An exciting account... Collectors

[newday11]

  I didn't get much of a response to the Frenh guest writer... but if this true account from a group of British espionage agents going aboard a moving train in what was then E. Germany, I don't know what will please you...

BRITISH: Dear Lee, Yes, you have my explicit permission to use the excerpt. Best wishes, Peter Williams. 2008 From Maj Gen (retd) P G Williams, BRIXMIS Tour Officer (1981-83) and SO2 Operations (1987-89) -   Excerpts from:

THE PRÖDEL INCIDENT: SERENDIPITY AND AN APPLE
A BRIXMIS Incident near Magdeburg – 26th July 1983

...it was at this stage that the Tour NCO said ‘I can get onto the train, if you like, sir!  Then we can see the BMP-2 main armament without its canvas muzzle cover.  What do you think?’   Without pausing for deep consideration, but certain that the opportunity could only be short lived, the Tour Officer replied: ‘Go for it!  I will cover your every move with the camera, but don’t hang about in case the Sovs turn up’.

   The Tour NCO sprinted to the edge of the field, scrambled down the slight embankment and then leapt up onto the second flat-car and pulled himself up onto the top deck of a BMP-2, gazing frequently down the train towards the M-wagons and up the train at the locomotive.

New Uses for an Apple

   If serendipity had handed the Tour crew an extraordinary opportunity to satisfy one of DI60’s priority intelligence requirements, it was now that ‘Murphy’s Law’ came to the forefront 1 .  Having reached the perfect spot at which to establish the calibre of the BMP-2’s main armament, the Tour NCO suddenly realised that he had nothing on him that was capable of providing an accurate scale from which DI60 could make any exact measurements … and time was running out!   The locomotive driver could either sees or sense that his train was under attack and he had started sounding his hooter in order to get the attention of the Soviet crewmen.

   The Tour NCO’s instant assessment of the situation revealed that his only potential ‘measurement tools’ were his Dictaphone recorder and a Golden Delicious apple.  They might not be ideal, but they were the only options open to him and so he reacted accordingly.

   Having ripped the canvas muzzle cover off the BMP-2’s main armament, he rammed the apple into the end of the cannon’s barrel, creating an impression of the shape of the flash hider.  He then balanced the Dictaphone on the cannon’s recoil mechanism housing to provide a reference for the Tour Officer’s photographs.  Finally the Tour NCO clambered onto the top of the turret and pulled off the canvas cover from the anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) launching platform , as the Tour Officer continued to take pictures (in colour slide format).

   By this stage it was painfully clear that the Tour had over-stayed its welcome and it was time to go.  The Tour NCO jumped down off the train and sprinted back to the safety of the Opel Senator, still carrying the BMP-2 turret’s two canvas covers, his Dictaphone and the badly dented Golden Delicious apple.

   Waving a cheery farewell to the by now furious train driver who was still trying to attract the attention of the Soviet crewmen, the Tour crew now sought to put some distance between itself and the area of Prödel in order to allow heartbeats to subside and an assessment of the situation to be made.

Self-preservation becomes the Priority

   It was obvious that the Soviets would be angered by this assault on one of their kit trains in broad daylight, but there was no way that the Tourers could assess just how speedy and thorough their retribution would be.  Perhaps the Soviet crewmen had radio communications with the Headquarters 3rd Shock Army in nearby Magdeburg?

   What seemed to be most sensible was to get rid of the films, the apple and the other booty as soon as possible, preferably by handing them to another BRIXMIS Tour crew, and then for the crew of Opel Senator No. 8 to lie low for a while well away from Magdeburg and the Zerbst Gap.

   Finding another BRIXMIS patrol out on the ground in East Germany was always a challenge because Tours had no communications equipment (and this was before the era of mobile phones), but the Tour Officer recalled that BRIXMIS was currently responsible for covering the area immediately to the west of Berlin, known as the ‘Local’ area.     

   As a result there was a fair chance of encountering the BRIXMIS Local Tour somewhere in the area around the small town of Treuenbrietzen, through which convoys frequently moved between the Jüterbog and Altengrabow ‘polygons’ as well as along the F2 main road from Potsdam to Lutherstadt Wittenberg.

   As luck would have it the Local Tour vehicle was spotted and a quick rendezvous (RV) was successfully executed.  The films, the apple and the booty were handed over and, fully aware of the sensitivity and urgency of the situation, the Local Tour agreed to return to West Berlin with its precious cargo without delay. 

   For its part, everyone at the RV agreed that Opel Senator No. 8 and its crew should ‘go to ground’ in East Germany and only go back through Potsdam to Berlin the next morning in order to seem to be behaving in an entirely normal manner.  To rush straight back to safety might seem to be admitting some sort of guilt to the Soviet authorities.  And so the Tour crew settled down to an evening of observing railway tracks and road junctions from a safe distance and then disappeared deep into the woods to sleep in the normal manner.
  Things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance’.
 [ii] The BMP-2 ATGM launching platform could mount either the AT-4 SPIGOT (9M111 ‘Fagot’) or the AT-5 SPANDREL (9M113 ‘Konkurs’).

[gypsygurl]

I'm confused...is this a new first five?  Because it's posted in the first five board?   

[newday11]

  No it's actually in Chapter 3 but its about 5 pages. newday11

[tradergirl]

You are right that this WILL be an exciting bit of your book.  But you're not quite there yet.

WHOSE train is it? 
WHY did you want to see it?  WHAT were you hoping to learn about the train?
WHAT threat would potentially stop you?

