British Berlin Brigade 1960's

Gadge Continues His “warriors” Series With a Look Back to the 1960s and the British Defenders of West Berlin, at That Time Deep Within Soviet Territory.

FOR DECADES FOLLOWING WWII the British Army kept a massive presence in Germany, both to deter Soviet aggression and protect the West German population; critical to their deployment were the men of the Berlin Brigade.

While the vast majority of the British Army was stationed as part of the British Army of the Rhine in West Germany, the UK kept a significant presence in the isolated demi city of West Berlin.

At the end of the Second World War the victorious allies had divided Europe up between East and West. While the Soviets got nominal control of countries like Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Poland, Germany itself was split down the middle with the Western Allies taking the western half and the Soviets governing the East. Berlin, the wartime capital of Germany and seat of Hitler’s power, was deep within Soviet controlled territory but also , itself, split down the middle with the UK, the US and France garrisoning West Berlin. West Berlin itself was only accessable by air and a handful of land and water routes leaving the garrison troops in a precarious position... dangerously out on a limb in “enemy” territory.

ARMY OF OCCUPATION

Initially Britain’s “army of occupation” after WWII deployed the famous Desert Rats to guard their sector of the city but by 1953 a force called “Area Force Berlin” was created as a more structured garrison with three infantry battalions (around 1,500 men) and an armoured squadron, along with supporting services. The AFB was initially separate from the larger BAOR but would eventually be connected to the BAOR in the early 80's.