Military liaison mission
A Military Liaison Mission (MVM) was an army authority established by the victorious powers of World War II to communicate with one of the other three powers in occupied Germany , with staff being sent to each of the occupation zones . In reality, however, these were only established between the Soviet Union and the three Western powers , not between the Western powers among themselves. A mission was allowed to maintain an official seat in the foreign occupation zone and carry out surveillance and control trips. These rights continued to exist after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic and were used for espionage in the other part of Germany during the Cold War . There were also blocked and specially marked areas for the military liaison missions.
The MVM are not to be confused with the military missions to the Allied Control Council for occupied Germany, through which a total of 15 states involved in the Second World War represented their concerns to the victorious powers in Berlin.
history
The earliest basis for the military liaison missions was the London Agreement on control mechanisms in Germany between Great Britain , the USA and the Soviet Union of November 14, 1944, which France joined in March 1945. In this, the Allies agreed to accredit mutual liaison missions to the commanders-in-chief of the respective other occupation zones in the later zones of occupation in Germany . After the war, however, initially only exploration teams of the Four Powers existed , which were referred to in English as FIATs (Field Information Agency, Technical). These had the task of recording the remaining technical infrastructure in Germany, in particular in order to demilitarize the country , take over technical developments and specialist personnel, and determine reparation payments . They also looked for war criminals as well as their own missing persons , prisoners of war , defectors and deserters . In order to be able to carry out these tasks in the face of increasing tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western powers on a secure legal basis in the other part of Germany, agreements were finally reached on military liaison missions.
The British Commanders'-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS)
The first of the three western missions was the British one, which came about on September 16, 1946 through an agreement between the respective Commander-in-Chief, General Brian Robertson and Colonel-General Michail Sergejewitsch Malinin . Both sides granted each other the right to station a head of mission and ten other officers as well as 20 crew ranks near the headquarters of the other side. They enjoyed freedom of movement with a restriction on areas notified in advance. Furthermore, the undisturbed communication was guaranteed and the immunity of the buildings assured. Inquiries to visit the headquarters or other military facilities of the host power had to be answered within 72 hours. The supply of the mission had to be guaranteed by the host side.
Although the main task of the staff was communication, they could also act as representatives of their citizens within the occupation zone. Until the end of the 1950s, the Royal Navy also had officers in the liaison mission, after that only the Royal Air Force and the British Army . The British mission was by far the largest in the Soviet occupation zone, with 31 accredited military personnel, which later rose to over 90 thanks to support personnel stationed in West Berlin.
Initially, the Mission had its building near the Kaiserbahnhof in Potsdam . On July 18, 1958, this was attacked by a crowd. The Soviet side paid £ 1,200 in compensation and provided a new building on Seestrasse ( Heiliger See ) in Potsdam, which was an 1890 house that was likely a private home until 1945.
The British Mission completed its work on October 2, 1990.
US Military Liaison Mission (USMLM)
The agreement to set up a US military liaison mission was signed in March 1947 by US Lieutenant General Clarence R. Huebner and Soviet Colonel General Malinin. This essentially corresponded to the Robertson-Malinin Agreement. However, the size of the mutual missions was limited to 14 military personnel, making these the smallest. In addition, there were auxiliary staff, which, however, were not allowed to include political representatives.
The Villa von Diringshofen in the Potsdam district of Neu Fahrland was made available to the US mission . She finished her job on October 1, 1990.
La Mission Militaire Francaise de Liaison (MMFL)
The last time France signed such an agreement was in April 1947, which was signed by Commander-in-Chief Charles Jean Roger Noiret and Malinin. The missions were limited to 18 military personnel, including 6 officers. The French mission, like the British one, was based on Seestrasse in Potsdam. Initially, they were housed in five villas confiscated by the Soviets, but the living conditions were very spartan. The French mission later moved to Landhaus Prölls (Seestraße 41/42) and was located near the British mission.
The mission ceased operations on June 30, 1990.
