- 2 days ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00For British soldiers, military service in Germany did not finish with the end of the Second World War.
00:30In the decades to come, they would be asked to forge a new kind of relationship with the German people.
00:47Here they would create a new permanent home in a corner of Germany known as the Rhineland.
00:55A bubble of home comforts in a foreign land.
01:00The whole of the British Army of the Rhine was a very strange set-up in a way.
01:06It was a British archipelago in the middle of a sort of German sea.
01:13Many were joined by their wives and children who would grow up there.
01:17In many ways, looking back now, of course, when you're there as a child, you think this is normality.
01:21And of course, it was far from it. It was a really very peculiar existence.
01:24But also, at the same time, huge fun. I mean, you know, we had an enormous amount of fun.
01:30And some young Brits would find romance with German girls.
01:34It was love on first sight.
01:37I never encountered anything like that, to be honest with you.
01:39But it was also a dangerous mission.
01:44The British Army of the Rhine was our first line of defence in the Cold War.
01:50While the threat of nuclear weapons loomed large over Europe, these soldiers were on the front line.
01:56As a troop leader, my life expectancy, if the Russians came over, was about eight hours.
02:04And you don't think about that. You can't think about that.
02:06So you think about something else and say, life is normal.
02:09Have another gin and tonic. Let's get on with life.
02:13Now, after 70 years of active service,
02:16the government is finally preparing to bring British troops home.
02:20This film tells their story.
02:26These are blocks of communal flats, such as may be seen in Hamburg, Hanover, and Brunswick.
02:34The army usually takes over a complete section of a town,
02:37turns out the inhabitants into alternative accommodation elsewhere, and moves in.
02:44Since the end of the Second World War,
02:46the Rhineland has been the unofficial home of the British Army.
02:49If you became a professional soldier in Britain from 1945 onwards,
03:01you knew the chances were you were going to probably spend half your service life in Germany.
03:05With 50,000 troops stationed in Germany at any time,
03:16at bases such as Rheindalen,
03:18British soldiers would have to adapt to living and training there.
03:23Well, I arrived in Germany as a young subaltern.
03:26It was quite a pleasant, very clean town called Mulheim on the Rue.
03:33The nearest bigger town would be Dusseldorf.
03:37And I remember the very first publication I was given once I got off the plane
03:42was a little book called, I think,
03:45Bill and Jock Come to Germany,
03:48where it had all sorts of interesting phrases.
03:52Well, I suppose that the phrase in Germany was
03:55Not ein Bier bitte.
03:57I don't know, I can count reasonable number,
04:02eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sie, sie, sie, sie,
04:04in my life, l'er, etc., etc.
04:07One of the first phrases of Germany you learn as a soldier in my day is
04:12Ein Bier, noch ein Bier, und er bezahlt.
04:19That means one beer, another beer, he pays.
04:23Brüchen, empuppen, empfängen, empfrehen,
04:29singen und freuen, tag aus, gut, tag ein,
04:34denn ein Mensch ist jeder allein.
04:38These soldiers would live in bases
04:41that were deliberately cut off from the local German population.
04:45Here, the army created a cocoon of Britishness.
04:51The whole of the British Army of the Rhine
04:54was a very strange set-up in a way.
04:57These little islands were essentially English,
05:01although the architecture was entirely German,
05:04and they would have English names of Wellington Avenue
05:07or sort of, you know, Balaclava Close or something like that.
05:10We've got two cinemas here, a theatre,
05:16a very good cultural centre with a library.
05:20And everything would be inside or around the camp.
05:25So you'd have your medical centre,
05:27you'd have your NAFI, you'd have your cinema.
05:30It was like a little England, you know.
05:32You could go to the NAFI and buy very familiar products.
05:37You would listen to your British forces radio
05:40and hear familiar programmes.
05:42So that was part of the reinforcing, I suppose,
05:46of the Britishness,
05:47but also that you're all in this together, I think.
05:53British troops had taken over these bases
05:55from the German army.
05:56The vast majority of the barracks were very, very similar.