You need to tell me all those things to help me settle into the scene, so I can be right there with you when the apple gets used as a frame of size reference.

My favorite bit of narrative: "put some distance between itself and the area of Prödel in order to allow heartbeats to subside and an assessment of the situation to be made."

NARRATIVE, my friend.

T.

[Abigail]

maybe there should be another board for snippets.  then the poster could start out by saying that this snippet is about so many pages from chapter whatever...and there would be no more confusion.

because really, reading a first five and reading a snippet from elsewhere are completely different and will gather different types of responses, critiques and suggestions.

it's always nice to know ahead of time so you are not confused...taints the reading.

[gypsygurl]

  No it's actually in Chapter 3 but its about 5 pages. newday11

Ok, just wasn't sure because counting back you have 9 threads in the First Five lol...Didn't know if you'd changed this to your beginning or what...I think Abi might have a good idea with having another section of the board.  Maybe somewhere that we can post small sections that we're having trouble with for critiquing/advice... Mods?  Thoughts anyone?

Anyway, I'm pretty much with TG...

[newday11]

 
1) Patrick - get the drift on the snippets board?
2) For all you other that commented above, this piece before the train part should clarify who's train (Soviets), etc. Newday 11

CHAPTER THREE
USMLM POTSDAM - OUR COLLECTORS IN THE EAST

USMLM ACTIVITIES ARE NOW UNCLASSIFIED. THIS IS BASED ON THE DECLASSIFIED USMLM UNIT HISTORIES AND “NICOLSON INCIDENT CASE STUDY.” AFTER ALL, THE SOVIETS, E. GERMANY AND USMLM NO LONGER EXIST.
 

They were HUMINT (Human Intelligence) sources. When the Indicators of Hostilities (IOH) back in Heidelberg began to rise, usually because of large scale training too near the border between us and them (the Soviets in East Germany), these collectors would investigate and let Heidelberg know if war was looming or if the equipment and personnel massing was simply for an exercise. My research indicates that is what the CINC was most interested in concerning USMLM. But they also collected reams of Intelligence and were one of the first Intel units to do analysis of the collected information in the same organization, at the same level. The most prevalent way they collected this information was by taking car tours around E. Germany and snooping around military equipment, taking pictures of military equipment, etc. How were American Intel personnel able to be in E. Germany in the first place? The accord that permits this touring is the Huebner-Malinin Agreement.  It was signed in March 1947 by Lieutenant General C. R. Huebner, Deputy Commander in Chief, US European Command (EUCOM), and Colonel-General Malinin, Deputy Commander in Chief and Chief of Staff, Group of Soviet Forces, Germany.  The pact allowed for a Soviet Military Liaison Mission (SMLM) in Frankfurt/Main, West Germany; and the USMLM in Potsdam, East Germany.  The document assured the privilege of free movement in each country "except places of disposition of military units." Staff supervision was documented from the DCSI, USAREUR (AEAGB) (or from their intelligence agency) and so we believe their second mission noted below soon became their primary mission. But when was this switch in priorities of missions made???  Was it from the early days back at the end of WW II or did the Intel Mission develop and evolve? Recently some USMLM veterans with extensive mission experience discussed my question and came up with the following partial answer; we may never know the true final answer:
 Anyone who could answer the question based on personal experience is already dead. However, the "lore" surrounding the size of the various Allied military liaison missions may provide a clue.  The British and French missions were larger than the Americans, supposedly because of American counterintelligence concerns in 1947 when the missions were created:  They wanted to limit the number of Soviets running around in the American zone of occupation.  This counterintelligence concern, if true, suggests an early appreciation of the potential intelligence role and value of the liaison missions.  What it does not address is how quickly the missions became effective intelligence collectors and producers.  Since the unit histories do not extend that far back in time, they are of little help with the question.  One can assume that the intelligence role of USMLM started early and small (perhaps merely spot reporting), evolved over time, and developed to a high point in the late eighties before the unit was deactivated when East and West Germany united.

BELOW MISSIONS STATEMENTS ARE FROM THE 1982 USMLM UNIT HISTORY, ONCE CLASSIFIED, NOW DECLASSIFIED.


MISSION.
1. The primary mission of USMLM was to carry out its responsibilities for liaison between (Commander-In-Chief, US Army Europe) CINCUSAREUR on behalf of US Commander-in-Chief Europe (USCINCEUR) and CINCGSFG, (CINC, Group Of Soviet Forces Germany) and to serve as a point of contact for other US departments and agencies with CINCGSFG, in accordance with provisions of the Huebner-Malinin Accord.
2. The secondary and confidential mission of USMLM was to exploit its liaison status and attendant potential for collection of intelligence information in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
ALLIED MILITARY LIAISON MISSION’s (AMLM)- THE FRENCH AND BRITISH LIAISON MISSIONS TO THE SOVIET FORCES IN E. GERMANY
France (La Mission Militaire Francaise de Liaison (FMLM, more properly MMFL in French)) and Britain (British Commanders'-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS) also had like allied missions in E. Germany and were accredited under similar accords. In their Zones in W. Germany they had to monitor the Soviets as our SMLM monitors did.
SHARING COLLECTED INTELLIGENCE?
Concerning sharing information between the three allied missions, an informed source tells me “Yes, we shared all mission tour highlight reports and most IIRs (Intelligence Information Reports).” So we know US collected information went back to France and Britain and vice versa.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: TRUE FMLM, BRIXMIS AND USMLM TOUR ACCOUNTS: