Cheeky sparrow
Cheeky Spatz - Moineau Hardi was the first major Franco-German military maneuver in the Federal Republic of Germany with 75,000 men and women (in the French army, women were already able to serve in various branches of the armed forces, in the Bundeswehr at that time women were only involved in the medical service) . In addition to the usual troops, the French Foreign Legion was also seen in action. The maneuver was carried out from September 17 to 24, 1987 in the Nuremberg , Regensburg , Landshut , Munich , Neuburg an der Donau , Augsburg , Ulm and Stuttgart areas , i.e. in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria .
The exercise was mentioned on the website of the Federal Ministry of Defense on 40 years of the Élysée Treaty (January 22, 1963), quote:
“In autumn 1987 the army exercise 'Kecker Spatz' - Exercice Franco Allemand 'Moineau Hardi' - took place in southern Germany. 20,000 French soldiers are involved. In the same year, at the 50th summit of the heads of government in Karlsruhe, the establishment of a defense and security council is decided. It began work on January 22, 1988, the 25th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty. In October, the deployment staff for the Franco-German brigade in Böblingen begins its work. "
The “Cheeky Spatz” exercise is the first and only case in which a radio maneuver wave was set up on the soil of the Federal Republic of Germany. Soldiers from Lieutenant Colonel to radio operator of the PSV Battalion 850 of the Bundeswehr, at the time stationed in Andernach , the "cradle of the Bundeswehr", set up a radio editorial office with a studio in an Ingolstadt barracks. It was broadcast under the supervision of BR employees on Bavarian broadcasting frequencies from their own studio. Distributed in blocks throughout the day, there was information about the maneuver, right up to traffic radio warnings due to strong troop movements and, in the evening, listening requests from the soldiers to go home or from the soldiers' families and friends to the maneuver participants. Due to the lack of radios, many participants in the exercise were unable to receive these broadcasts (there were no instructions for this, the BW vehicles were not equipped for this).
See also
Web links
- French Embassy in Germany - Chronology frz.-dt. Relationships since 1948 (PDF; 92 kB)
- Federal archive image database: search for "Kecker Spatz"
- Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv: Documents will not be accessible until 2018
- Press conference by Mr. Francois Mitterrand , on September 24, 2013 in Ingolstadt, vie-publique.fr (French).
- Franco-German Communiqué on Security and Defense , November 13, 1987, vie-publique.fr (French).
- New developments in Franco-German military cooperation , by John L. Clarke, Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College (PDF; 890 kB; English).
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Field newspaper of the II. Corps issue No. 4, Franco-German Army Exercise '87 , publisher: Ingolstadt Pionierkaserne on the Schanz , 1987, German National Library.
- ↑ France-RFA: un moineau hardi , Journal de l'année Paris, 1988, Bibliothèque nationale de France.
- ↑ An exercise map of the maneuver in the image background , Federal Archives image database, signature: B 145 Bild-00012444.
