by Kevin Wright
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 become
s 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.
