Occupied Berlin, 1945-1990 Allied Forces (US, British, French, Soviet)

[Rakkasan187]

Here are a few shots of the Allied Forces Day Parade in 21 Juni Strasse.. The Joint Allied Color Guard would drive past in vehicles followed by a platoon from each of the Allies (British, French and US)… They would be followed by the entire Brigades of Allied Troops and the end of the parade would be all the Allied Armored Vehicles and Tanks as well as helicopter flyovers...

Smitty

[drmessimer]

Smitty, we paraded once a year on the 4th of July and we fired salutes at Tempelhof whenever a worthy VIP landed there. Thank God, we didn't have a "parade season;" we had to put up with enough silly CS to keep us busy. The captain who commanded Tank Company when I arrived there, had the company's tanks painted a glossy OD--you can see the direction he was headed. But the BC brass were not pleased, and the tanks were quickly repainted regulation OD. I hope Sargetom has some photos to post for us. Dwight

[AZPhil]

@ Phil

We did have the US Embassy Guards and they were Marines... Saw a spattering of them while in Berlin... Good bunch of guys I recall...

Smitty

Yes that was an option.But you don't get your pick until several assignments. We had some here go to Marine Security school. They all got bumfuk duty stations. Semper Fi Phil

[Adrian Stevenson]

A very enjoyable thread. Thanks Guys!

[Watchdog]

Mark,

I have only one thing to say, Bloody Monkeys!

Rod

Hahahaha well, I don't mean to brag (though I shall) but in that competition, although it didn't count towards prizes because it was split into major and minor unit categories, my little band of apes (I was "parachuted in" with ten days notice when the original Platoon Sgt went sick!), actually beat the times of nineteen infantry platoons of the Berlin Bde

You do get surprised sometimes!!

Regards

Mark

[Watchdog]

Our British and French allies did have some camouflage as I recall,
Smitty

Indeed and the theory was that a standard green/black armoured vehicle in an urban evironment would, to use a US euphemism "shine like a nickle in a goat's ass"

So, this really unusual pattern originally designed for but never used in the cities of W. Germany was applied. Inspired by the WWI naval "Dazzle" pattern it looks odd when seen out of context but was very effective amongst the concrete blocks of the city.



The first pic is the same parade mentioned by Smitty.

What is this strange Tank Camouflage? - YouTube

Regards

Mark

[Watchdog]

With the situation in Berlin in general it was very easy to become fixated on border issues and allow ones' core role and other concerns to be sidelined. So, when we were due for our annual FFR Inspection (Fit For Role), an army level assesment of a units fitness to perform it's specified role which entails "special to arm" demonstrations of capability, we decided to use the resources available and do something more than just displays of weapon handling , navigation, first aid etc.

The brief for an FFR is fairly wide and requires the unit being inspected to demonstrate that it is able to perform as per the dedicated role. In most cases once the unit admin and basic discipline in barracks are examined it entails a series of "stands" where particular skills relevant to the unit under inspection are demonstrated and assessed.

The inspection team from higher formation do not know specifically what they will see, just a general outline.

Given the world security situation at the time and the fact that many of us had experience of "Internal Security (IS)" in Northern Ireland we elected to simulate a response to a terrorist incident.

We took over a section of a married quarters estate and set a scene with a narrative. We enlisted service families as "actors" and the assistance of the West Berlin Feuerwehr and Polizei.

The result was amazing and the inspection team were absolutely stunned. Guess what? We passed the inspection!

Here are just a couple of pics because it is possible that some of the cas-sim and other images might be taken seriously by somebody looking at this thread at a later time and out of context.

Check out the Feuerwehr helmets!

Suffice it to say that at endex all the participants; British military, German Fire/Police/Ambulance or civilians were totally knackered and really appreciated the "Apres Ski" which was also laid on!



Regards

Mark

[drmessimer]

Watchdog, that is really interesting, well done! I think that you could safely post additional photos since the purpose of this thread has been made clear to anyone who starts at the beginning. I, for one, would like to see more photos of a truly unusual exercise. What year was that done? Dwight

[HARRY THE MOLE]

I never got to see Berlin - although I was stationed at Napier barracks (the old Luftwaffe airfield) in Dortmund. In fact I never even got to see the Iron Curtain - even though I was in Germany from 1969 until 1971. A great thread this, and hugely interesting to me.

Cheers,
Steve

[Watchdog]

Thanks Dwight, yes it was a bit of a "one off". It was covered by local newspapers and the Brisitsh Forces Broadcasting Service (equiavalent of AFN) but it still resulted in a few alarmed phone calls from local residents to the W. Berlin Police because of all the sirens and smoke etc (all emergency units responded "in character" once they were within about 500m). If I recall correctly it was 1988. I will see about some more pics.

Regards

Mark