The BRIXMIS Story

[Old Bricks]

There is a repeat of the BRIXMIS Story on Radio 4 Extra tonight (Monday 17 July) at 2030 for those who have missed it before. 30 minutes.

[Wokkafans]

On iPlayer Radio as well.

BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Brixmis Story (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007nf6t)

[BEagle]

Hi OB!

Thanks for the heads-up! An interesting programme concerning an era of the Cold War about which many of today's RAF know diddly-squat.

[Two's in]

SOXMIS of course, being their Soviet counterparts in West Germany. The SOXMIS guys would shadow huge military convoys knowing every 18 year old squaddie had been told to report any SOXMIS plates to the RMP. Cue a long slow pass on the Autobahn followed by hundreds of sighting reports of the same 2 bored Russians. Counter Intelligence indeed.

[serf]

An intelligence gathering Chipmunk would be a cheap option for the RAF, like in Berlin.

[ICM]

Lots of BRIXMIS-related material in this RAF Historical Society Seminar's proceedings:

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/Research/RAF-Historical-Society-Journals/Journal-23-Seminar-Cold-War-Intelligence-Gathering.pdf

[FantomZorbin]

Interesting book: BRIXMIS by Tony Geraghty ISBN 978-0-00-638673-5

[Warmtoast]

Two's in
had been told to report any SOXMIS plates to the RMP. Cue a long slow pass on the Autobahn followed by hundreds of sighting reports of the same 2 bored Russians. Counter Intelligence indeed.
Happy days -I remember it well ringing Herford Military, as this piece of memorabilia given to me when I passed the BFG Driving Test way back in 1972 testifies.


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/JHQ%20Rheindahlen/SoxmisBAORreportingform.jpg

[VIProds]

I was lucky enough to invite two members of BRIXMIS to give talks at our ACA Branch meeting, the second member being the pilot of that Chipmunk that flew over Berlin. A fascinating insight.

[Haraka]

I was twiddling the knobs on the Haraka house wireless in South Africa some years ago, when suddenly Old Bricks's tones came droning in over the airwaves with his tales of derring do .
The memsahib had quickly to run for a restorative G&T as I was close to having an aneurysm.
I didn't realize that he had ever actually held down a steady job until then.

[Old Bricks]

Haraka
I'm sorry to have shocked you. I was not aware that Mr Marconi's waves were actually strong enough to go as far as the southern colonial areas. You are quite correct, though - I never did hold down a steady job. I looked on my entire RAF career as merely training and rehearsal for my subsequent retirement, with the only realistic resettlement training being the selection and separation of Soviet turds from their associated wiping surfaces. Winter was better than summer - a sharp whack with a stick could normally separate a frozen one from its attachment, as long as you avoided the potential for richochets. It just shows that staff training was well worth the effort.
OB

[thunderbird7]

The Shadow....

[BEagle]

I always thought that many of the dire publications which came down to squadron level should have been published on absorbent paper, as they would then at least have had one worthwhile purpose....

It seems that the Sovs had a similar idea, although no doubt their paper was rather tougher and less bottom-friendly.

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the time we were all on that train to Grantham, eh Old Bricks and Haraka?

[Old Bricks]

BEags
Pretty horrific thought that it's already 49 years since a trainload of spotty oiks polled up at Grantham with our entire belongings in one suitcase each. Was it a steam train? And all for 16/8d a day.
OB

[BEagle]

Indeed, OB!

Not just 16/8 per day though, didn't we also have free haircuts from the Mad Slasher?

It wasn't a steam hauled train though, they'd been out of service on that particular line for several years by then. In fact the very last BR steam service of all took place only a month earlier...:8

The chap sitting opposite me on the way down to Grantham didn't even last 24 hours; the son of a Colonel, he left the very next morning after seeing the luxury of the South Brick Lines.

[Mogwi]

BEags
Pretty horrific thought that it's already 49 years since a trainload of spotty oiks polled up at Grantham with our entire belongings in one suitcase each. Was it a steam train? And all for 16/8d a day.
OB

You were lucky! My first month's pay at BRNC was £14 and 10 old shillings. Mind you we got tokens for 300 blue-liners as well. Managed to run a car and a couple of girlfriends on it though. Now THAT was austerity!!

Mog

[BEagle]

I'd love to know whether a BRIXMIS tale I was once told actually happened...

