How East Germany doped its athletes (264)
In the early 1970s, the athletes of East Germany started to achieve incredible sports results, winning medals and setting new world records...
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Episodes
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The building of the Berlin Wall (263)
From the moment East Germany was formed in 1949, many of its citizens chose to leave to start a new life in the West. By the mid-1950s, the...
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Guarding Rudolf Hess, Hitler's Deputy Führer (262)
Dave Phillips is a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London. The Yeoman Warders have been guarding the Tower since Tudor times. Dave joined the...
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From Cold War military drone development, to the deployment and command of the nuclear armed Ground Launched Cruise Missiles (GLCM) in Europe (261)
We continue the story of Richard Stachurski from the previous episode. Part 1 is here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode260In 1971...
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Nuclear missile launch control and Mission Control for the NASA Apollo Moon Missions (260)
Richard Stachurski joined the US Air Force in 1962, on the cusp of the Cuban Missile Crisis as a security police officer guarding...
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Britain's 1980s Cold War Dads Army/Home Guard - The Home Service Force
The Home Service Force or HSF was UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Cold War version of the World War 2 Home Guard. An almost forgotten...
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An aircraft hijack to escape from the Soviet Union (258)
Back in the 1970s, migrating from the Soviet Union was an unattainable dream for many, particularly Jews wanting to leave for Israel. To...
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Defending RAF Gatow - Britain's airbase in Cold War Berlin (257)
Trevor Howie’s role at RAF Gatow was advising the Station Commander on Station defence during times of war, tension or terrorist threat as...
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Guarding Britain's nuclear weapons and RAF Akrotiri during the Cold War (256)
Following his RAF Regiment officer training Trevor Howie was posted to 34 Sqn at Raf Akrotiri in Cyprus, commanding C Flight. The RAF...
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The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis with Sir Max Hastings (255)
The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis is reckoned to be one of the most perilous events in history, when the World faced a looming nuclear...
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“Houston, we’ve had a problem” interview with Fred Haise, Apollo 13 astronaut (254)
Fred Haise was one of the three astronauts on the ill-fated Moon mission when a design fault caused an oxygen tank to explode mid-mission...
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An 18 year old US Military Policeman in Cold War West Berlin (253)
Richard Blevins enlisted aged 18 in the US Army in March of 1987. He completed Basic Training & Military Police School training in July of...
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A trip across Central Europe on a East German MZ motorbike (252)
MZ was an East German motorcycle manufacturer located in Zschopau, Saxony. The acronym MZ stands for Motorenwerke Zschopau GmbH (German for...
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Imprisoned in a Soviet Military gaol - a BRIXMIS officer's diary Pt 2 (251)
This is the 2nd part of my interview with Lt Col. Stephen Harrison, MBE who served for two years as a full-time Touring Officer with...
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Arrested 11 times, plus 3 shooting incidents - a BRIXMIS officer's diary Pt 1 (250)
Lt Col. Stephen Harrison, MBE served for two years as a full-time Touring Officer with BRIXMIS. These Tours were hazardous three man,...
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Life in the forbidden zone at the East/West German border (249)
A young Claudia Bierschenk lived at the edge of a world called the GDR, in a village surrounded by hills, valleys and thick forests. Her...
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The girl at the edge of the World - an East German childhood at the West German Border (248)
A young Claudia Bierschenk lived in a village surrounded by hills, valleys and thick forests at the edge of a world called the GDR. It...
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A daughter's 18 year search for her Cold War CIA pilot father at the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba (247)
In 1961, members of the Alabama Air National Guard secretly took part in the failed invasion of Cuba by U.S.-backed Cuban exiles known as...
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British Army Air Corps helicopter co-pilot in Cold War Germany (246)
Paul continues his story with his recruitment into the Army Air Corps. It’s initially delayed with a tour providing airfield repair in West...
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A boy soldier in the Cold War Royal Engineers (245)
Paul joined the Royal Engineers in 1977, aged 16 as an apprentice. We hear of his experience of joining the army at such a young age and...
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