Soviet Military Liaison Missions (SMM)
Soviet military liaison missions were accredited according to the principle of reciprocity with all three commanders in chief of the Western Allies:
- in the British zone as "Soviet Military Mission BAOR" (SMM BAOR; colloquially also SOXMIS), mission building initially until the end of 1956 in Bad Salzuflen , later briefly in Lübbecke and from mid-1957 in Bünde / Westphalia;
- in the American zone as “Soviet Military Mission USAREUR” (SMM USAREUR), mission building in Frankfurt-Niederrad , first in Neuwiesenstrasse, later in Gerauer Strasse and finally in Goldammerstrasse;
- in the French zone as "Mission militaire sovietique CCFA" (MMS CCFA), mission building in Baden-Baden , in 1957 in Baden-Oos and finally again in Zeppelinstrasse in Baden-Baden.
The SMM were directly subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Armed Forces in Germany (GSSD), whose headquarters were in Potsdam- Babelsberg , later in Wünsdorf . The staff of the SMM consisted of officers and non-commissioned officers, all of whom belonged to the military secret service of the Soviet Union (GRU).
Like the Western missions, the SMM had de facto diplomatic status . However, they were only allowed to move freely in the respective zone of accreditation ( excluding military restricted areas ). SMM vehicles could only enter the other zones with special permission from the other commanders in chief, for example for business trips. SMM couriers traveling between the GSSD headquarters in Wünsdorf and the Soviet missions in the Federal Republic of Germany had special transit cards for all three zones . The border crossing between the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR (and vice versa) took place for the SMM via the Allied checkpoint in Helmstedt / Marienborn . SMM vehicles were allowed to move freely in the GDR and East Berlin, but were not allowed to enter or pass through the western sectors of Berlin.
Soviet military inspections (MI) made use of their allied rights to stay in the three western sectors of Berlin (American, French, British sector) and cleared up military objects there. There were Soviet vehicles on patrol in West Berlin every day. They used Checkpoint Charlie to cross the border into the western sectors .
The last Soviet mission left Baden-Baden on January 1, 1991.
activity
The military liaison missions initially continued to operate primarily economic surveillance including agricultural production. With the intensification of the East-West conflict, the mission of the missions also changed. Since their members - apart from special restricted areas - could move freely, the former allies were able to carry out military reconnaissance directly in the occupation zones of the opposite side and later in the two German states. They appeared in uniform and officially marked vehicles, unarmed and without radio equipment. In particular, they tried to photograph troop movements and new military equipment and to elucidate them electronically. In addition, they recovered equipment and ammunition left behind from training areas, explored the transport capacities of roads and railways, measured vehicles and occasionally removed parts of them. They also conducted informants; The Soviet missions also used other intelligence methods such as exchanges with agents via dead mailboxes .
The western missions regularly searched garbage dumps near Soviet military sites. During these operations, called “Tamarisk” by the British, later called “Tomahawk” and “Sand Dune” by the Americans, numerous secret documents were found, some of which had been used by the troops as a replacement for insufficiently available toilet paper. Hospital waste also provided information about the health situation in the GSSD and wounds - including from chemical weapons - of Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan who had been transferred to the GDR for treatment.
To mark the areas blocked for the missions, all sides exchanged correspondingly marked maps. These markings were also largely respected. During military maneuvers and large-scale troop transfers, so-called temporary restricted areas were set up, but these were often disregarded. At times, up to forty percent of the GDR area was closed to western missions. Prohibition signs put up by Soviet and GDR agencies, which were supposed to protect local objects from being monitored by the Western missions, were fundamentally ignored. Since there was no basis for this in the agreements, they were ignored or removed as souvenirs, made unrecognizable as a marking of temporary restricted areas or simply bypassed in order to protect against ignorance in the event of a possible arrest by Soviet troops.
Arrests were only allowed to be made by military personnel of the respective contract partner. In the event of serious violations of the agreement, mission members were declared persona non grata and expelled. As a rule, however, injuries were accepted with formal protests, since the own missions in the other part of Germany were in the same situation and all sides benefited from their activities. In addition to the direct reconnaissance results, some of which were also used as a public explanation for findings from other, secret intelligence sources, this also served to provide mutual insurance against surprise attacks and to demonstrate one's own defense readiness.