Some boffin wanted to know how thick the armour was on some new Sovietski tankski. So they gave a chap a boffin-jobber device and told him to find one of said tanks, hold the device against the tank's turret, press the tit and it would take a reading.

They didn't quite tell him everything though.

Chap finally found out where one of these tanks was parked, crept out in the dead of night with the boffin's toy, pressed it against the tank and pressed the tit as briefed.

A loud 'BOOOOOIIIIINNNNG' came from the device, which was obviously some sonar system. Chum legged it sharpish and about half-a-heartbeat later the turret hatch flew open and a dazed tank mate peered out in terror holding his head in his hands wondering what the hell had just woken him up..... It seems their crews sleep with their horses and/or tanks!

No doubt the touring team nearly wet themselves with laughter once safely back inside their Opel Senator or whatever...

[huge72]

A very interesting programme especially when I recognised the West Country tones of an old crewman friend of mine. As a parallel to this I can recommend Paul Hickley's history of 60Sqn ''Holding the Heavens'' (ISBN 978-1-5262-0164-5) Chapter 9 Operation Hallmark. It gives a full account of the Pembroke's task flying up and down the corridor.

[teeteringhead]

There's lots of (open source) stuff on the wackier sort of airborne int gathering - including the Pembroke and the Berlin Chippie here (http://www.spyflight.co.uk) on the "Spyflight" website run by an old mate (and occasional PPRuNer) Heimdall.

[Wander00]

Then there was the new cadet at the Towers, who by the next morning had disappeared, leaving a£10 note I think it was pinned to his pillow with a note apologising for any trouble he had caused, but this was not really the place for him

[Haraka]

Wander00
Probably had too much money for his own good. I remember my first purchase . 27s 6d for a pair of jeans and feeling guilty at being so profligate!
Getting back on track, may I again recommend "Looking Down the Corridors" by Kevin Wright and Pete Jefferies. Pete was instrumental in getting MoD to approve the UK release of much of the material in the book about the airborne missions ( including those of the USA and Fr) up and down to Berlin and around the "chukka".

[BEagle]

I was in the OM bar at Valley once in late 1975, chatting with an ATCO who had a nav brevet. He mentioned that he'd been on 60 Sqn at Wildenrath "Flying Air Marshals to NATO pi$$-ups and golf competitions".

"But didn't you also fly those Pembroke C(PR) Mk1s I saw when I was holding there in the summer? Must have been useful when pottering up the Berlin corridors!"

He went very pale, grabbed me by the shoulder and took me over to a quiet corner. "I don't know how the hell you knew about that, but never mention it again to anyone - it's VERY classified!"

"I didn't know anything, just guessed. But you've now confirmed my guess. I will keep schtum though". And I did!!

[NRU74]

I first went to Berlin c1968 when I 'indulged' from Benson and managed to get a room in Edinburgh House. In the bar I met (the late) Tom Slatter who was with Brixmis. He'd been aked to speak to a padre about the padre's experience. There'd been some sort of Padres' Convention with lots of Army and RAF padres who'd come up from the 'zone' as those stationed in W Berlin still called the FDR. Apparently several shandies had been consumed and one of the padres had fallen asleep on the S Bahn and woke up in E Germany proper. He got off the train and had absolutely no idea what to do, whether to give himself up to the E German police, Russians or whatever. However, at 5pm lots of factory hooters sounded and streams of workers came to the station and boarded the trains. This padre joined them on a train towards W Berlin and got back without being checked by anybody. Tom had been asked to ascertain exactly where this guy had ended up and to see whether this method could be used in future.

[Haraka]

Indeed Beags. It was absolutely bleeding obvious to anybody who could put two and together. However as it was then so highly classified (Mission "S", platform "TS") those in the know weren't then in a position to stifle open gossip.
To have downgraded the classification would have possibly let the other side have the excuse of having "Semi-Officially" got hold of information supporting the fact and thus given them full excuse for creating political mayhem. As it was , of course they would have known, but would have had a problem proving it. In fact both sides benefited in a way as it kept tensions down by removing a degree of unknowns.
They also played games with us on occasion, just to let us know that they were fully aware of what was going on.