06:01Most had been built in the late 1930s for the Wehrmacht,
06:05and I remember well, you could see the racks
06:07where all the Mauser rifles had been stacked.
06:11And these had been updated, modernised and so forth,
06:14but they were essentially the same.
06:16And there were these large barrack blocks
06:18with tiled roofs, all regular spaces
06:22and broad avenues in all directions.
06:28Deployment of the British army in Germany
06:30started in the final days of the Second World War.
06:46They first arrived as part of the Allied invasion force
06:49that swept through north-west Europe
06:51until the Nazi regime surrendered on the 8th of May, 1945.
07:01From April, May onwards of 1945,
07:05what you had was the British army
07:07essentially stopping where they were
07:10in large areas of northern Germany.
07:13They were part of the great victory,
07:15so this was an army that had won.
07:19The country was divided into four sectors,
07:22each controlled by one of the wartime allies.
07:25The Soviet Union,
07:27the United States,
07:29France,
07:30and Britain.
07:30I don't think there was much love lost
07:38between the British and Germans generally.
07:42This had been a very hard-fought conflict,
07:44and if you consider also that in the British zone
07:47there were things uncovered,
07:49such as at the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen,
07:52that really set the tone for that relationship,
07:56quite frankly.
07:56But the British army of the Rhine
08:00now had a vital new role,
08:02helping rebuild a country devastated by the war.
08:05Our military government,
08:20that is,
08:21your husbands and sons,
08:23have to prod the Germans
08:25into putting their house in order.
08:27Why?
08:29We cannot live next to a disease-ridden neighbour.
08:32And we must prevent not only starvation and epidemics,
08:37but also diseases of the mind,
08:40new brands of fascism.
08:42I guess for the next year or two,
08:44the big concern for this army of occupation
08:47was resurgence of German fascism.
08:50So it was,
08:51I suppose you'd call it a policing role.
08:52They were there to keep the lid on
08:54this defeated population,
08:56deal with all that had to happen
08:58about reconstructing order
09:01and judicial process
09:02and dealing with prisoners of war
09:04and repatriation
09:06and so on,
09:06all of that activity going on
09:08for those first couple of years.
09:10That's why we can't wash our hands of the Germans,
09:13because
09:14we can't afford to let that new life flow
09:17in any direction it wants.
09:19And British soldiers found their role as policemen,
09:30give them privileges and power.
09:36And in those first years,
09:39after the British people
09:40had endured a pretty miserable time
09:43through World War II,
09:45to serve in Germany
09:46was almost to be in paradise.
09:48There you found yourself in a country
09:50where the Germans were very conscious
09:51that they'd been beaten
09:53and that the British and the Americans had won.
09:57They were terrified of the Russians.
09:59They were prepared to do
10:00almost literally anything
10:02for British people.
10:03You could get servants for three and six months.
10:07You could buy anything,
10:08including a woman,
10:09for two cigarettes.
10:11Almost anything in this whole
10:12admittedly devastating country.
10:14But soon,
10:18British troops would have to contend
10:19with a serious new threat.
10:24But then,
10:25as the late 1940s came,
10:28that suddenly
10:28it became clear
10:30that the Soviet Union,
10:32Stalin's Soviet Union,
10:34had displaced
10:35Hitler's Germany
10:36as a threat to the West.
10:38In June 1948,
10:49this tension dramatically escalated
10:50between East and West.
10:53After the war,
10:54Berlin had been divided
10:55between the four wartime allies.
10:58British soldiers
10:59had to travel through the Russian sector
11:01to get to the capital.
11:02But the Soviets closed
11:05the motorway and railroad,
11:07which linked West Germany
11:08to the city,
11:09isolating Berlin.
11:16Tension in Germany
11:18amounts daily.
11:19With the British,
11:19American and French
11:20occupation forces in Berlin
11:22dependent for supplies
11:23on the link
11:23of the hitherto free corridor,
11:25their position is a difficult one.
11:27The peace treads a lonely road.
11:33The Rhine army
11:34would now be part
11:35of an ambitious plan
11:36to resupply Berlin
11:37by air.
