more than 4,500 tons of cargo, enough to keep West Berlin sufficiently supplied. Supply shipments improved to a rate of 5,000 tons a day.

One of the most memorable moments of the Berlin Airlift was known as 'Operation Little Vittles' this occurred when Colonel Gail Halvorsen used his off time to fly into Berlin and shot a series of home movies with a handheld camera. One day upon encountering a group of German children he introduced himself and he handed out two sticks of Wrigley's Doublemint gum and promised that if the children did not fight over the gum, he would bring more when he returned to Berlin. As he left, the German children divided up the gum as best they could and inquired as to how they would know that it was him when he returned. His reply was that he would wiggle his wings. The following day on his approach to Berlin, he put inputs into the controls which rocked the aircraft and he dropped chocolate bars attached to hankerchief parachutes to the children below. Everyday the number of children would increase and so to did his airdrops. Soon Base Ops at Tempelhof began receiving stacks of mail addressed to 'Uncle Wiggly Wings', 'The Chocolate Uncle' and the 'Chocolate Flier'. Initially Halvorsen's exploits were met with dissatisfaction from his commanding officer but ultimately the gesture was approved of by General Tunner who designated the mission as 'Operation Little Vittles' adding additional airplanes and pilots to Halvorsen's venture. When news of Operation Little Vittles reached the United States, children across th country enthusiastically donated candy of their own to be dropped to the German children. Some children even participated by attaching parachutes to the candies that would be dropped over Berlin. Soon, major manufacturers nationwide became involved. In the end, over three tons of candy were dropped on West Berlin, and the "operation" was designated as a success. The candy dropping aircraft were christened 'Raisin Bombers" or "Candy Bombers" by the German children.

In response to the mounting airlift operation, the Soviets first countered by offering free food to anyone who crossed into East Berlin and registered their ration cards with the Soviet authorities. The Soviet move was ultimately rejected by West Berliners. The Soviets then ramped up their propaganda campaign against the people of West Berlin utilizing psychological warfare and declaring that all of Berlin fell under Soviet authority. They further declared that it was only a matter of time before the Western allies abandoned the city and the populous of West Berlin. As further measures, Soviet and German communist harassed democratically elected officials from West Berlin that had to conduct its business in the city hall which was located in the Soviet sector of the city. In an effort to harass the airlift itself, the Soviets often attempted to impede on the arrival of inbound aircraft by varying means including buzzing transports with Soviet fighters, scheduling parachute jumps in the paths of the air corridors and using searchlights to disorient pilots flying at night. Try as they may, none of the Soviet measures were effective in hampering the operation.

By the onset of winter, estimates for amounts needed to sustain the population in winter were adjusted and the transportation force was enhanced when the Royal Air Force added larger Handley Page Hasting transports to their available fleet. To accommodate for winter operations, Tunner hired a force of majorily former Luftwaffe ground crews to maintain the airfields. Due to weight restrictions imposed on the airfields at RAF Gatow and Tempelhof Airport, and the stresses put upon them by the rotations of C-54s, a 6,000 foot asphalt runway was constructed at Tempelhof to better accommodate the air fleet. The French although entangled in the Indochina War supplied several aging Junkers Ju-52 transports to supply its personnel in Berlin. French aircraft flew into Tegel on the shores of Lake Tegel. There was one problem with this, the approach to Tegel Airfield was hampered by the placement of a Soviet radio tower in proximity to the airfield. After the Soviets refused to remove the tower, French General Jean Ganeval ordered that the tower be demolished and on 16 December 1948, the tower was blown up much to the delight of the Berliners. The destruction of the radio tower would spark widespread protest from the Soviets. When General Ganeval's Soviet counterpart General Alexej Kotikow, asked him angrily by phone how he could have committed such an act, Ganeval is said to have replied laconically, "With dynamite, my dear colleague."

To improve control over the air traffic entering and exiting Berlin, the newly developed Ground Controlled Approach radar system was sent to Europe and installed at both Tempelhof and  Fassberg in the British Zone in West Germany, a measure which guaranteed operations in all weather conditions. Soon the only hinderance on flight operations would prove to be the weather itself. The months of November and December 1948 were the worst of the entire operation. On many occasions aircraft would fly to Berlin only to be met with a thick layer of fog which prevented landing and they were forced to return to West Germany. On one occasion on 20 November 1948, forty two aircraft departed for West Berlin, but only one managed to there. At one point, West Berlin only had enough coal for one week of operation. The shortage was made up for ultimately when weather conditions improved and more than 171,000 tons of supplies were delivered in January 1949, followed by 152,000 tons in February, and 196,223 tons in March.

By April 1949, General Tunner declared that he wanted to do something big to boost the morale of everyone involved in the operation. On Easter Sunday, he set to break all records and he would do so by only hauling coal thus in preparation for this coal was stockpiled for the effort. By the time it was completed, 12,941 tons of coal had been delivered in 1,383 flights to West Berlin, without a single accident. A welcome side effect of the effort was that operations in general were boosted, and tonnage increased from 6,729 tons to 8,893 tons per day in the days following the Easter operation. In total, the airlift delivered 234,476 tons in April of 1949. On 21 April, it was recorded that the tonnage of supplies flown into the city exceeded amounts that were previously brought into the city by rail.

The Airlift operation proved an embarrassment to the Soviets and the Easter operation was the nail in the coffin. On 15 April 1949, the Soviets announced that they were willing to lift the blockade of Berlin. After a series of negotiations on 4 May 1949, the Allies reached an agreement which would end the Blockade in an eight day period. The Soviets relented and removed their blockade of Berlin at 12:01 on the morning of 12 May 1949. The British drove a convoy through Berlin as a symbol of the victory of the airlift and the first train from West Germany arrived in West Berlin at 5:32am. Celebrations erupted across West Berlin to commemorate the lifting of the Blockade. Flights however would continue into Berlin to build up a surplus of supplies in case the Soviets tried to blockade the city again in the future. By 24 July 1949, three months worth of supplies had been stockpiled at facilities in West Berlin, ensuring that there was ample time to restart the Airlift if it were required. The Berlin Airlift officially came to an end on 30 September 1949, after fifteen months of continued air operation. In total the United States delivered 1,783,573 tons and the United Kingdom 541,937 tons, totaling 2,326,406 tons, nearly two-thirds of which was coal, on some 278,228 flights to airfields in West Berlin.

The Royal Australian Air Force bolsted this number further with the  delivery of 7,968 tonnes of freight and 6,964 passengers while flying 2,062 sorties. The force of C-47s and C-54s together flew over 92 million miles during the operation, almost the distance from Earth to the Sun. At the height of the Berlin Airlift, one plane was landing at an airfield in West Berlin every thirty seconds. The cost of the Airlift was 101 fatalities including 40 Britons and 31 Americans, mostly due to crashes. Seventeen American and eight British aircraft crashed during the duration of the operation. Financial responsibility of the Airlift was shared between the United States, United Kingdom, and West Germany. Some 692 transport aircraft were engaged in the Berlin Airlift, of which more than 100 were operated by civilian aviation entities.

In 1974 Colonel Gail Halvorsen, the original 'Candy Bomber' was decorated with the Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz 'Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany', one of Germany's highest medals for his actions during the Berlin Airlift.