Basically, the missions maintained a professional and sometimes friendly relationship with the liaison offices of the contracting parties, which were expressed in joint celebrations on national holidays and official visits to sites or former concentration camps . In this way, an exchange was maintained even in situations with limited official diplomatic contacts such as during the Cuban Missile Crisis , after the crackdown on the Prague Spring and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan , especially since the Western Allies had no military attaché staff in the GDR .
BRIXMIS also provided interpreters in the Spandau war criminals prison from 1982 until Rudolf Heß's death in 1987 , when Soviet troops took over the guard as scheduled. The western missionaries lived with their families in West Berlin, where the support staff were also stationed. From there, their journeys first led to the mission headquarters in Potsdam, where they "officially" began and ended again. The Glienicke Bridge was used as a special border crossing .
Division of labor
The three western powers coordinated their surveillance activities. The entire area of the SBZ or the GDR was divided into four areas, in which air and ground reconnaissance were each assigned to one of the three powers: the greater Berlin area, the area north of Berlin and today's B 5 (F 5), the area west of the A 9, and the area east of the A 9 and south of Berlin. The three zones outside Berlin were reassigned every three weeks.
Each of the military missions had two reconnaissance groups that could be distinguished from the approaches:
- Army reconnaissance aircraft: These registered military troop movements throughout the operational area, maneuvers by the land forces, column movements, monitored railway lines with military trains and some of them moved in military training areas.
- Air reconnaissance: The main focus of their espionage activities was the surveillance of military airfields and their radar systems, maneuvers with the use of air forces and staying for days in the approach lanes of the GSSD and NVA airfields. Here, incoming military aircraft were photographed and filmed.
Apart from irregularities, the following reconnaissance crews were in one territory:
- Army reconnaissance aircraft MMFL together with the USMLM air reconnaissance aircraft
- Army reconnaissance aircraft USMLM together with the air reconnaissance aircraft of the BRIXMIS
- Army reconnaissance aircraft BRIXMIS together with the aerial reconnaissance aircraft of the MMFL
The change of aerial reconnaissance and army reconnaissance was usually counter-clockwise. On occasion there was of course an overlap of areas of responsibility, in which aerial scouts also registered troop movements and army scouts also documented air movements.
In the immediate area of Berlin, i.e. in the former GDR district of Potsdam, there was still the so-called short-term driver, which was normally taken over by all three western missions every 24 hours. These inspection trips were a reaction to the construction of the Wall on August 13, 1961.
Aerial reconnaissance
The western missions also provided personnel for aerial reconnaissance with light aircraft in the Berlin flight control zone within 20 miles of the Berlin Air Safety Center (BASC) operated by all four original Allies in the former seat of the Allied Control Council , the Supreme Court building in Berlin-Schöneberg . According to the four-power agreement over Berlin , all four powers had the right to carry out flights in the entire control zone, although this should be done through the respective national sectors if possible. This had the advantage of being able to observe objects that were located within restricted areas or that were otherwise difficult to access for the missions on the ground, provided they were completely or partially covered by the control zone. These included the bases of several Soviet and NVA divisions, the Werneuchen fighter pilot base and the Oranienburg helicopter base of the Soviet armed forces, as well as the border guard command center of the GDR border troops . Flights could also provide indications of troop movements for the missions on the ground.
As on the ground, the western missions coordinated on such reconnaissance flights. This was made more difficult, however, by the fact that the American and French aircraft were not directly subordinate to the missions, so that there were occasional double missions. The Soviet side in the BASC stamped the clearance for flights outside the western sectors with the note that their safety could not be guaranteed. In fact, like the missions' vehicles, they were regularly shot at by Soviet troops when they were photographed.
The recordings of the flights in the Berlin control zone complemented the findings from reconnaissance flights by the Western powers along the three air corridors to West Germany, which were jointly evaluated or exchanged there. In order to evaluate the aerial photos from the hand-held 35mm cameras of the missions, BRIXMIS acquired negative viewers directly from Carl Zeiss Jena in exchange for western currency .
