The British Garrison Berlin 1945 – 1994

The book is a pictorial historiography of the British occupation of Berlin from 1945-1994 with insights and detailed information on the military and political status of the city. With previously unpublished documents and photographs, it reveals every facet of British life at the Wall, from the garrison’s daily routine, the surveillance activities of the Military Mission (BRIXMIS) behind the Iron Curtain, the YAK 28 coup and the SIS/CIA spy tunnel operation, exposed by KGB’s top spy George Blake. Additionally, it discloses the British defence strategy (FIBUA) for its sector, revealing new and unpublished insights. Berlin as a city, deep inside the Soviet Zone, enclosed by the notorious Berlin Wall from 1961, was the stage of Cold War operations, spy tunnels and high security radar stations penetrating the Warsaw Pact. It discloses the British Garrison’s contradictory engagement between post-war obligations in cooperating with the Soviets, Berlin Air Safety Centre and Spandau Allied Prison, at the same time preparing for war.