[ricardian]

I was in the OM bar at Valley once in late 1975, chatting with an ATCO who had a nav brevet. He mentioned that he'd been on 60 Sqn at Wildenrath "Flying Air Marshals to NATO pi$$-ups and golf competitions".
"But didn't you also fly those Pembroke C(PR) Mk1s I saw when I was holding there in the summer? Must have been useful when pottering up the Berlin corridors!"
He went very pale, grabbed me by the shoulder and took me over to a quiet corner. "I don't know how the hell you knew about that, but never mention it again to anyone - it's VERY classified!"
"I didn't know anything, just guessed. But you've now confirmed my guess. I will keep schtum though". And I did!!

Details here (https://www.16va.be/pembrokes_part1_eng.html)

[Old Bricks]

BEagle


"Not just 16/8 per day though, didn't we also have free haircuts from the Mad Slasher?"

There was nothing free about the haircuts! It was the ultimate insult - we were charged for 4 haircuts a month on our mess bills, whether you had them or not. After you swanned off to a life of leisure at university and we moved up to College Hall, there was a revolt by the cadets at an AGM, as virtually everyone went into Sleaford or Grantham for a haircut rather than suffer the indignities of College Hall Slasher, who therefore spent most of his days reading the paper. We demanded that we should only pay for haircuts taken. Shock horror from PMC and staff - mutterings about mutiny. Overwhelmingly voted for by cadets, and then vetoed by PMC. However, the staff later relented and we just paid per haircut. Amazingly, the quality of the haircuts improved no end....

[Old Bricks]

I'd love to know whether a BRIXMIS tale I was once told actually happened...

Some boffin wanted to know how thick the armour was on some new Sovietski tankski. So they gave a chap a boffin-jobber device and told him to find one of said tanks, hold the device against the tank's turret, press the tit and it would take a reading.

They didn't quite tell him everything though.

Chap finally found out where one of these tanks was parked, crept out in the dead of night with the boffin's toy, pressed it against the tank and pressed the tit as briefed.

A loud 'BOOOOOIIIIINNNNG' came from the device, which was obviously some sonar system. Chum legged it sharpish and about half-a-heartbeat later the turret hatch flew open and a dazed tank mate peered out in terror holding his head in his hands wondering what the hell had just woken him up..... It seems their crews sleep with their horses and/or tanks!

No doubt the touring team nearly wet themselves with laughter once safely back inside their Opel Senator or whatever...


I have to say that I had never heard of this, although that isn't surprising, as many things dreamed up by mad scientists were tried out and then dropped. The daftest one I can remember was when I got a call from some boffin on the secure line who said he understood that we could wander round the DDR at will, and he had an electronic device that he wanted tested against a particular Soviet piece of equipment. I said that it might be possible - how big was the kit? Oh, says boffin, we've been working hard to really miniaturise it. How miniaturised? says I, thinking of something no bigger than a small briefcase. Oh, says boffin, it fits very nicely into a 2-wheel trailer, and the antenna only needs to go up 12-15 feet! End of conversation.
I have to say, though, that we did have some stunningly good kit developed by really smart scientists for specific tasks.

[Haraka]

Old Bricks. A slight thread drift which you might like to comment on. An earlier poster on this thread ( Teeters #19) refers us to the " Spyflight" site .
According to this site 2 Sqn Phantoms in RAFG "were only equipped with the (EMI recce) pod for barely a year".
So were you only mainly showing ATC cadets around apart from when 41 were visiting?
I think we should be told.

P.S. Re:Slasher.
One of 99A's Cadets ( A. H...s) was a former male model who arrived with well sculptured hair and a magnificent set of sideboards.
Having slaughtered the guy's barnet, Slasher then looked closely at his sideboards .
" Very nice sir ,would you like to keep them?"
"Yes please!"
Zip! Zip! and Slasher handed them to him.

[Dougie M]

Many years back when the Flight Checking Force re equipped with the mighty Argosy there were still a number of Varsities around and Navs had to be dual capable, so very often we had to calibrate landing aids using a balloon theodolite which put the aircraft upside down and the receiver aerial was in the wingtip. Anyhow there was one Varsity which went to Berlin...a lot. Navving this beast down the corridor on a decca flight map was challenging with occasional interceptions from the GDR Migs. I wasn't happy one day and announced that I would go aft and take a drift reading. Don't step behind that curtain I was advised if I still had prospects for a family. It was all worth it for a night on the Kdamm and the Munchener Hofbrauhaus.

[roving]

ricardian,

I know something of the provenance of at least one of 6o Sqn's Pembrokes.