RAF Station Flight Berlin
The RAF personnel from BRIXMIS provided not only observers but also the pilots for reconnaissance flights, so that the mission had access to the aircraft at all times. From 1956, this under the name of "Nylon" and later "Oberon", a single on the Gatow airfield of RAF Station Flight Berlin stationed training aircraft of type DHC 1 De Havilland "Chipmunk" used, which since 1954 officially the Inübunghaltung of Berlin detached RAF personnel and the exercise of allied flight rights in Berlin airspace. The flights were usually clockwise around the flight control zone and lasted up to two and a half hours. The observer took photos with a 35mm camera from the open cockpit hood. Among other things, so in 1959 the building was a position with S-75 - anti-aircraft missiles in Trebbin confirmed on the edge of the control zone and in the 70s near Bernau bei Berlin for the first time the main battle tank T-64 photographed.
Until 1960, these flights were planned and approved by BRIXMIS under its own responsibility. After Francis Gary Powers' U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960, all aerial photo flights were initially stopped and placed under reserve from London. This changed after the Wall was built, as access to intelligence sources in East Berlin was difficult or cut off, while at the same time rumors were circulating about a massing of Soviet troops east of the city and the presence of NVA soldiers in the eastern part, contrary to the Four Power Agreement. After NVA troops were actually recognized in East Berlin during a visual reconnaissance flight, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan personally approved a single-digit number of aerial photo flights within a strictly limited period of time . They found that no Soviet troops were gathering outside the city and that possible NVA units had withdrawn, so that the situation relaxed.
In total, only 28 flights plus a small number at the disposal of the British Commanding General in Berlin were approved in 1961, of which only 13 actually operated due to weather conditions and limited aircraft availability. From the end of the year, the regulations were increasingly relaxed. From the mid-1960s, the British Commanding General was able to approve up to five flights within a two-week period after consulting the British military government in Berlin. In April 1968, the RAF Station Flight received a second chipmunk. While the boundaries of the flight control zone were occasionally disregarded at first - Finow airfield , among others, was photographed - these were considered inviolable in the 1980s, although photos beyond that were of course possible.
French and American flights
French aerial photo flights began around 1960 with a Cessna Bird Dog of the aviation liaison train of the commander of the French armed forces in Germany from Baden-Baden, with the pilots assigned to the MMFL. In August 1968, a second machine was set up at Berlin-Tegel Airport . The Cessnas were supplemented by a Max Holste Broussard , which was replaced in 1988 by a DHC-6 Twin Otter . The French planes also undertook aerial photo flights along the corridors between Berlin and West Germany under the pretext of being transferred for maintenance work.
In 1967 the American government approved aerial photo flights with machines of the US Berlin Brigade Aviation Detachment under the designation "Lark Spur". This began in 1968 with a Cessna Bird Dog, which was soon replaced by a DHC-2 Beaver . From 1980 two liaison aircraft of the type UV-20A Chiricahua - a variant of the Pilatus PC-6 - were used from Berlin-Tempelhof Airport .
Relationship to German agencies
Since the Allied military missions had a quasi-diplomatic status after the London Agreement of 1944, the Federal Republic and GDR were not officially allowed to take any action against their activities. The Federal Republic largely accepted this, as the Four Power Agreements also stipulated the necessary approval of the Allies for a long-term German reunification . The GDR, on the other hand, moved away from this goal in the 1950s and emphasized its sovereignty as an independent, equal state, which was reflected in more aggressive action by its security organs against the Western missions, including attacks on their relatives and theft of their equipment from the vehicles. Although the Soviet Union officially supported the GDR position, it was not prepared to give up mutual rights for the missions, which also led to tensions between Soviet and GDR agencies.
The telephones in the western mission buildings in Potsdam were tapped by the Ministry for State Security , half of the German domestic staff were kept as informants by the Stasi and the KGB . On the erroneous assumption that the mission headquarters were diplomatic representations of the Western powers, GDR citizens sought refuge there several times. If they had not already been picked up by MfS surveillance personnel outside the premises, they had to be handed over to the Soviet military in order to avoid diplomatic entanglements. From there they were usually transferred to the GDR authorities. In principle, all German and allied military personnel and security authorities in both the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany had to report sightings of mission vehicles. The MfS also used its unofficial staff for this purpose . Even young pioneers were encouraged to look out for vehicles and, if possible, block their view.
