The first pictorial book on the British occupation and defence strategy for West-Berlin

The book is a pictorial historiography of the British occupation of Berlin from 1945-1994 with insights and detailed information on the military and political status of the city. With previously unpublished documents and photographs, it reveals every facet of British life at the Wall, from the garrison’s daily routine, the surveillance activities of the Military Mission (BRIXMIS) behind the Iron Curtain, the YAK 28 coup and the SIS/CIA spy tunnel operation, exposed by KGB’s top spy George Blake. Additionally, it discloses the British defence strategy (FIBUA) for its sector, revealing new and unpublished insights. Berlin as a city, deep inside the Soviet Zone, enclosed by the notorious Berlin Wall from 1961, was the stage of Cold War operations, spy tunnels and high security radar stations penetrating the Warsaw Pact. It discloses the British Garrison’s contradictory engagement between post-war obligations in cooperating with the Soviets, Berlin Air Safety Centre and Spandau Allied Prison, at the same time preparing for war.

Orders from outside Germany: Please send your order to info@vergangenheitsverlag.de stating:

- how many copies of Durie, The British Garrison Berlin 1945-1994 you would like to receive

- please give your full postal adress

- the book will be sent to you jointly with the invoice; no payment in advance

William Durie

William Durie is a photographer who was based with the British Armed Forces in Berlin until 1994. In 1997 he was responsible for the re-discovery of the SIS/CIA spy tunnel (George Blake) and the PLUTO pipe lines brought to Berlin for the airlift. In 2001 he was awarded a Fellowship by the Berlin United States Military Veterans Association for his research work on the second Berlin Crisis. He lives in Berlin.

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