Looking Down the Corridors E-Book

Kevin Wright

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Between 1945 and 1990 the Western Allies mounted some of the most audacious and successful intelligence collection operations of the Cold War. Conducted in great secrecy, aircrews flew specially modified transport and training aircraft along the Berlin Air Corridors and Control Zone to gather intelligence on Soviet and East German military targets in the German Democratic Republic and around Berlin. The Air Corridors comprised three regulated airways for civil and military air traffic that connected West Berlin to West Germany. Operating under the guise of innocent transport and training flights, the pilots used their right of access to gather huge amounts of imagery for forty-five years. They also provided the western intelligence community with unique knowledge of the organisation and equipment used by Warsaw Pact forces. For the first time, using recently declassified materials and extensive interviews with those involved, Looking Down the Corridors provides a detailed account and analysis of these operations and their unique contribution to the Cold War.

Leseprobe

One of the massive K-42 ‘Boston Cameras’ (Big Bertha/Pie Face) with its 240in lens is on public display at the US Air Force Museum in Ohio. (Photo: USAF)

The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors alone and should not be taken to represent those of Her Majesty’s Government, MoD, HM Armed Forces or any government agency.

Cover illustration

Front: Chipmunk over Brandenburg Gate. (Crown Copyright)

First published in 2015

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This ebook edition first published in 2017

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© Kevin Wright and Peter Jefferies, 2017

The right of Kevin Wright and Peter Jefferies to be identified as the Authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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EPUB ISBN 978 0 7509 6458 6

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CONTENTS

Foreword by Air Vice-Marshal Mike Jackson CB FRAeS, RAF (Retd)

Prologue

Acknowledgements

Timeline of Events

Introduction

1 Cold War Airborne Intelligence Gathering: Technology and Politics

2 Germany and Berlin Divided: Cockpit of Cold War Intelligence Gathering

3 American Corridor and Other Reconnaissance Flights

4 British Corridor Flights and European 82 Reconnaissance Operations

5 The French Connection: The Allies’ ‘Ears’

6 Allied BCZ Light Aircraft and Helicopter Photographic Flights

7 Exploiting the Imagery: Units, Methodologies and Reports

8 Was It Worth All the Effort and What Did It Achieve?

9 What Did the Opposition Know?

Appendix

Glossary

About the Authors

References and Bibliography

FOREWORD BY AIR VICE-MARSHAL MIKE JACKSON CB FRAES, RAF (RETD)

Formerly Director General Intelligence and Geographic Resources, Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS); OC Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre; Defence and Air Attaché Warsaw; OC 60 Squadron

Sun Tzu wrote in his famous treatise On the Art of War that ‘tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat’, while ‘strategy without tactics is the slowest way to victory’. In the prologue to this book you see the central theme rightly described as reconnaissance operations being part of an intelligence campaign. Air reconnaissance is a collection tactic which helps to feed an intelligence strategy, and each connects with the other in a continuous relationship of supply and demand, which Sun Tzu would have recognised.

Looking Down the Corridors describes collection operations which were amongst many in the strategic intelligence campaign to penetrate the secrets of the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War. They were complementary with other aerial reconnaissance activity, as well as with intelligence collection work on the ground – in particular by the Allied Military Liaison Missions accredited to the Soviet Forces in Berlin, and by the Defence Attachés in neighbouring Warsaw Pact countries.

However, these were exceptionally significant operations because they took place in such a ‘target rich’ environment, and because they could provide evidence that could not be surpassed. The ‘Prague Spring’ case is a perfect example of how they could impact at the very highest levels, and respond in real time. More often the Corridor missions satisfied specific intelligence requirements, to update and maintain the long-term Indicators and Warning watch, and to provide the fine detail that helped the technical intelligence community to analyse and assess the weapons and systems capabilities of the other side. While this was less dramatic it was also vital work, often producing unique results.

Inevitably the aircrew and the flights themselves attract attention, but I am glad to see that the other actors in this story also receive the credit that is due to them. The ground crew who serviced the aircraft and sensors were even more in the shadows than the aircrew, but nothing would have happened without their professional and strictly discreet efforts, which in some cases involved keeping venerable systems punching well above their weight and beyond their natural life. On the other hand they also had to master the intricacies of some of the most advanced sensors of the time.