When in the 1950's my father took over as flt commander of 267 Sqn in KL amongst the steeds he inherited were several Pembrokes. One of these he used to collect my older brother from Singapore, he having flown there from the UK en route to KL, to join us for summer hols. I think dad had to kiss hands with the AoC, who was stationed in Singapore, for permission for that flight.

One of those Pembrokes, WV701 C.1, it appears, was ultimately shipped to 60 Sqn in Berlin.

Percival Pembroke - RAF Seletar - Singapore (http://www.rafseletar.co.uk/flying-squadrons/percival-pembroke/)

[BEagle]

Old Bricks, I'd forgotten that we were actually billed for Slasher's handiwork! He was a mean s.o.b too - "How would sir like it cut?" followed by the usual hack and slash.... After leaving Towers for the more civilised life of University, it was months before I needed another haircut.

Another quaint Flt Cdt requirement was the ridiculous 'civilian hat' which we had to wear in Cranwell village, Lincoln, Sleaford or Grantham. Come the day of our commissioning, we all burnt the wretched things on the JMPG! Fortunately this was before 'the troubles' became rather serious, otherwise it would have been dead easy for anyone with evil intent to spot a Cranwell cadet - the shave-headed prat in the hat!

Toward the end of my first tour, my boss (rather an unconventional character for a V-bomber Sqn Cdr) told me that a couple of interesting posts might be coming up, if I was interested, one of which was to fly the Chipmunk from Gatow. I really wish now that I'd taken up his offer; I still remembered much of my 'O' level German, which I'm sure would have been handy. But I was desperate to try to get back onto fast jets.... Looking back on that now, it was rather mistake - although it took a few hundred F-4 hours before I realised that!

Presumably the only recce device available for the Chippie was something hand held by the other seat occupant?

[Old Bricks]

Haraka
I was with II(AC) from Jan 73-Jan 76, and we had a full set of pods all that time. I seem to remember that the first ones were issued to II(AC) in 1970, and they finished in 76 when Sandy Wilson took over the first Jaguar recce II(AC). I don't remember much about the UK-based reserve 41 Sqn - I think they came out to Laarbruch occasionally to learn how to do it properly - but I could be confusing them with ATC cadets.

[Old Bricks]

BEagle
The front seat observer had twoNikon F3 camera bodies, each with motor-drive, one fitted with a 180mm lens,and the other with a 500mm mirror lens. In addition, a 1000mm lens was carried, plus a large bag of films. The pilot in the back seat put the left wing onto the target and went round in circles around the target whilst the observer took as many shots as were required, changing film and/or camera body/lens also as required. When finished, pilot flew to next target, briefing en route whilst observer changed and wrote film number and ASA on each exposed film. Sorties generally were over 2 hours and, from my limited experience, the observer came back absolutely knackered, sweaty and clutching sick bags from the effects of looking down a 500/1000mm tube whilst going round in tight circles. The regular pilot and observer crew certainly earned their flying pay.

[Haraka]

Old Bricks Indeed: my recollection was that the original idea was to have a flight of Recce podded Phantoms per FGR2 squadron ,before common sense took over .
Mind you It didn't stop 41 winning all the trophies we were entered for recce and otherwise in 75. You may recall I hopped back from when were serving on detachment together to win that International Military Aircraft Recognition Comp. for the squadron as an additional 41 RIC contribution. I can't remember precisely what II(AC)( Air Cadets?) Squadron RIC won that year. Wasn't it the Laarbruch Station darts tournament?

[BEagle]

Old Bricks, how ever did the observer cope with blur using 500mm or 1000mm lenses in the vibrating environment of a Chipmunk? You must have had some very high ISO film! For air-to-air I used a Canon T70 with a 35-200mm zoom, ISO 200 Ektachrome set 'Tv' and let the camera set the aperture after spot metering the target. But I was taking happy snaps, not sneaky beaky stuff.

And before any d*ckhead smart Alec comments, never when I was the operating pilot and always with the camera on a neckstrap well clear of the aircraft controls!

Regarding cameras, certain folks in London were rather pleased when I'd taken some Bear shots in my early days on the VC10K which I'd taken with my own camera (Olympus Pen-FT with 150mm telephoto lens). So much so that they immediately procured 4 x Canon SLRs with 300mm telephoto lenses for us to take along on tanker Q trips, plus LOTS of film. In fact the 'official' photos in 'The Secret Squirrel Book of Planes' of the Bear H were taken from the flight deck of a VC10K.

