British Army Air Corps helicopter co-pilot in Cold War Germany (246)

Cold War Conversations

Ian Sanders

Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.8 • 758 Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2022

⏱️ 86 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Paul continues his story with his recruitment into the Army Air Corps. It’s initially delayed with a tour providing airfield repair in West Germany and then the Falklands, but finally, he’s at training at Middle Wallop, the home of the Army Air Corps. He describes the training including underwater escapes, flying and navigation. As a Gazelle crewman, his role was navigator, observer and co-pilot. We hear of exercises including the lesser-known Railex/Probex, a US, French and British exercise to re-open a land corridor to West Berlin should the links be closed by Warsaw Pact forces and the British Frontier Service. Paul’s story is again full of great anecdotes and the dangerous reality of flying low-level missions in a single-engine aircraft including a forced landing with a General on board. 0:00 Introduction and Paul's recruitment into the army air corps 1:30 Sponsor: Call for donations and listener testimonial 8:08 Discussion on practice drills and Paul's deployment to the Falklands 20:02 Surviving training and posting back to Germany 24:17 Transition to a new hangar and memorable encounter with Apache helicopters 28:34 Flying the inner German border and interception of unauthorized flights 33:42 Exercise Railex Probex: A combined US, French, and British exercise 44:08 Winning the Rolls Royce Trophy and personal experiences in the army air corps 54:24 Reflecting on the dangers of the job and the forgotten casualties of the Cold War 58:33 Importance of timing for the general's travels and emergency landing due to engine failure 1:13:59 Return to the Corps of Royal Engineers and posting back to Germany 1:21:16 Paul's sunshine tour in Gibraltar and final tours 1:21:48 Closing remarks and appreciation for patrons Table of contents powered by PodcastAI✨ Cold War history is disappearing; however, a simple monthly donation will keep this podcast on the air. You’ll get a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving written reviews wherever you listen to us as well as sharing us on social media. It really helps us get new guests on the show. I am delighted to welcome Paul to our Cold War conversation… Photos and videos here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode246/ Don’t miss our previous episode where Paul joins the Army as a boy soldier in the Royal Engineers here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode245/ Follow us on Twitter here https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.8	And I remember we had a particularly bad summer where there were three or four significant fatal accidents.
0:12.7	And it sort of made you realise that this was the real business we were involved with.
0:16.9	This was a dangerous pursuit.
0:20.3	This is Cold War Conversations.
0:25.6	If you're new here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War history accounts.
0:32.1	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app so you don't miss out on any of the episodes.
0:40.0	Paul continues his story with his recruitment into the Army Air Corps. It's initially
0:45.3	delayed with a tour providing airfield repair in West Germany and then the Falklands, but finally
0:50.8	he's at training at Middle Wallop, the home of the Army Air Corps.
0:55.3	He describes the training, including underwater escapes, flying and navigation.
1:00.2	He graduates as a gazelle crewman whose role was navigator, observer and co-pilot.
1:06.2	We hear of exercises including the lesser-known Raylex Probex,
1:10.4	a US-French and British exercise to
1:12.9	reopen a land corridor to West Berlin should the links be closed by Warsaw Pact forces, as
1:19.0	well as his activities with the British Frontier Service.
1:23.2	Paul's story is again full of great anecdotes as well as the dangerous reality of flying low-level
1:29.3	missions in a single-engined aircraft, including a force landing with a general aboard.
1:35.8	Don't miss our previous episode where Paul joins the army as a boy soldier in the Royal Engineers.
1:43.7	Now, Cold War history is disappearing, but a simple monthly donation will help keep this
1:50.5	podcast on the air. You'll get the sort after Cold War Conversations drinks coaster as a
1:55.8	thank you, and bask in the warm glow of knowing that you're helping to preserve Cold War history.
	...

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