Then there were the interpreters. It may be true that the camera never lies, but the images can often deceive and conceal, as more than one impatient operational commander has learnt to his cost. The artful science of the imagery analyst was absolutely fundamental to these operations. It is a skill that has evolved over many years, keeping pace with the technology of both the collector and the target, to make the most of every pixel while seeing through the veil of ambiguity that nature or the opposition might assemble.

As for security, it could be that these operations were better concealed from our own side than from the opposition. It is true that from the national level in capital cities down to individuals within the operating squadrons, the ‘need to know’ principle was rigorously applied and to this day has kept the story restricted to a few insiders. On the other hand, there are plenty of incidents that suggest that the other side was aware that reconnaissance flights were taking place. Suspicious Soviet air traffic controllers, rudely finger-waving East German soldiers, messages written in the snow, not to mention aggressive approaches by opposition fighter aircraft, all point that way. What they could not have known was the sheer quantity and quality of information that was being collected.

Looking Down the Corridors is the story of the persistent and imaginative application of aerial reconnaissance to one of the most successful intelligence campaigns of the Cold War.

The post-Second World War German Allied occupation zones agreed by the Four Powers in 1945. (Wikimedia Commons)

The division of Berlin into the Allied Occupation Sectors created meandering boundaries through and around the city which made policing and protecting them extremely difficult. (Wikimedia Commons)

PROLOGUE

In July 1968 the ‘Prague Spring’ crisis in Czechoslovakia was coming to a head. In East Germany at the Soviet garrison of Dallgow-Döberitz, just west of Berlin, the Divisional Commander of 19 Motor Rifle Division had been given orders to prepare his unit to move to an unspecified destination. In the barracks, vehicles had been formed into unit columns ready to move out.

At RAF Gatow in West Berlin, an apparently innocuous Percival Pembroke light transport aircraft took off, bound for RAF Wildenrath in West Germany. However, this was no ordinary Pembroke. Concealed in its fuselage were five powerful reconnaissance cameras. As it passed over Dallgow-Döberitz the camera doors in the belly opened and the scene below was recorded.

On arrival at RAF Wildenrath the film magazines were rapidly removed and transferred to the headquarters complex at Rheindahlen where they were processed and passed to the Army and Royal Air Force photographic interpretation units for analysis. The very high level of activity in the garrison was swiftly reported to local intelligence staffs, the Ministry of Defence in London and select members of the Allied intelligence community.

Later that morning a single-engined Chipmunk training aircraft from the RAF Gatow Station Flight took off for an apparently normal local flight. This aircraft was another ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’. The crew were drawn from the British Military Liaison Mission (BRIXMIS) and the flight’s purpose was to covertly photograph Soviet and East German installations in the Berlin Control Zone. It too passed over Dallgow-Döberitz and the activity recorded this time by a 35mm hand-held cameras operated by the observer from an open cockpit.

On its return the film was processed at the BRIXMIS Headquarters in West Berlin and the initial results were reported to the intelligence staff at the Joint Headquarters at Rheindahlen, the Ministry of Defence in London and the French and US Liaison Missions in Berlin.

The photographs provided visible and verifiable proof that the Soviets were preparing for some form of military action. After studying all the available intelligence, it was agreed that these forces were probably being prepared to intervene in Czechoslovakia. They did so a few days later on 20 August 1968.

This was just one incident in the life of two covert British aerial photographic reconnaissance operations that were part of one of the most understated and successful intelligence campaigns of the Cold War. They were authorised at the highest political and military levels, conducted in great secrecy and the aircrew flying the missions would have faced serious consequences if their aircraft had come down in East Germany. The operations’ existence was known only to a select few. Similar programmes were conducted by the United States and the French, and much of the collected information was exchanged between all three.

This book traces those operations from the early days of the Cold War to their conclusion in 1990 with German reunification. It covers British operations in detail but also those of the French military and the US Army and Air Force. It is dedicated to the people who took part, from the men and women who prepared and handled the aircraft, the aircrew who spent many anxious hours plying the Corridors and the Berlin Control Zone (BCZ) at no small risk to themselves, the photographers who processed the film and the photographic interpreters who spent many long, painstaking hours analysing the images and writing reports.