After the regaining of full sovereignty of the united Germany, teams of the Bundeswehr took over their observation until the complete withdrawal of the Soviet armed forces from Germany on August 31, 1994 . While investigating a bunker with nuclear warheads , another team member was wounded by gunfire from a Soviet guard.
Incidents and misfortunes
Due to the close monitoring by the Stasi and the missions' attempt to evade them on their journeys, car chases occurred more often in the GDR than in the Federal Republic, disregarding German traffic regulations, with the resulting accidents. Mission vehicles were regularly rammed, blocked or shot at. This also resulted in the death of members of the mission as well as at least one fatality and several seriously injured among the security forces and civilians of the GDR. In the Federal Republic of Germany it was difficult for civilians to receive compensation after accidents with Soviet mission vehicles , as there was no basis in German law for the missions, unlike for NATO troops, on which the actually responsible Office for Defense Burdens could have acted .
Western missions
After the US intervention in the Lebanon crisis in 1958 , demonstrators broke into the US and British mission headquarters in Potsdam on July 18, ravaged the BRIXMIS building, damaged a vehicle and burned the US flag. Similar incidents occurred after the assassination of the Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba on February 21, 1961 and during protests against the Vietnam War on June 1, 1965.
In October 1959, the French mission officer Moser was badly wounded near Zehdenick by a shot by a Soviet street guard.
In June 1960, the vehicle of the British head of mission Brigadier John Packard and another BRIXMIS car were blocked by military vehicles on the edge of an NVA training area and attacked by members of the Stasi, the inmates were beaten up and the tour equipment was stolen. This was later presented by the GDR State Council Chairman Walter Ulbricht at a press conference as evidence of espionage activities by the Western military liaison missions.
On March 10, 1962, border troops from the GDR, expecting an attempt to escape, opened fire on a BRIXMIS vehicle on Ernst-Thälmann-Strasse in the Potsdam suburb of Kleinmachnow near the Berlin border. The driver, Corporal Douglas Day, was seriously wounded and retained a bullet in the liver, and some of the tour equipment was stolen.
On March 20, 1962, people's police shot and killed two tires of an American mission vehicle near Gotha that had not stopped on their instructions.
On March 10, 1964, a Soviet crashed fighter aircraft of type Yakovlev Yak-28 ( NATO reporting name FIREBAR) in the British sector of Berlin in the Stoessensee . During the rescue by British troops, with the participation of BRIXMIS, important items of equipment were removed underwater, some of them flown to Great Britain for assessment and most of the equipment was returned to the lake bed before the work was completed.
On April 13, 1969, a private of the National People's Army was killed when his motorcycle collided with a French mission vehicle on the motorway from Dresden to Bautzen . After thirteen days of Soviet detention, the three French missionaries were released in exchange for a cash payment and declared "personae non gratae".
In August 1978, Soviet soldiers fired at a US mission vehicle , the crew of which was reading the unit numbers of T-64 tanks loaded on a train . In March 1979, a US mission vehicle was trapped near a radar station, rammed the side of a Soviet truck, came off the road, and rolled over twice, seriously injuring the mission officer. In June 1980, another US mission vehicle was rammed by a Soviet truck while the crew was watching equipment from the GSSD on a railway line.
On August 12, 1982, the vehicle of the British head of mission Brigadier John Learmont was rammed sideways by an NVA vehicle shooting out of the gate in front of a radar station near Quedlinburg and pushed against a tree.
In January 1984 a Soviet officer threw a shovel through the windshield of a US mission vehicle that passed a GSSD road construction team.