11:53Everything you could think of,
11:55coal, salt, oil,
11:57was being brought in
11:58to keep a population
12:00of about 3 million people,
12:01provided with the basics of life.
12:04And so we were flying an aircraft
12:07and I think they were landing
12:07in Tempelhof every three minutes.
12:12I mean, the best memory of all
12:14was of the candy bomber.
12:16This was an American pilot
12:17who was flying in very low
12:19as they had to,
12:21noticed all these children
12:22waving at him
12:22and he had some candy
12:24in his aircraft,
12:25pulled the window back,
12:26wasn't very high up,
12:27dropped it out
12:27and watched the kiddies
12:28scrambling for it.
12:29The Berliners never forgot that.
12:37The Rhine army
12:38flew supplies into Berlin
12:39for almost a year
12:41until the Soviets
12:42finally relented
12:43and lifted the blockade.
12:46But this new division
12:47between East and West
12:48would intensify
12:49and become known
12:51as the Cold War.
12:58By the end of 1949,
13:00the Soviet Union
13:01had begun testing nuclear weapons.
13:05This threatened
13:06the balance of power
13:07in Europe
13:07and placed the Rhine army
13:09in a precarious position.
13:11The leaders of the West,
13:17both the politicians
13:18and the generals,
13:19they find themselves
13:20having to think
13:21not we've got an army
13:23here in Germany
13:24to hold down the Germans,
13:25but we've got an army
13:26here in Germany
13:27that we may need
13:29to defend the Germans
13:31and furthermore
13:32to defend the vital interests
13:33of the West in Europe.
13:34That Germany may be
13:35about to become
13:36the new battleground
13:38of a new hot war,
13:39never mind the Cold War,
13:40the danger of a hot war
13:42seemed very real.
13:44And this is the dark shadow
13:45that falls upon Germany
13:47in the late 1940s,
13:49early 1950s
13:50and which remains there
13:51for decades to come.
14:03The army now began seriously
14:05to prepare for a third world war.
14:08Across the Rhineland,
14:10British tanks
14:10and armoured divisions
14:11trained to repel
14:13a Soviet invasion.
14:19But if you served in tanks,
14:21tanks almost inevitably
14:22meant that it was
14:23either going to be
14:24a Salisbury plane
14:25or it was going to be Germany.
14:26Professional soldiers,
14:27they hugely value
14:28their training areas,
14:29the opportunity
14:29to fire live ammunition
14:31and so on.
14:32And nobody wants them
14:33doing that
14:33down in Hampshire
14:35or Wiltshire.
14:36It was getting more
14:37and more difficult
14:38to find rangers
14:38in which you could
14:39fire live ammunition,
14:41this sort of thing.
14:41Here was Germany,
14:42a defeated country.
14:43The Germans,
14:43one could argue,
14:44could shell almost anything.
14:45It was horrifying
14:49the amount of damage
14:49we caused
14:50to some of the little villages
14:51because they're lovely
14:52old medieval villages
14:54with cobbled streets.
14:55And if you took
14:56a squadron of tanks
14:57through one of those,
14:58A, the roads
14:59weren't wide enough
14:59so you smacked the buildings,
15:00but B, you brought
15:02all the cobblestones up
15:03and they must have hated us.
15:09I remember one exercise
15:11where in fact in those days
15:13they used to have
15:14blank cartridges
15:15fired from the tank guns
15:16and unfortunately
15:18one group suddenly
15:20sort of spotted enemy
15:21at the far end
15:22of the high street
15:22and they fired the tank gun
15:25which they never should have done
15:26in the high street
15:27and it shattered
15:28all of the plate glass windows
15:29of the supermarkets
15:31and all the rest
15:31on either side
15:32and these German women
15:34came out
15:34absolutely in a fury
15:35with their handbags
15:36sort of wanting
15:37to attack the tanks.
15:39But despite complaints
15:41from German civilians
15:42the Rhine army
15:43were here to stay.
15:49And through the 1950s
15:51these soldiers
15:51were joined
15:52by their wives
15:53and children
15:53as the bases
15:54were expanded.