Even twenty-five years after the operations’ end, their activities have remained largely in the shadows of the Cold War, many details still cloaked in secrecy. In recording some of the vast range of the activities they undertook, we cannot hope to recapture the seriousness of the daily tasks and the tensions. However, what stands out most of all is the professionalism of all those involved, whatever their responsibilities. They all played their part. Shining through most clearly is their gentle discretion, modesty and the sometimes wry, wickedly self-deprecating, dark humour that often shields the sense of dedication and determination that is the hallmark of servicemen and women worldwide. For those who participated in these operations we hope you will now be able to answer the question ‘What did you do in the Cold War?’ more openly.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our first thanks go to Air Vice-Marshal Mike Jackson, a former OC 60 Squadron and later OC Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre and Director General Intelligence and Geographic Resources of the Defence Intelligence Staff, for writing the Foreword. We could not have found anyone with more knowledge and authority on all aspects of British Corridor and Allied operations.

There are a great number of people to thank who have all played different parts, but without their collective goodwill we would not have got very far. It is normally invidious to nominate people individually but the efforts of John Bessette who is the 7499th Group Historian in the US calls for special mention because he is a repository of knowledge about all things Corridor related. We thank him for his personal assistance and for introducing us to many contacts in the United States who provided us with so much information. Hugo Mambour in Belgium, who runs the authoritative ‘Red Stars over Germany’ website about the Soviet 16th and 24th Tactical Air Armies, has helped us enormously with information on French operations and effected introductions to some participants and shared his material on the US Army’s BCZ operations.

Thanks to various organisations and associations whose members and archives have provided us with a great deal of assistance, material support and introductions: 60 Squadron Association, RAF Air Historical Branch (AHB), BRIXMIS Association, Friends of the Intelligence Corps Museum (FICM), Intelligence Corps Association, Medmenham Association and Archive, the Military Intelligence Museum and Archive, and finally The National Archives at Kew.

Many individuals have given of their time freely, regaled us with their memories, raised topics and answered a great number of questions, including Francis Bacon, Chris Benn, Bob Boothman, David Brain, Steve Bridgewater, Phil Chaney, David Clark, David Cockburn, Ray Dadswell, Len Davies, John Denman, Frank Doucette, Ben Dunnell, John Elliot, Paul Fallon, Neil Fearn, Charles Garrad, Chris Halsall, David Hamilton, Marcus Herbote (Gutersloh Spotters Group), Paul Hickley,† David Hollinshead, Will Jarman, Alan (Fred) Judge, Brian King, Peter Kirkpatrick, Lionel Lacey-Johnson, David Laidlaw,† Bert Lewer, Jim Lewis,† Steve Lloyd, Charles (Dizzy) Lynas,† Roy Marsden, Vance Mitchell, Mike Neil, Hans Neubroch,† Mike Palmer, Dallas Payne, Des Pemberton, Roland Pietrini, Vincent Robertson, Stewart Ross, Rod Saar, Andrew Scott, Brian Terry, Nick Watkis, John Webber, Peter Williams, George Young and Robert Zoucha, as well as others who wish to remain anonymous.

For the images we would very much like to thank Peter Seemann and Ralf Manteufel in particular for the large number of pictures they provided of Corridor and BCZ aircraft at Tempelhof, but also Manfred Faber, Dallas Payne, Ian Powell, David Hamilton, Aldo Bidini and Lionel Lacy-Johnson for their contributions, which are all greatly appreciated. A special mention must be made of Group Captain, now Air Commodore, Steve Thornber for his help in ensuring the declassification of official imagery and the Medmenham Collection for supplying the majority of it.

And last, but not least, thank you to our long-suffering partners Sue and Valerie, who have tolerated us vanishing into our work rooms/studies to put it all together and supported us throughout.

If we have missed anyone out, please accept our sincerest apologies – it was not deliberate.

We know that there are many parts of this story to be told and more to be added to those which we have discussed. We would welcome contact with anyone involved in these fascinating operations over the years. If you have anything you would like to add or tell us about then please email us at: [e-mail].