Always wanted to know what was on the tapes we sent off when listening in on the Bears' chat frequency - I did hear that certain night time frolics involving the Havana ladies, plus copious rum and vodka were occasionally discussed...:ok:

I always took a copy of The Sun calendar with me on Q, to hold up against the big window of the VC10K for the benefit of the Ivans in their little rubber hats. Little did Samantha Fox know the part her parts played in perestroika!

[Haraka]

Beags. I'll wait until Scrotum has wheeled Old Bricks back up from the conservatory on to his veranda ,so that he may shout a dictated reply to that one: before chiming in "meself " on the camera issues.

[taxydual]

Dougie M

Anyhow there was one Varsity which went to Berlin...a lot.

WJ916 perchance?

[Haraka]

Dougie M

Anyhow there was one Varsity which went to Berlin...a lot.

WJ916 perchance?

I saw it come in to Guterlsoh occasionally for a while post the beginning of 1977. I think that was the last time I saw one operationally. Obviously I initially expressed interest, before the penny dropped that it was sensitive: so that was that.

[dragartist]

Dougie M

Anyhow there was one Varsity which went to Berlin...a lot.

WJ916 perchance?

Role assumed by XS664. Started out in grey and green. Ended up camaflged to look like 115 flight checker. Only thing, the big egg under the belly gave the game away.

[G-ARZG]

XS644,methinks...

XS664 was going to be a TSR2....

[dragartist]

XS644,methinks...

XS664 was going to be a TSR2....

Absolutely correct, my confusion with one of our other three aircraft.
I was quite surprised this did not get a mention in Pete Jeffries book.
This aircraft was quite odd with a second Nav Stn special floor with fittings for three two man racks and seats. A big power supply rack, extra lox pot and fans with complex cooling ducting under the floor.

It was all ripped out and turned into a flat floor before being shipped off back to 115. Not sure if it went to NZ or South America.
Used to use a fair bit of water meths when we took off from Wyton,

All the drawings of this went up to Waddington along with those of the Varsity on microfilm.

[ian16th]

BEagle


"Not just 16/8 per day though, didn't we also have free haircuts from the Mad Slasher?"

There was nothing free about the haircuts! It was the ultimate insult - we were charged for 4 haircuts a month on our mess bills, whether you had them or not. After you swanned off to a life of leisure at university and we moved up to College Hall, there was a revolt by the cadets at an AGM, as virtually everyone went into Sleaford or Grantham for a haircut rather than suffer the indignities of College Hall Slasher, who therefore spent most of his days reading the paper. We demanded that we should only pay for haircuts taken. Shock horror from PMC and staff - mutterings about mutiny. Overwhelmingly voted for by cadets, and then vetoed by PMC. However, the staff later relented and we just paid per haircut. Amazingly, the quality of the haircuts improved no end....
Spoilt rotten you lot were!

In 1952 as a Boy Entrant on 2/6 a day, we were deducted a 1/- a month, for which we had an many haircuts as we were told to have.

[Wander00]

Haraka - good job you were not a Lightning flt cdr at Binbrook in the early 1980s. One ISTR was severely marked down on his F1369 by the staish for wearing jeans when gardening!
BTW, I have the book and have learned a lot

[Old Bricks]

BEagle
We tended to use 400ASA B/W film mostly, with occasional 400ASA Ektachrome for colour if the colour added more int to the target. Because both the 500 and the 1000mm mirror lenses had fixed apertures, the only control available was either shutter speed or pushing the ASA. On the ground, even in the summer, using the 1000mm handheld against the underneath of aircraft, it was necessary to find your own personal minimum shutter speed, which came with lots of practise. Mine was 250th, so the ASA had to be pushed to match that - normally from 800 ASA up to 6400ASA in the grey days of winter - unless the snow on the ground gave a reflective helping hand. In the aircraft, the same applied, although 500th was my minimum, making sure you never touched the cockpit surrounds. In later years (after 1988ish) the Mission changed generally to 400ASA colour print, but the analysts tended to prefer B/W for getting into details.

[air pig]

Thread revival, reading the Tony Geraghty book regarding BRIXMIS. We have been regaled on various threads about the Chipmunks and Pembrokes but what about the ground tours chasing around what was East Germany and their many areas of interest. I remember the old Recognition Journal and their very blurred pictures taken in East Germany. Is there anybody here who can tell a story of what happened on the ground? Some indeed had a lot of 'interaction' with both the Russians including Spetznaz and the Stasi who they called 'narks'. I suspect there is still an interesting story to tell.