15:59June Grace
16:13was one of many
16:14young wives
16:15who arrived in Germany
16:16to live with her army husband.
16:20When I first arrived
16:22which was in November 1957
16:25it was exciting
16:27because I went out
16:29originally as a new bride
16:30and then I became a mum
16:37very soon afterwards.
16:39So everything was exciting
16:41and new.
16:42The British army
16:49had a meticulous plan
16:50to provide everything
16:52women like June Grace
16:53needed.
16:55I was taken to this flat
16:58which was on the fifth floor.
17:00It was completely furnished
17:03from top to bottom
17:04down to the dishcloth
17:06and the bulbs
17:08and anything I needed
17:10I just had to go
17:11to the barrack stores
17:12and it would be replaced.
17:15Every British army base
17:16had barrack stores
17:17which held an array
17:19of special army issue goods.
17:23Key household items
17:24from furniture
17:25to cutlery
17:26were allocated to families.
17:27In the 50s
17:36when servicemen's wives
17:37accompanied the husbands
17:39I think they did very often
17:40think it was a good deal.
17:42The housing was good.
17:44I think Britain was still
17:45under rationing
17:46so being in Germany
17:48you could probably get
17:49more things
17:49than you could get at home.
17:53There was medical care
17:54a social life.
17:57On these bases
17:59army wives
18:00would build friendships
18:01with other families
18:01stationed there.
18:10In the summer
18:11we had a little garden
18:12so I would be out there
18:13doing a little bit of gardening
18:15taking the children
18:16to the kindergarten
18:18so I then had
18:20a couple of hours
18:20to myself
18:21so I probably went
18:23to the naffy
18:24or meet a friend
18:25and we'd have a quick coffee
18:26in either her house
18:28or my house.
18:35Like everyone
18:36in the British Army
18:37the women
18:37had their own room.
18:40They were to be
18:41loyal wives
18:42and mothers.
18:42there was little opportunity
18:46for a career
18:47beyond the base.
18:52At that time
18:54a woman's role
18:55more to be
18:56where the husband was
18:58with the children
18:59and therefore
19:00it wasn't
19:02they weren't so much
19:03career minded.
19:05what you can do
19:08as a serviceman's wife
19:10is what's available
19:11to you on base.
19:13There would be
19:14meeting at coffee mornings
19:16meeting at lunches
19:17maybe there would be
19:19a travel club
19:20so wives would be
19:23organised into taking trips
19:25to visit local beauty spots
19:26or to go to local shopping centres
19:28but very much
19:29feminised
19:30activities.
19:32If you want to do
19:33something quite different
19:34then that's going to be
19:35very difficult for you.
19:37Each British military centre
19:38boasted its own naffy
19:40an army shopping
19:42and recreational facility
19:43selling goods and services
19:45to soldiers
19:46and their families.
19:46Our cameraman
19:48went round this district
19:49and also filmed
19:51the army type high street
19:52where modest little shops
19:53have been built
19:54for the soldiers' families.
19:56Quite a lot of shopping
19:57is done in naffy canteens.
20:00You could buy your cigarettes
20:01and your liquors there
20:04with a controlled book
20:06or a controlled ration.
20:07You could go in there
20:08at any time of the day
20:09and night
20:10and get something to eat
20:11and drink
20:11fish and chips
20:12bun
20:13chocolates.
20:16The naffy was fantastic
20:22there were three
20:24different shops
20:25in the one building
20:26there was the grocery side
20:28there was
20:30in the middle
20:31was where you would buy
20:32things like your radios
20:34and televisions
20:35and not that there was
20:36much television
20:37in those days
20:37but things like that
20:38those goods
20:39and then the other
20:40was clothing.
20:43To shop on the base
20:44soldiers and their families
20:46had to use
20:46their own army-issue currency
20:48known as BAFs.
20:52The soldiers came in
20:54they got paid
20:54in what we call BAFs
20:57which was British forces money
20:58it was like monopoly money
20:59which was to stop us
21:01from spending too much money
21:02in the German market
21:03because when we bought
21:05within the camp
21:06everything was paid for
21:07with monopoly money.