Kevin Wright and Peter Jefferies, 2015

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

Year

Germany

International

1945

May

VE Day – End of war in Europe

HQ 21 AG and 21 AGPIU locate in Bad Oeynhausen

HQ 2TAF and PID 2TAF locate in Bad Eilsen

President Harry S. Truman becomes US president following death of Franklin D. Roosevelt

Clement Attlee elected British PM

July

Potsdam Conference attended by President Truman (USA), Prime Minister Attlee (Britain) and General Secretary Stalin (USSR)

15 July

HQ 2TAF renamed HQ BAFO

PID 2TAF becomes PID HQ BAFO

BAFO Comms Sqn formed from 2TAF Comms Sqn

August

HQ 21 AG renamed HQ BAOR

21 AGPIU renamed APIU (BAOR)

August

VJ Day – End of the war against Japan and end of the Second World War

10 October

BAFO Comms Sqn renamed BAFO Comms Wg

November

Four Powers agreement establishes the Berlin Air Corridors and Control Zone

December

Berlin Air Safety Centre established

1946

February

Berlin Air Safety Centre starts operations

March

Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech at Fulton, Missouri

Spring

USA starts photographic reconnaissance flights over Russian Occupied Zone using 10 RG: 45 RS and 10 PCS

August

US McMahon Act prohibits sharing atomic information with other nations, including Britain

45 RS re-equips with A-26 Invader to fly reconnaissance missions in Corridors and BCZ

Britain starts photographic reconnaissance flights in Corridors and BCZ using Dakota, Mosquito and Spitfire PR XIX aircraft

1947

APIU (BAOR) and PID HQ BAFO combine to form JAPIC (G) at Bad Eilsen

27 September

BAFO Comms Wg renamed BAFO Comms Sqn

September

USAF formed from USAAF and becomes an independent service

1948

Britain starts photographic reconnaissance flights in the Corridors and BCZ using Avro Anson aircraft

April

President Truman announces Marshall Plan for economic recovery in Europe

June

Deutschemark introduced to Western Sectors of Berlin

Soviets leave Berlin Kommandatura never to return

Berlin blockaded. Start of Berlin Airlift

October

Lt Gen. Curtis LeMay is appointed C-in-C SAC

1 November

7499 SS forms at Fürstenfeldbruck AB from ‘X’ Flight 45 RS and Det ‘A’ 10 RG. Equipped with RB-17, RB-26 Invader, C-47 and C-54 aircraft

1949

Spitfire PR XIX of II(AC) Sqn RAF start flying unofficial missions in the Corridors and BCZ

May

Berlin blockade lifted but Airlift continues

May

North Atlantic Treaty signed and NATO formed

September

End of Berlin Airlift

Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) founded

October

German Democratic Republic (GDR) founded

1950

Soviet claims that Corridor and BCZ altitude limits are between 2,500 and 10,000ft and only unarmed transport and training aircraft can use them

June

Korean War starts. North Korea invades South

Mutual Defence Assistance Programme signed with USA

7499 SS moves to Wiesbaden AB

1951

II (AC) Sqn Spitfire PR XIX flights in Corridors and BCZ stop because of move to Köln-Wahn

Winston Churchill elected British PM

3 May

497 RTS forms at Wiesbaden from photographic and PI elements of 45 RS and 10 RG

July

497 RTS transfers to Shaw AFB in the USA

August

First C-54 flights by 7499 SS

1 September

HQ BAFO renamed HQ 2TAF

BAFO Comms Sqn renamed 2TAF Comms Sqn

1952

24 January

497 RTS returns to Schierstein Compound

21 March

US-owned RB-45C crewed by RAF personnel flies down Centre Corridor at high altitude to assess Soviet response. This was the precursor to Operation Jiu-Jitsu flights

1953

Western Allies unofficially accept Soviet unilaterally imposed restrictions on heights and aircraft types allowed to use the Corridors and BCZ

Dwight D. Eisenhower elected US president

C-97A 49–2952 Pie Face starts Corridor flights from Rhein-Main

PID element of JAPIC (G) becomes PID HQ 2TAF

12 March

RAF Lincoln shot down by the Soviets near the North Corridor with loss of seven lives

March

Georgi Malenkov becomes leader of USSR

17 June

Workers’ uprising in East Berlin put down by Soviet and East German authorities

3 June

Queen Elizabeth II crowned

November

RB-17G leaves 7499 SS service

July

Korean War armistice signed at Panmunjon

1954

2TAF Comms Sqn moves to RAF Wildenrath near the Dutch–German border

One DHC-1 Chipmunk T10 forms RAF Gatow Station Flight and is used by BRIXMIS for visual reconnaissance flights