[unmanned_droid]

BRIXMIS is one of the most interesting parts of the cold war for me, by far. I remember reading a book about it - probably the Geraghty one - on holiday and not being able to put it down. And that's probably the tame stuff.

I was born 25 years late.

[MG]

I’ve just finished BRIXMIS, The Last Cold War Mission by Steve Gibson. I’ve always been interested in the mission as one of my old nav instructors did a tour there. He gets a mention in the book.

[bridgets boy]

Checkpoint Charlie by Iain Macgregor is also a good [lockdown] read, covering the post war years in good detail and explaining WHY some events occurred. It talks about Brixmis, and is particularly good concerning the military confrontations and actions when the wall came down, with insights into the Soviet attitude and Russian patriotic priorities. It's very readable as it relies on witness narratives.

[SpringHeeledJack]

I remember watching a video (from the driver's perspective) inside a UK BRIXMIS vehicle that was driving around East Germany when they came across a convoy and on being spotted sensed mal-intentions from the GDR commander and the UK vehicle started reversing at speed in fight or flight mode to get away and avoid conflict. I'm sure there were times that this was not possible and violence ensued.

[Less Hair]

US Major Nicholson got shot by a soviet guard while on duty within East Germany. At the end of this link (from page 14) there is some East German secret police document from that time. Note that first aid was denied.
https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/108637/09_Military_Liaison_Missions.pdf

From the original Stasi report:After about ten minutes the vehicle entered the shooting range once more and stopped approximately 30 meters in front of the tank sheds. Major Nicholson left the vehicle, approached the tank sheds, tried to open them, and took photographs. These actions were observed by the Soviet guard. At 3.55 p.m. the guard acted according to his instructions. After a warning call not acknowledged by Nicholson, the guard fired a warning shot. Nicholson ignored it and sprinted directly to his vehicle. He still did not stop when ordered. Thereafter the Soviet guard fired a targeted shot, Nicholson went down about three meters in front of his vehicle. Sergeant Schatz was prevented by the Soviet guard to leave the vehicle. Nicholson died at the place of action.

On several occasions mission vehicles were intentionally rammed. At least one French soldier died this way. This was no game but serious business.

[Tashengurt]

The Cold war conversations podcast has an episode in which a former Brixmis operator is interviewed.
Worth a listen.

[Krystal n chips]

I'm sure it would be equally interesting to learn about Soxmis little ventures and sight seeing tours.....

[pr00ne]

Checkpoint Charlie by Iain Macgregor is also a good [lockdown] read, covering the post war years in good detail and explaining WHY some events occurred. It talks about Brixmis, and is particularly good concerning the military confrontations and actions when the wall came down, with insights into the Soviet attitude and Russian patriotic priorities. It's very readable as it relies on witness narratives.

bridgets boy,

many thanks for the recommendation, and I heartily endorse your comments, acquired it via Amazon kindle and it is indeed a fascinating read.

[dhp41]

The Cold war conversations podcast has an episode in which a former Brixmis operator is interviewed.
Worth a listen.

https://coldwarconversations.com/episode21/

[RAFEngO74to09]

I found this interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dQfp8KUdYA

[High Average]

I always wanted to join the RAF, and remember reading books about aircraft in the late 70s/early 80s. I often wondered where the grainy aircraft photos came from. I have now been in the RAF for 32 years and have a Father-in-Law who was on BRIXMIS. His stories are certainly interesting, and he is very proud of the fact that he was never caught by the 'narks'. He tells a story about being the driver on one mission when they were ambushed by East German forces. The RAF Officer in the back was crying with fear and demanded that they surrender. My Father-in-Law ignored this and sped off bouncing across fields and ditches back to homeplate. They made it back safely and he drove the wrecked Opel back into MT and immediately signed for a brand new one!