21:08and everyone on the camp
21:11could tune in to
21:12British forces radio.
21:15Earlier on
21:15we thought that
21:16Hamburg was in
21:17for one of those
21:17bright but sunless days
21:19however an hour or so ago
21:20the sun did manage
21:22to break through the clouds
21:23and there's not
21:24Since the end of the war
21:24the army had broadcast
21:26news and music
21:27to all military personnel
21:29serving in Germany.
21:30British forces radio
21:40was broadcast
21:41from its HQ in Cologne.
21:44It was organised
21:45and run by British soldiers
21:47who had a passion
21:48for broadcasting.
21:51On bases across Germany
21:52tens of thousands
21:53of troops and their families
21:55could tune in
21:56for a reassuring reminder
21:57of home.
22:03Forces radio
22:04was the way
22:05that they brought
22:06their little bit
22:07of British culture
22:07and all those
22:08nice friendly British voices
22:10over the airwaves.
22:11You don't always have
22:12to be listening
22:13to ugly, harsh
22:14German voices
22:15on your radio
22:16you've got your own
22:17little world
22:17and I think
22:19Forces radio
22:19was more important
22:20than the BBC
22:21overseas service.
22:22And for three years
22:24the Starlings
22:24were attacked
22:25with a series
22:26of frightening devices.
22:27Stuffed owls
22:29wriggling rubber snakes
22:30high frequency soundbeams
22:31little round things
22:32that went knip, knip, knip.
22:34We were able
22:35to broadcast
22:36the Goon Show
22:37Hancock's Half Hour
22:38and people stayed in
22:40in the evenings
22:41to listen to those
22:42two programmes.
22:43At the same time
22:44we were able
22:45to cover a lot
22:45of sport in the UK
22:47and we covered
22:47a lot of sport
22:48on the continent as well
22:50be it the Monte Carlo rally
22:51whether it was
22:53European Championship
22:54football
22:54whether it was Grand Prix.
22:56The British Army
22:57organised a network
22:58of sports
22:59for soldiers
23:00to compete in.
23:01It was a key part
23:03of the experience
23:03and it was here
23:04that future BBC
23:06commentator
23:07Barry Davis
23:08began his career.
23:11They wanted somebody
23:12to collate
23:13information
23:14about the various
23:15matches between
23:16the various
23:17army units
23:18in the Services League
23:19as it were
23:20and I said
23:22okay
23:23go down to Cologne
23:25to do that
23:25and I can remember
23:29as though it was yesterday
23:29going into the mess
23:30one Friday evening
23:31and there was
23:32a captain there
23:34from the Rimi
23:35and he
23:36said to me
23:37oh I gather
23:38you're on BFN
23:39on Sunday
23:39and I said
23:40well no
23:41not exactly
23:41I said
23:42I'm going down there
23:43to get them information
23:44on results
23:46and bits of
23:47stories
23:48that I could
23:49find
23:49and he said
23:51well that's not
23:51what they've just said
23:52they've just said
23:53and joining us
23:54on Sunday
23:54will be
23:55Second Lieutenant
23:55Barry Davis.
23:58So almost by accident
23:59Barry Davis
24:00started his
24:01commentating career
24:02reporting on his
24:03first football match
24:04for British Forces Radio.
24:07The overall
24:08commanding officer
24:10who said to me
24:10when my time
24:12in Germany
24:12came to an end
24:13he said go out
24:14and give it a go
24:15otherwise every time
24:16you look at that
24:16fellow David Coleman
24:17you're going to say
24:18that could have been me.
24:21I'll give it to the public
24:22to decide whether
24:22I was ever David Coleman.
24:24Is Gascoigne going
24:25to have a crack?
24:26He is you know.
24:27Oh I say!
24:29Brilliant!
24:33That
24:33is
24:35schoolboy's own stuff.
24:40Forces Radio
24:41would also launch
24:42the careers
24:43of two household names
24:44of British broadcasting.
24:47Gene Metcalf
24:48and Cliff Mitchellmore
24:50presented
24:51Two Way Family Favourites
24:52the most popular show
24:54on Forces Radio.