On March 22, 1984, the French mission member Philippe Mariotti was fatally injured as a driver during a blockade by the Stasi by a heavy NVA Ural truck in Halle (Saale) . The goal of the reconnaissance trip was the Otto Brosowski barracks of the NVA. There the mission workers wanted to observe the 11th motorized rifle division of the NVA. This was to hold an exercise with Polish and Soviet armed forces at the end of March 1984. The mission vehicle was rammed according to a plan that had been worked out in advance. In order to avoid an impending blockage, Mariotti tried to avoid the NVA truck approaching in the middle of the street. The emergency stop used at the last second came too late, the French car slipped under the bumper of the NVA blocking vehicle and Mariotti died immediately. The tour officer Staub was seriously injured, the sergeant Blancheton was slightly injured, and some of the tour equipment was stolen. The Mariotti monument is located near the site of the accident .
On March 24, 1985, the American mission officer Major Arthur Nicholson was killed by a guard on a Soviet firing range near Ludwigslust when he tried to break into a tank hall. He is considered "the last American fallen in the Cold War". The incident put a strain on American-Soviet relations as Nicholson was shot dead without a call and left without medical assistance for two hours, according to his driver. In 1988, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev publicly apologized for this incident.
On September 17, 1987, an American mission member was slightly wounded while observing a maneuver by the GSSD and NVA when Soviet soldiers shot at the vehicle.
Soviet missions
In October 1950 the West German police attacked the crew of a Soviet mission vehicle in Bochum .
On November 16, 1951, the West German police arrested three members of SMM BAOR in Solingen , who met a Soviet agent in plain clothes in an unmarked vehicle.
In 1966, an American guard shot up the tires of a Soviet mission vehicle that did not stop on a call in front of a US Army depot .
Following the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops , demonstrators broke into the SMM USAREUR building in Frankfurt on August 21, 1968. As a result of the incident, it was made clear between the German and American sides that the German police, although they had no authority over the Soviet mission, were nevertheless responsible for the external protection of their headquarters.
In October 1975, during the annual REFORGER maneuver , the West German police stopped a mission vehicle from SMM USAREUR, which had spied out the maneuver area near Plochingen , after a chase of 30 kilometers near Wendlingen using submachine guns .
In 1976, during a spying in the security area of the Lahn central nuclear weapons storage facility near Sögel / Emsland, which was jointly operated and secured by the 59th Ordnance Brigade and the German Armed Forces , a vehicle belonging to the SMM BAOR with three Soviet officers was arrested by the 2. Company of the supply battalion for special weapons 120.
On January 30, 1979, MMS CCFA smuggled the GDR agent Reiner Fülle , who had escaped after his arrest by West German authorities and had turned to the Soviet mission in Baden-Baden, into the GDR in one of their vehicles.
vehicles
The vehicles of the military liaison missions were identified by license plates with country code, nationality flag and numbers. The vehicles of the British mission (BRIXMIS) were marked with the numbers 1 to 12. There was also a ramp trailer with the number 13, which was used to tow defective vehicles. The US mission's reconnaissance vehicles were marked with the numbers 20 to 29. The French drove numbers 30 to 38. In each case the first vehicle (1, 20, 30) was reserved for the chief of the mission and, when he officially entered, was also highlighted with the state standard.
The first vehicle types were not standardized. Various US models and Opel Kapitän were used. In 1964, USMLM used the Ford Galaxie and Custom in the Police Interceptor version , and in 1976 the Ford Bronco . In the 1970s, the Opel Admiral model was often used in a wide variety of paintwork , initially white, then blue and especially in matt olive green. This model was also chosen because, at first glance, it resembled the GAZ-24 Volga , which was often used in the GDR .
In the early 1980s, special Opel Senator 2.8i were used. These vehicles had special equipment and fittings. Among other things, they were equipped with four-wheel drive from the all-wheel drive system manufacturer Ferguson Research and had massive underrun protection for use in extreme terrain. They also had infrared headlights that made it possible to drive inconspicuously at night, and additional front and rear lights that gave the appearance of GDR vehicle models in the dark. There were also significantly larger petrol tanks with a capacity of 180 liters. Here, too, the paintwork was olive green, matt for inconspicuous emergency trips.