1954 to 1955

Army and RAF HQs and PI units move to JHQ complex at Rheindahlen

JAPIC (G) ceases to exist and the two PI units are co-located but autonomous

1955

7499 SG forms at Wiesbaden from 7499 SS. Group consists of three squadrons: 7405 SS, 7406 SS and 7407 SS

Anthony Eden elected British PM

May

First C-118 joins 7405 SS

Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev are joint leaders of the USSR

July

First Four Power summit at Geneva to open dialogue and reduce Cold War tensions

1956

Cabinet approves use of the RAF Gatow Station Flight Chipmunk for photographic collection operations by BRIXMIS

Percival Pembroke starts to replace the Avro Anson on British Corridor photographic flights

23 October to 10 November

Hungarian uprising. Soviet troops from GSFG despatched to help quell it

FRG becomes independent nation state

BMG and BOZ disbanded

Whitehall becomes directly involved in the staffing and authorisation processes of British Corridor and BCZ flights

November

Suez crisis. Britain, France and Israel co-operate to retake the Suez Canal. Serious rift in Anglo-American relations

1957

French start Corridor and BCZ flights from Lahr using C-47 Gabriel I-IV

Harold Macmillan replaces Anthony Eden as British PM

First signs of construction sighted at Glau. Became the first SA-2 Guideline site in the forward area

November

USSR launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite

1958

Intelligence Corps assumes responsibility for provision of all British Army PIs

Nikita Khrushchev becomes leader of the USSR

May

First T/CT-29 arrives at 7405 SS to replace C-47s

Charles de Gaulle forms new French government to deal with war in Algeria

July

Last RB-26 Invader leaves 7405 SS

Det 1, 7406 SS (Slick Chick) ceases operations

December

Last C-54 flight by 7405 SS

1959

USA sends C-130 aircraft down the Corridors at 25,000ft to exercise its rights to fly at any altitude along them Robust Soviet reaction ensures that this is never repeated

Charles de Gaulle elected French president

1 January

HQ 2TAF renamed HQ RAFG (2TAF)

PID HQ 2TAF becomes PID HQ RAFG (2TAF)

2TAF Comms Sqn becomes HQ RAFG Comms Sqn

Summer

President de Gaulle orders USA to remove its nuclear weapons from France

July

BRIXMIS Chipmunk flight acquires close-up photographs of SA-2 Guideline equipment at Glau

1960

APIU (BAOR) renamed PI Coy (TINTU)

1 May

US U-2 shot down over Sverdlovsk in USSR

Following shooting down of U-2 and the deteriorating Berlin situation, the British embargo all photographic flights in the Corridors and BCZ. Other training and transport flights continue

US and French continue reconnaissance flights

Last C-47 mission flown by 7405 SS

January

Last C-118 flight by 7405 SS

1961

RAF Corridor and BRIXMIS Chipmunk photographic flights controlled directly from London. Flights are in single figures to be executed within a set time

January

John F. Kennedy elected president of USA

16 August

Berlin Wall built dividing the city

1962

British restrictions on RAF Corridor and BRIXMIS Chipmunk flights relaxed with authorisation devolved to senior military officers in Germany and Berlin

Pembroke Mod 614 programme started to fit F.96 cameras

October

Cuban Missile Crisis

PI Coy (TINTU) renamed PI Coy (BAOR)

1963

C-97 Stratofreighters start 7405 SS Corridor and BCZ flights

Alec Douglas-Home replaces Harold Macmillan as British PM

French C-47 Gabriel I-IV replaced by Nord 2501 Noratlas Gabriel V

November

President John F. Kennedy assassinated and succeeded by VP Lyndon B. Johnson

1964

Satellite imagery renders Corridor and BCZ flights I&W requirement less important

Harold Wilson elected British PM

Aleksandr Kosygin and Leonid Brezhnev become leaders of USSR

USA introduces operational reconnaissance satellites

1965

PI Coy (BAOR) renamed 6 (PI) Coy on formation of Int Gp (BAOR)

1966

French move Corridor and BCZ flights to Metz-Frescaty following French withdrawal from NATO

March

President de Gaulle announces French withdrawal from NATO by 1967. US forces given notice to leave France