24:56This programme
24:57was set up
24:58to allow soldiers
24:59in Germany
24:59and their families
25:00back home in Britain
25:01to request songs
25:02for each other.
25:04What it meant
25:05was for
25:06the families
25:07back home
25:08it was a chance
25:09at 12 noon
25:10until I think
25:111.30
25:11to hear the music
25:13and hear the requests
25:14from their loved ones
25:15in Germany
25:15and the same thing
25:16the other way.
25:17We're now in this London studio
25:19by our studio clock.
25:21This is the allotted time
25:22for our weekly rendezvous
25:24with the people
25:24who are away in Germany.
25:25For a large part
25:26of its history
25:27the history of the Ryan Army
25:28that Germany
25:29still seemed relatively
25:30a long way away.
25:31I mean nowadays
25:32it seems like next door
25:33but it was still somewhere
25:35quite remote and exotic.
25:37We go to Scotland
25:38to make two of these dedications.
25:40First to 42
25:41East Clermont Street
25:42Edinburgh.
25:44Yes it's love to you
25:45mum, dad, sister
25:46and brother
25:47from Douglas.
25:48At its height
25:49I believe
25:50the BBC
25:50reckoned
25:51that something like
25:5220 million people
25:53in the United Kingdom
25:54listened to this
25:55amazing programme.
25:56and in Germany
25:58we're told
25:58by the Bundespost
25:59it was around 7 million.
26:02And by the mid-1950s
26:04the BBC
26:05began broadcasting
26:06a television version
26:07of the show.
26:08I wonder if you'd like
26:11to say something
26:11to the folks of trauma.
26:12I'm sure they'd be
26:13very surprised
26:13to see you on television.
26:14Yes I'd love to.
26:15Hi mum, Dan, Arlene.
26:17I never thought
26:17I'd have the chance
26:18to have a speech
26:18on television.
26:20I wish you all well.
26:21I'm keeping very
26:22by myself.
26:23Be home soon.
26:24See you then.
26:25And so the one more thing
26:26I'd like to ask you
26:27and that's if you'd
26:28like us to play
26:28a piece of music
26:29for your people
26:30back home.
26:31Well there is one
26:31there's a selection
26:33from say
26:34any get your gun
26:35I'm sure there must
26:36be something
26:37in any get your gun
26:37that we could get
26:38for you
26:38and we'll do that
26:39and thanks a lot.
26:40Anything you can do
26:41I can do better
26:42I can do anything
26:44better than you.
26:45Oh you can.
26:46Yes I can.
26:46Oh you can.
26:47Yes I can.
26:48But in this period
26:49Horses Radio
26:50and the BBC
26:50had strict guidelines
26:52about who soldiers
26:53could request songs for.
26:54I'm greater than you.
26:56No you're not.
26:57Yes I am.
26:57No you're not.
26:58Yes I am.
26:59No you're not.
27:00Yes I am.
27:00Yes I am.
27:02You couldn't have
27:03a request initially
27:04for anyone else
27:05other than mothers
27:06and sisters
27:08and people like that.
27:10I think fiancées
27:12were excluded
27:12certainly girlfriends
27:13were excluded
27:14you couldn't have
27:14a request.
27:15Despite this pettiness
27:19Forces Radio
27:20kept the soldiers
27:21spirits up
27:22as they faced
27:23a daily grind
27:23of patrolling
27:24and training.
27:28Stand safe.
27:29Stand safe.
27:30Pay attention
27:31I want to say
27:31a few words
27:32on discipline.
27:34Now the whole base
27:34of discipline
27:35in the army
27:35is drill.
27:37Drill
27:37forces in you
27:38team spirit
27:40alertness
27:41pride in your unit
27:43and pride in yourself.
27:45Also if you
27:46You would get out
27:47of bed at 6 o'clock
27:48the whistle would be
27:50blown in the corridor
27:50and it would echo
27:52over the whole area.