Furthermore, specially converted and equipped olive-colored Range Rovers were driven in the 1980s, but they had a very high fuel consumption and were very vulnerable. This was very risky on journeys through the GDR that often lasted days. Despite the clearly superior off-road capability, this model could not establish itself. Towards the end of the 1980s there were more and more Mercedes-Benz G models, which in turn were matt olive green and were equipped for day-long trips through the GDR. They also resembled the Soviet UAZ-469 upon cursory inspection .
All models also had sunroofs in order to be able to film and photograph aircraft accordingly. The vehicle roofs had been reinforced for this purpose, so that the members of the mission sometimes stood on the roofs and, if necessary, could get back into the vehicle through the roof hatches within a few seconds. This method was mainly practiced by the aerial scouts.
Emergency vehicles in the 1980s were still Mercedes-Benz sedans ( W123 ), also painted olive green. It was in such a model that the French missionary Philippe Mariotti died.
The Soviet missions in the Federal Republic only drove West-makes: Opel Rekord and Admiral, Mercedes-Benz or Ford. For the off-road vehicles, the SMM used off-road vehicles of the Isuzu brand in the British area of responsibility . This was used in the 1980s to spy out convoy trips by German armed forces during maneuvers.
Films / documentaries
- Wolf-Michael Eimler , Jan N. Lorenzen : On a secret mission - spies from the west. MDR, first broadcast November 16, 2004.
- Jan Yves : Keep the Cold War cold. Artline Films, 2010, ISANANY0002-3B25-0000-0-0000-0000-3.
- Söhnke Streckel , Thomas Gaevert : License for Espionage - Military Liaison Missions in the Cold War (radio documentation). SWR2 , first broadcast November 2, 2011.
literature
- AlliiertenMuseum (Ed.): Mission accomplished. The military liaison missions of the western powers in Potsdam from 1946 to 1990 (text editor: Matthias Heisig). Berlin 2004.
- Hans-Dieter Behrendt: The Allied Military Missions in the Cold War on German soil. Issue 77 on the GDR history of the “Helle Panke” association, Berlin.
- Hans-Dieter Behrendt: In the shadow of the “agent bridge”. GNN-Verlag, ISBN 3-89819-140-0 .
- Klaus Behling : spies in uniform. The allied military missions in Germany. Stuttgart / Leipzig 2004, ISBN 3-89850-121-3 .
- Steve Gibson: The Last Mission Behind the Iron Curtain. Phoenix Mill et al. a., 1997.
- Dorothee Mussgnug: Allied military missions in Germany. 1946-1990. Berlin 2002.
- Söhnke Streckel: Licensed espionage. The allied military liaison missions and the MfS. LStU Saxony-Anhalt, Magdeburg 2008.
- Friedrich Jeschonnek, Dieter Riedel, William Durie: Allies in Berlin: 1945 - 1994. A handbook on the history of the military presence of the Western powers (2nd edition) BWV – Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-8305-0397- 2 .
- Mark Prüfer: On an espionage tour. Operations, vehicles and license plates of the Allied military liaison missions in the GDR 1946–1990. Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-8423-6053-2 .
- Dave Richards: Invisible in the GDR. In: Club newspaper of the Alt-Opel interest group. 3/2009, pp. 10-18 ( digitized version , PDF).
See also
Web links
- Literature on military liaison missions in the catalog of the German National Library
- Homepage of the BRIXMIS Association (English)
- Homepage of the veterans of the MMFL (French)
- History of the MMFL
- Aleksandr Furs: Polnomochija i ogranichenija. Poleznyj istoricheskij opyt dejatel'nosti voennyh missij svjazim , in: Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie , September 15, 2000 (Russian)
- Contemporary witness homepage for SOXMIS
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tony Geraghty: BRIXMIS. The untold exploits of Britain's most daring Cold War spy mission. London 1996, pp. 5-9.
- ^ Text of the Robertson-Malinin Agreement, quoted from: Tony Geraghty: BRIXMIS. Annex VIII.
- ↑ Tony Geraghty: BRIXMIS. Pp. 73-75.
- ↑ Huebner-Malinin Agreement ( Memento of the original dated February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the archives of the US Army Europe (PDF), accessed December 10, 2011.
- ^ Klaus Behling : Spies in Uniform. P. 288 f.