1967

October

497 RTS redesignated 497 RTG

June

Six-day War between Israel and Arab states

1968

Second DHC-1 Chipmunk allocated to RAF Gatow Station Flight

Leonid Brezhnev becomes leader of the USSR

July

19 MRD seen formed into unit columns prior to deploying to Czechoslovakia

August

T/CT-29 leave 7045 SS

20 August

Soviet military intervention in Czechoslovakia in response to Dubçek government’s reforms (Prague Spring)

1 October

7407 SS disbands

1969

3 February

HQ RAFG Comms Sqn redesignated 60 Sqn RAF

Richard Nixon elected president of the USA

Georges Pompidou elected French president

1970

6 (PI) Coy renamed 6 Int Coy (PI)

Edward Heath appointed British PM

March

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty between Britain, USA and USSR ratified

1972

17 January

Pembroke XL954 intercepted by three MiG-17s in the South Corridor

May

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT 1) signed

1 March

7499 SG disbands

1973

October

Yom Kippur War in Middle East and oil crisis

1974

7406 SS disbands and becomes 7580 SS

Harold Wilson elected British PM

Gerald Ford elected president of the USA

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing elected French president

1975

7405 SS moves to Rhein-Main AB

7405 SS receives first C-130E-II to replace C-97 Stratofreighters

1976

James Callaghan replaces Harold Wilson as British PM

1977

7405 SS becomes 7405 OS

Jimmy Carter elected president of the USA

Soviets deploy SS-20 Sabre in Europe

1979

6 Int Coy (PI) renamed 6 Int Coy

Margaret Thatcher elected British PM

December

NATO deploys Pershing and Ground Launched Cruise Missiles (GLCM) in Britain and Germany

December

USSR invades Afghanistan

1980

December

35 MRD appears to be preparing for intervention in Poland

Start of Polish Solidarity Crisis

1981

Ronald Reagan elected president of the USA

François Mitterrand elected French president

1982

Yuri Andropov becomes leader of the USSR

April to June

Falklands War between Britain and Argentina

1983

7580 OS forms at Rhein-Main AB

November

GLCM arrive at Greenham Common

1984

Konstantin Chernenko becomes leader of the USSR

1985

March

Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the USSR

1986

Berlin nightclub bombed, causing US service casualties

15–16 April

Operation Eldorado Canyon – USA attacks suspected terrorist targets in Libya from British bases

1987

USA and USSR sign Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty – Pershings, GLCMs and SS-20 Sabre are to be withdrawn from Europe

1989

60 Sqn RAF – Hawker Siddley Andover partially replaces Percival Pembroke

Year of collapse of Soviet power in Eastern Europe

June

First C-160G Transall Gabriel VI delivered to Metz-Frescaty

3 July

First operational Corridor and BCZ flight by C-160G Transall Gabriel VI

26 October

Last French Nord N2501 Noratlas Gabriel V flight

November

Berlin Wall comes down

1990

29 September

Last Corridor flight by 7405 OS

John Major replaces Margaret Thatcher as British PM

30 September

RAF Corridor and BRIXMIS Chipmunk flights cease

August

Iraq invades Kuwait

3 October

FRG and GDR reunified as Germany

31 December

Berlin Air Safety Centre closes

1990 to 1994

French continue BCZ and other photographic flights over Soviet and East German targets

1991

497 RTG moves to RAF Molesworth in UK

23 January

7405 OS and 7580 OS disband

January to February

First Gulf War

Spring

British PM authorises formation of JAC at Molesworth

May

Greenham Common GLCM deactivated

July

Warsaw Pact dissolved

December

USSR dissolved

1992

April

60 Sqdn disbands at RAF Wildenrath, later reforms at RAF Benson

1994

Last Soviet Western Group of Forces troops leave Germany

INTRODUCTION

Our account of Allied operations along the Berlin Air Corridors, in the Berlin Control Zone (BCZ) and along the Inner German Border (IGB) does not start in Germany. The early chapters outline the intelligence collection methods available to the Western Allies, examining the development of their efforts to gather airborne intelligence on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. A key thread throughout is the extent of Anglo-American co-operation as the United States, supported by Britain, began its worldwide airborne intelligence collection effort. After a brief interregnum following the end of the Second World War, the two co-operated extensively in collecting photographic imagery as the British provided bases and undertook some overflights at the behest of the USA. Under President Eisenhower the Americans began a huge effort to capture as much photographic and signals intelligence as they could of the Soviet Union – particularly through the U-2 and related programmes. Domestic politics in both countries and international incidents impacted on the conduct of programmes in Germany and elsewhere. It established the overall framework of intelligence gathering in Europe within which Corridor and BCZ flights operated.