27:53Get out of bed
27:54everybody down
27:55to the washroom
27:55wash, shower, change
27:57get yourself
27:57into uniform
27:58go down to the kitchen
28:00breakfast
28:01out
28:02back to your room
28:03check that you
28:04were in tidy condition
28:05your hair was alright
28:06your teeth were clean
28:07shaved
28:08down 8 o'clock
28:10on the parade
28:11RSM came down
28:12three times a week
28:13other than that
28:14commanding officer
28:15was there
28:15Now this brings me
28:17on to a point
28:18of personal
28:19cleanliness
28:20Now at home
28:22everything has been
28:22done for you
28:23by your family
28:24or most things
28:25but now
28:26you've got to
28:26stay on your own
28:27two feet
28:27Late for a parade
28:29or you hadn't
28:30shaved in the morning
28:31your punishment
28:33was then to
28:33what they called
28:34scrub the altar barn
28:35or half the altar barn
28:36or a quarter of the altar barn
28:38and the altar barn
28:39was the corridor
28:39and the scrubbing
28:41was done
28:41with a toothbrush
28:42so you had
28:44a mug of water
28:45a bit of soap
28:46and a toothbrush
28:47and you worked
28:48your way
28:48along your section
28:49of corridor
28:50that you've been
28:50given to scrub
28:51when you did it
28:52you had to wait
28:53till the altar
28:53officer came along
28:54and he had a look
28:55and said yes
28:55it was good
28:56or no
28:56he wasn't satisfied
28:57do it again
28:58for all the monotony
29:05of life on the basis
29:06the majority
29:07of British soldiers
29:08rarely ventured
29:09beyond the gates
29:10and into the local
29:12German towns
29:13British soldier
29:17is so well looked
29:18after within his camp
29:19that he didn't want
29:21to go outside
29:22he couldn't speak
29:23the language
29:23it was a strange place
29:25so he stayed in
29:27and he missed a lot
29:29of opportunities
29:29of going out
29:30and meeting local people
29:31but those who did
29:42leave the base
29:42began to socialize
29:44with the German population
29:45we had no difficulties
29:48with the people
29:48local people at all
29:49in fact when you go
29:50into a bar
29:51and they start talking
29:51to you
29:51they try to
29:52learn their English
29:53we try to learn
29:54our German
29:55and it ended up
29:56that they speak
29:56in English to us
29:57because they want
29:58to speak English
29:58and next thing
30:00they bow you around
30:01move them around
30:01and so the night
30:02went on
30:02and the night
30:03was then
30:03rather nice
30:04for many British soldiers
30:26their first trip
30:27off base
30:28was to visit
30:29the local beer killers
30:30where they found
30:31where they found
30:31the German beer
30:32a lot stronger
30:33than back home
30:34when you first
30:38come over here
30:38and you think
30:38oh this beer is nothing
30:39you know
30:40and you drink
30:40about six or seven
30:41of these small glasses
30:42which is about
30:43four three pints
30:45only three pints
30:46man
30:46the next thing
30:48you know
30:48your head's
30:49started spinning
30:49and they chuck
30:51behind the bar
30:51you're new in Germany
30:53yeah
30:54don't have no more
30:55not advice
31:02that was always heeded
31:03binge drinking
31:05became part
31:06of the British
31:06soldiers experience
31:07of life in Germany
31:08their drunken antics
31:11often threatened
31:11the good relations
31:12between the army
31:13and the locals
31:14of course many problems
31:19and crime
31:20and so forth
31:20were very much
31:22linked to
31:22this alcohol consumption
31:24and in many
31:25German towns
31:26bars were put
31:27out of bounds
31:28to British soldiers
31:30purely because
31:31of the trouble
31:32that was caused
31:32when they've had
31:34a few drinks
31:35the reserve goes away
31:36and somebody says
31:37oh bloody Englishman
31:39and the other one
31:40looked around
31:40and said
31:41oh bloody boxhead
31:42once they got that name
31:43with their square-headed
31:44haircuts
31:45and the trouble starts
31:47many drunken rows
31:52centred on attempts