- ↑ Contemporary witness report of a car dealership owner in Bünde ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 11, 2011.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. P. 13.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. P. 289.
- ↑ Steve Gibson: The Last Mission. Behind the iron curtain. P. 98.
- ↑ Christopher Winkler: The Western Powers and their military liaison missions in Potsdam. In: Mission accomplished. The military liaison missions of the Western powers in Potsdam from 1946 to 1990. Berlin 2004, p. 28.
- ↑ James M. Warford: The US Military Liaison Mission, Its Tri-Mission-Partners and the Quest for the 'Holy Grail'. In: Armor Magazine. November – December 2011, pp. 37–40 ( extended online version of the article ).
- ↑ Steve Gibson: The Last Mission. Behind the iron curtain. Pp. 65-84.
- ^ A b James M. Warford: The US Military Liaison Mission, Its Tri-Mission-Partners and the Quest for the 'Holy Grail'. Online version.
- ↑ Kevin Wright, Peter Jefferies: Looking Down the Corridors. Allied aerial espionage over East Germany and Berlin 1945–1990. Stroud 2015, pp. 123-134.
- ↑ Steve Gibson: The Last Mission. Behind the iron curtain. P. 96.
- ↑ Kevin Wright, Peter Jefferies: Looking Down the Corridors. P. 156.
- ↑ Kevin Wright, Peter Jefferies: Looking Down the Corridors. Pp. 124-133.
- ↑ Kevin Wright, Peter Jefferies: Looking Down the Corridors. Pp. 176-178.
- ↑ Kevin Wright, Peter Jefferies: Looking Down the Corridors. P. 126.
- ↑ Kevin Wright, Peter Jefferies: Looking Down the Corridors. P. 175.
- ↑ Kevin Wright, Peter Jefferies: Looking Down the Corridors. Pp. 126-132.
- ↑ Kevin Wright, Peter Jefferies: Looking Down the Corridors. Pp. 139-143.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. Pp. 46-78.
- ↑ Tony Geraghty: BRIXMIS. Annex VI.
- ↑ Christopher Winkler: The Western Powers and their military liaison missions in Potsdam. P. 32 f.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. Pp. 248-256.
- ↑ a b Dave Richards: Invisible on the move in the GDR.
- ↑ Tony Geraghty: BRIXMIS. P. 283.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. Pp. 81-83.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. Pp. 177-183.
- ^ A b Jean-Paul Huet: A French look at the military liaison missions in Potsdam. In: Mission accomplished. P. 74.
- ↑ Tony Geraghty: BRIXMIS. P. 79 f.
- ↑ Tony Geraghty: BRIXMIS. Pp. 122-132.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. P. 230 f.
- ↑ Tony Geraghty: BRIXMIS. Pp. 133-142.
- ^ A b James M. Warford: The US Military Liaison Mission, Its Tri-Mission-Partners and the Quest for the 'Holy Grail'. P. 38.
- ↑ Tony Geraghty: BRIXMIS. P. 242.
- ^ Söhnke Streckel: "Juwel 853". The fatal end to a trip by the French military liaison mission. ( Memento of the original from March 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Listen and Look. Journal for the critical reappraisal of the SED dictatorship. Issue 02/2008, pp. 52-55.
- ^ Matthias Heisig: Dangerous encounters. Cars, “blockages” and the death of Philippe Mariotti. In: Mission accomplished. Pp. 108-114.
- ↑ Helmut Trotnow: Shots in Techentin. Background to the death of Major Arthur D. Nicholson. In: Mission accomplished. Pp. 123-134.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. P. 221 f.
- ↑ Tony Geraghty: BRIXMIS. P. 38.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. P. 114 f.
- ↑ Tony Geraghty: BRIXMIS. P. 38 f.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. P. 152.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. Pp. 120-123.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. P. 92 f.
- ^ Klaus Behling: Spies in Uniform. Pp. 124-126.
- ↑ MILITARY MISSIONS: Special behavior . In: Spiegel Online . tape March 14 , 1986 ( spiegel.de [accessed August 15, 2019]).