Chapter 2 concentrates on post-war Germany, how its division required the four wartime allies to find a way of coexisting. This was especially important in relation to West Berlin and access to the city from the Western occupation zones through the establishment of the Air Corridors, BCZ and Berlin Air Safety Centre (BASC). The Cold War saw a huge concentration of military forces facing each other across the Inner German Border and around Berlin which became a running political sore, potential military flashpoint and ‘hot spot’ for the collection of intelligence via every possible means.

The substantive part of the book concentrates on the conduct of Corridor missions, BCZ and some IGB collection flights. These are covered in three chapters that examine US, British and French activities respectively using a combination of available official records and the recollections of participants from all levels. Chapter 6 looks, with an emphasis on British operations, at Allied flights by all three countries within (and occasionally beyond) the BCZ; their origins, equipment and experiences.

The final three chapters look at how collected photographic imagery was processed, exploited, recorded, reported and shared from the perspectives of those doing the work. Via examples, they detail some successes and outline a few ‘wild goose chases’. The final chapter considers what the Soviet and East German military probably knew about Allied Corridor and BCZ flights and explores why, for the most part, they largely tolerated this constant observation for over forty years.

We may have been the ones to bring the material together for this project, but without the very generous assistance of many people we would never have been able to tell such a detailed and fascinating story.

1

COLD WAR AIRBORNE INTELLIGENCE GATHERING: TECHNOLOGY AND POLITICS

It is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.

The Sources of Soviet Conduct (George Kennan, 1947)

The Sources of Intelligence

Throughout the Cold War the size, composition and technological quality of Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces was constantly improving. To keep abreast of these developments, the Western intelligence community voraciously gathered information from all available sources. The generation of reliable, wide-ranging, verifiable intelligence was vital in providing political and military decision-makers with the most accurate assessed intelligence available.

All intelligence disciplines were employed against the Soviets. Operationally each was narrowly defined and had its individual strengths and weaknesses, but effective collation and fusion helped to reduce the individual disciplines’ deficiencies. An outline of the main disciplines used by Western intelligence agencies in Cold War Germany is useful in understanding intelligence collection methods.

Signals and Communications Intelligence (SIGINT–COMINT/ELINT)

SIGINT is the overarching term applied to the collection of communications intelligence (COMINT) and electronic intelligence (ELINT). SIGINT’s capabilities cover both tactical and strategic communications and electronic emissions. These included radio transmissions between military forces, armies, aircraft, ships and headquarters, as well as radar and data links. SIGINT can provide invaluable intelligence on current and strategic activities, organisations, military formations and manufacturing. However, it only ‘hears’ what is going on and requires confirmation by other means.

Photographic and Imagery Intelligence (PHOTINT/IMINT)

Photographic and Imagery Intelligence provides a permanent, tangible record by exploiting ground, airborne and space-based imagery. PHOTINT refers to optical photography, whereas IMINT encompasses multi-spectral sensors such as infrared and radar. Extracting intelligence from imagery, just like SIGINT, requires skilled, well-trained and experienced personnel. Imagery is far from infallible as it can be deceived by careful camouflage, sophisticated deception plans, and hiding equipment or physical activity from view whilst the collection platform is overhead and these measures are still used against satellites with their predictable orbits. Imagery’s value is its ability to produce details of new items of equipment, monitoring fixed operating locations and watching the movement of equipment and personnel. It can also help to confirm, or refute, information gathered from other sources.

