by Kevin Wright
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
The History Press
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This ebook edition first published in 2017
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© Kevin Wright and Peter Jefferies, 2017
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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 Allie
d 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: [email protected].
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