[Old Bricks]

This may be disappointing, but I can assure you that the photographs taken out on the ground in the GDR were clear and in focus. The decision to blur them was a policy decision to try to hide our capabilities from the Sovs. I don't think it did! As to what went on on the ground, the following is an extract from some notes about a (relatively) normal day for an Air Tour in the mid-80s - Air Tour being normally an RAF officer and WO (Master Aircrew) plus a cpl driver who could have been RAF or army.It was almost impossible to come up with a first sighting of a major item of equipment such as an aircraft, missile or radar system, since virtually all of them had been observed by other means whilst under development in the Soviet Union, but the essential item that the Mission could bring to the intelligence solution was the close-up, or, particularly, the view from underneath. On aircraft, the images of flying controls, pods, weapons and antennae were something that only observation from ground level could obtain. Military attaches were another source of such imagery, but they were severely constricted by their diplomatic status as to where they could go, whilst the Mission could play the "risk versus gain" game without such concerns. In addition, unlike the basically static images that could be derived from satellite imagery of new aircraft or weapons in the Soviet Union, Mission tourers could observe and record them in use, seeing tactics, manoeuvres and weapon delivery as it happened. As with all elements of the overall intelligence "picture", the art and success comes with an analyst's ability to link together information from a number of sources to complete the "big picture".

One of these occurrences came during a visit to Altenburg Soviet airfield, between Leipzig and Dresden. This was the home of a regiment of Flogger J strike/attack aircraft, and was a popular destination for air tours as it seemed to be one of the higher grades of unit that introduced new weapons and tactics. We were able to establish ourselves in a good OP and then heard a fairly large number of aircraft taking off - we were at the landing end of the airfield. About 40 minutes later, a stream of Flogger Js came into land, many of which were carrying a new (to us) pod of some sort on the wing pylons. In good weather we were able to get good pictures of each of them on the approach, and, in our log, record the bort (side) number, weapon/pod fit and, more usefully, the exact landing time. Unable to decide what was going on, we waited, and, within a couple of hours, had a repeat performance, but, this time, were able to image the strange pods to see that they now had openings in the bottom, revealing empty interiors. Interestingly, we could also see that the bort numbers were landing in exactly the same sequence as in the morning. On returning to West Berlin, we commented on this in the Highlight Report which was circulated around the various intelligence units in Berlin, including the US and French Missions, and, by the next morning were receiving numbers of requests for further information.

This event led to a very useful series of discussions and reports. The Altenburg Floggers in the first wave had flown to the main Soviet air-to-ground range at Gadow Rossow, to the north-west of Berlin. There they had flown a rehearsal for the afternoon live demonstration of a coordinated attack using the new pods, which turned out to be a form of bomb dispenser. This activity was observed by an air tour from the US Mission, and had also featured in the overwatch of the signals intelligence (Sigint) and radar units. When all the images from the tours, plus the description of tactics used at the range, were put together with the radar plot and the identification of individual aircraft with their weapon fit or new pod, plus the ability of the Sigint units to tie together bort number, weapon/pod fit and therefore callsign from the accurate landing times that we were able to provide, a first-rate report was able to be produced.

[Old Bricks]

With regard to injuries and deaths, Adjutant Chef Mariotti of the French Mission was killed in a deliberate ramming set up by the Stasi in Halle on 22 Mar 84. Nick Nicholson of the US Mission was shot on 23 Mar 85. BRIXMIS did not suffer any deaths, but there were numerous incidents, including serious wounding from gunshots, over the years. BRIXMIS was the largest Mission, with 31 Soviet passes (ie 31 personnel could travel in the GDR), whilst the French only had 18 and the US 14. That did mean that BRX could tour with 3 personnel in each vehicle, which was much safer for lookout etc than the 2 that the US were obliged to use. The French used either 2 or 3, depending on the task. All 3 Missions had many rammings and attempted rammings by Soviet and East German military, but they, unless injury resulted, were looked on as a working hazard. Luckily, I don't think H&S applied in the GDR, and I don't remember anyone being tasked to write an H&S Risk Assessment!

[diginagain]

Ramming an apple from the rat-pack into the flash-eliminator of a cannon while avoiding detection as a trainload of vehicles was sat in a marshalling-yard gave us the calibre of the main armament carried by BMP-2. There are a number of verified 'tourists' on ARRSE.

[Q-SKI]

Driving skills amazing, legend

[air pig]

From the American perspective.

Home Base of ColdWarSpies (http://www.coldwarspies.com/)

[rogerk]

[QUOTE=Warmtoast;9834333]Two's in

Happy days -I remember it well ringing Herford Military, as this piece of memorabilia given to me when I passed the BFG Driving Test way back in 1972 testifies.


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/JHQ%20Rheindahlen/SoxmisBAORreportingform.jpg
Just looked in my log book.
651 Sqn AAC - Sioux 548 - 16 June 1971 - 1.4 hours - SOXMIS car search !!