Human Intelligence (HUMINT)

As its name suggests, Human Intelligence covers the acquisition of information and intelligence from human sources and is perhaps the most familiar form of intelligence collection. It can come from virtually any human interaction. More commonly this can mean casual and social meetings with local populations, formal and informal contact between diplomatic and military personnel, defectors and ‘agents in place’ (spies). HUMINT often manages to capture the information and perspectives that are not easily seen by external observers or technical means, including the state of military and civilian morale, levels and effectiveness of training, the overall competence of troops, equipment reliability, readiness and routine military practices. A key advantage, and complication, of HUMINT is its flexibility because humans not only collect information, but they also interpret and explain it. Explaining the reasons behind why something is done can sometimes be more valuable than just noting that it is being done. HUMINT has significant limitations: the age of the information is one, as much is likely to be very time sensitive. Another key consideration is the source’s own agenda and motivation.

One particularly valuable form of HUMINT sources were military and defence attachés who were trained to make informed and expert observations, and interpret them. They often took photographs to support their observations. Most were generally permitted to tour in their host country overtly. But in less friendly regimes their movements were often constrained by embassy policies, local regulations and local security force activities. Attachés have to work within the constraints of acceptable diplomatic practice. In extremis, they can be declared persona non grata and expelled from the country, resulting in political embarrassment and the loss of their unique capability until they can be replaced, which may take some time.

The sharing of intelligence gathered by separate agencies and states can multiply the amount of information available and contribute to the assembly of a more comprehensive intelligence picture.

The UK–US Intelligence Relationship and Co-operation

Richard Aldrich has observed that extensive US–UK security co-operation is rooted in the areas of atomic and intelligence exchange.1 This co-operation is often characterised as the ‘Special Relationship’ which developed between Britain and the US during the Second World War. Intelligence sharing has certainly always been a major element of that relationship. It included the US presence at Bletchley Park where wartime enemy communications were broken and at the Allied Central Interpretation Unit (ACIU) at RAF Medmenham where air photography was exploited. Both sides sought the continuance of this mutually beneficial relationship after the end of the war. In March 1946, before the well-known ‘UK–USA Agreement’ formalised the SIGINT relationship, an agreement on the ‘exchange of photographic cover of every description on a world-wide basis’ had been concluded between Air Vice-Marshal (AVM) Elmhirst of the RAF and General George McDonald, USAAF (Head of USAAF intelligence).2 In its haste to demobilise, the USA neglected airborne reconnaissance capabilities significantly so it was not surprising that the embryonic USAF intelligence branch looked instinctively to the RAF for support.3 Although US Army officialdom had officially banned such contact, there were very practical reasons why early US air intelligence efforts retained a significant focus on the UK.

The Nazis’ Photographic Legacy

In May 1945 British and US units overran a number of Luftwaffe intelligence centres in the heart of the German Reich. They recovered a remarkable imagery collection covering the western part of the Soviet Union that had been assembled by the Luftwaffe. For the next two decades this photography was a vital part of British and American targeting intelligence. They gathered together this huge photographic collection, under Operations Dick Tracy and GX, from a number of dispersed locations. These ranged from a barn near Reichenhall, through partially burned photography found in barges, with some of the best said to be from Hitler’s retreat at Berchtesgaden and yet more from Vienna and Oslo. Totalling over 1 million prints it required nearly 200 officers to manage the collection. In October 1945 the duplication effort moved from Pinetree in Essex to RAF Medmenham in Oxfordshire. Work on piecing the material together continued beyond 1949.4 More photography was purchased from two unidentified ‘gentlemen of Europe’ in 1958 and Dino Brugioni mentions the discovery, of hitherto unknown material, moved from Berlin to a Dresden basement at the end of the war, which was found in 1993.5 The combined collection provided a detailed photographic record of Soviet Russia as far as the Ural Mountains and had begun to be amassed well before the Nazi invasion in 1941. Significant updating and replacement of this imagery was not possible until the advent of satellite imagery after 1960.6 This collection was the basis of the continuous Anglo-American photographic intelligence exchanges throughout the Cold War but was not restricted to just Soviet-focused material.

Cold War: Spy Planes and Politics

Cold War Intelligence Collection Flights (ICF) saw ever more sophisticated platforms being employed, ranging from balloons to aircraft and ultimately space-based satellites. The consolidation of Soviet control over Eastern Europe, the Berlin Airlift, the exploding of the USSR’s first atomic bomb, the Korean War and other events rapidly accelerated the USA’s desire for detailed targeting information. Besides the technological issues involved, extensive political bargains were struck between Britain and the USA to co-ordinate their deepening intelligence co-operation.