Bøger af Andrew Long

Covers US forces in Berlin during the Cold War, from their arrival in July 1945, through to the departure of American Berlin Brigade in 1994.Cold War Berlin - An Island City Volume 4: US Forces in Berlin - Preparing For War 1945-1994 examines how the troops of the US Army's Berlin Brigade prepared for war: the units that made up the brigade; how it trained; how it was equipped; how it planned to defend the city; and also looks at the Special Forces units that served alongside it.At the end of the Second World War, the victors split Germany into three zones of occupation, and Berlin was divided into four sectors: one each for the British, Americans, French and Soviets. The western part of the city lay well within eastern Germany, cut off from immediate friendly military support and, as the Cold War developed, was surrounded by around 420,000 Soviet troops of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG) - the shock troops who would lead the invasion of Western Europe in the event of a war against NATO. There were also 180,000 East German troops of the Nationale Volksarmee, supported by tens of thousands of paramilitary police and the infamous East German Border Guards (Grenztruppen der DDR).US Forces in Berlin - Preparing For War looks at how the Berlin Brigade, the 5,000-strong American component of the Western military presence in the city prepared to defend West Berlin from the communist threat and examines what is known of Operation Stoss (or Zentrum); the East German plan to occupy Berlin in the event of war. This volume also looks at the work of the United States Military Liaison Mission (USMLM).US Forces in Berlin - Preparing For War is the second of two volumes covering US forces in Berlin during the Cold War, from their arrival in July 1945, through to the departure of American Berlin Brigade in 1994. The text is richly illustrated with photographs, illustrations, diagrams, tables, maps, plans, and color profiles, and is printed in full color throughout.

The German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, was the frontline in the Cold War, packed with hundreds of thousands of Soviet and East German troops armed with the latest Warsaw Pact equipment, lined up along the 1,400 km Inner German Border. However, because of the repressive East German police state, little human intelligence about these forces reached the West. Who were they? Where were they located? What were they doing? How were they equipped? What were their intentions? NATO was lined up in West Germany to face these forces and relied on getting up-to-date intelligence to warn of any threat, âEUR¿Indicators of HostilityâEUR(TM) that could be a precursor to an invasion. BRIXMIS, the British CommandersâEUR(TM)-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany, was on hand to provide that intelligence. Thanks to an obscure 1946 agreement between the British and Soviets that established âEUR¿liaison missionsâEUR(TM) in their respective zones of occupation, the British were able to send highly qualified military âEUR¿observersâEUR(TM) into East Germany to roam (relatively) freely and keep an eye on what was going on. What started as âEUR¿liaisonâEUR(TM), a point of contact between the British and Soviet occupation forces, developed into a very sophisticated intelligence gathering operation, sending âEUR¿toursâEUR(TM) out every day of the year, between 1946 and when the Mission closed in 1990\. These tours were undertaken in high-performance, highly modified marked vehicles, with personnel in uniform and unarmed, apart from professional photographic equipment and occasionally some top-secret gadgets from the boffins back in the UK. They joined their French and American colleagues in snooping around the opposition, photographing military bases, equipment, and manoeuvres, and trying to evade capture by the secret police and counterintelligence units. They faced danger and violence daily, but thanks to their bravery and professionalism, the West had accurate and up to date information on what was happening in East Germany which help keep the peace all that time. This is the story of this little-known unit and their exploits behind enemy lines.

An excellent introduction to the shadowy world of espionage, how the superpowers went about it and how it impacted on the wider Cold War.

An authoritative, richly illustrated summary on the major confrontation of four superpowers over the city of Berlin, including the Berlin Airlift, in 1945-1949.