[eko4me]

[QUOTE=Warmtoast;9834333]Two's in
Happy days -I remember it well ringing Herford Military, as this piece of memorabilia given to me when I passed the BFG Driving Test way back in 1972 testifies.


I remember seeing one of those plates in NW Germany back in about 1972/3 when I was a kid on a family caravan holiday. Couldn't believe my eyes at the time that there were Soviet military vehicles driving around W. Germany and it wasn't until I read Geraghty's book decades later that it all fell finally into place.

[Less Hair]

The Soviets were famous in West Germany for driving around in huge "Sovtransauto" trucks that typically "broke down" needing hours of repairs close to western barracks and other places of interest. They were suspected to contain electronic intelligence equipment and crews. Like those "fishing" trawlers.

[Haraka]

The Soviets were famous in West Germany for driving around in huge "Sovtransauto" trucks that typically "broke down" needing hours of repairs close to western barracks and other places of interest. They were suspected to contain electronic intelligence equipment and crews. Like those "fishing" trawlers.
Not to mention the one pulled in to a lay by on the A1 alongside Brampton,,,,,,,,,,,,,, a few hundred yards away from JARIC (UK).

[Green Flash]

The Soviets were famous in West Germany for driving around in huge "Sovtransauto" trucks that typically "broke down" needing hours of repairs close to western barracks and other places of interest. They were suspected to contain electronic intelligence equipment and crews. Like those "fishing" trawlers.
When in Germany in the 80's I was told that those trucks co-drivers were Russian tank commanders on a route recce.

[eko4me]

Not to mention the one pulled in to a lay by on the A1 alongside Brampton,,,,,,,,,,,,,, a few hundred yards away from JARIC (UK).

Somewhat out of SOXMIS's remit was that not?

[Haraka]

When in Germany in the 80's I was told that those trucks co-drivers were Russian tank commanders on a route recce.

and not just in Germany.

"Soxmis" being "legal" worked, officially, within constraints.
It was only one facet of a much bigger operation geographically, technically, and politically.

[India Four Two]

On iPlayer Radio as well.

BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Brixmis Story (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007nf6t)

I've lost my copy of this programme and it is no longer available from the BBC. Dose anyone know where I can get a copy?

[Mil-26Man]

and not just in Germany.

I thought the Allied liaison missions were only on each others occupied German territory.

[HAS59]

A Dutch airforce bloke I know did a tour in Communist Poland as a similar sort of 'liaison' in the mid 80's.
I'm not sure if there was a reciprocal arrangement for Polish blokes in Holland.

[Mil-26Man]

Thanks, thats interesting. The Dutch weren't involved in the Allied liaison missions that included Brixmis and Soxmis, so that's a new one on me. Will have to try and find out some more.

[Non Linear Gear]

Was driving down to the Monaco GP in 1988 and we were in Southern Germany on the Autobahn down to Balse. Passed a Soxmis vehicle and I started to raise my camera. They suddenly braked when they saw the lens. Alas I didn't catch them, I did catch this driver. The most infamous pit board of his career. He never saw another there where he didn't win! https://scontent.fltn1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/1267915_10151958933512034_1701110597_o.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=cdbe9c&_nc_ohc=teKp78-eV58AX9vAyfy&_nc_ht=scontent.fltn1-1.fna&oh=8b8cd490f02330b6870eef486465814d&oe=60795DF4

[Mogwi]

When I was at Gütersloh, a Soxmis car arrived with mud-smeared number plates and was waved through by the gate-guard because it contained a 'uniformed officer'. They were eventually twigged some hours later and protested that they were only visiting the Russian graves - which happened to be behind No 3(F) Sqn HAS area.

we did larf!

Mog

[Haraka]

It was noted that these visits sometimes seemed to coincide with Station Exercises..........

[racedo]

When in Germany in the 80's I was told that those trucks co-drivers were Russian tank commanders on a route recce.


This was claimed in the 1980's about Polish and other truck drivers that they were on recce routes for Warsaw pact.

[Less Hair]

Specially equipped East German "Deutrans" trucks have been known to intercept western emissions when driving through west Germany as well. Working for Stasi's Hauptabteilung III.

[Dougie M]

While at Laarbruch 72/75 a snowdrop tried to block one Zlin or whatever with his Volvo. The Sov vehicle just trashed his car leaving its bumper and number plate behind. They weighed over a ton with all that Elint kit on board