31:53by soldiers
31:54to pick up local girls
31:56when you went down
32:03the town
32:03you went into
32:04the pubs
32:05the discos
32:06we were the center
32:07of attraction
32:08because Germany
32:09had nothing
32:11their work was
32:13there
32:14but the pay
32:15was poor
32:15I don't know
32:17what they were earning
32:17but I know
32:18that I went down
32:19into the disco
32:20and sat there
32:21one evening
32:21and had two girls
32:22one on each side
32:23buying them drinks
32:24all night
32:25the local boys
32:25were mad
32:26because we got
32:27the girls
32:28and afterwards
32:30when we went outside
32:31they were quite nasty
32:32you know
32:32you come down here
32:33with all your bloody money
32:34you're pinching our girlfriends
32:35et cetera
32:35et cetera
32:36in spite of their reputation
32:39for hard drinking
32:40by the late 1950s
32:42British soldiers
32:43were forging alliances
32:44with Germans
32:45as many married
32:46local girls
32:47marriage between
32:50British soldiers
32:51and German women
32:52accelerated
32:53I think one's got to remember
32:54of course
32:55in the immediate post-war
32:56era
32:57life in Germany
32:58was terrible
32:59with the destruction
33:00from the bombing
33:01and the lack of opportunities
33:03and so for many
33:04German women
33:05even though
33:05cold
33:06rationed England
33:07was pretty ghastly
33:08it still seemed
33:09to offer
33:09a great opportunity
33:11Corporal Ken Adams
33:14was at the wedding
33:15of a British soldier
33:16and a German girl
33:17when he first met
33:18his future wife
33:19we're down there
33:22coffee and cake
33:23nice
33:23living room
33:24door went open
33:25she came in
33:27it was love
33:41on first sight
33:42you don't think
33:44about it really
33:44I was busy working
33:46of course
33:47my first marriage
33:48divorce
33:49and working all the time
33:50having a child
33:51to support
33:52you don't think
33:55of this
33:55so it came
33:58like a bomb
33:59at first
34:02communication
34:03between the two
34:04was difficult
34:04Dieter was shy
34:06and Ken spoke
34:08only a few words
34:09of German
34:09of course
34:10I was very shy
34:11I didn't talk
34:12I didn't want
34:13to talk in English
34:14so of course
34:15my mum
34:15helped me
34:16my sister's
34:19at the time
34:20boyfriend
34:20he spoke
34:22a little bit
34:23German
34:23and my sister
34:24spoke a little bit
34:25English
34:26so we went
34:27on
34:27and when we
34:29went out
34:30to a restaurant
34:31very often
34:32I had a little
34:34piece of paper
34:35with me
34:35I wrote down
34:37my questions
34:38and he wrote
34:39in English
34:40all in English
34:42but I was frightened
34:43to say it
34:44it was horrible
34:46although most people
34:51accepted that
34:52Dieter and Ken
34:53wanted to marry
34:53her father
34:55her father was
34:55not happy
34:56about her being
34:56with a British
34:57soldier
34:57her father
35:01was a really
35:01strict person
35:02he didn't
35:03like it
35:04although he never
35:05never complained
35:07to me about it
35:07he never made
35:08any restrictions
35:10whatsoever
35:11he just didn't
35:12like it
35:13a second daughter
35:14being with
35:16an English
35:16soldier
35:17and he said
35:19to my wife
35:20can't you find
35:21a German boyfriend
35:22right
35:24and of course
35:25she'd just been
35:25divorced from a German
35:26so she says
35:27I've already had one
35:28and that was the
35:30answer to that
35:30through the 1960s
35:36relations between
35:37British soldiers
35:38and German civilians
35:39were warming up
35:40but the political mood
35:42between East and West
35:43was becoming colder
35:45the building
35:48of the Berlin Wall
35:49had set the tone
35:50for this era
35:51the wall was
35:57a hideous sight
35:59to see
35:59I flew over it
36:00in 1980
36:01with the Army Air Corps
36:03to have a look at it
36:04and it looked
36:04like somebody
36:06had scored
36:07the earth
36:08it did seem
36:14enormously
36:14symbolically
36:15important
36:16that here
36:16were the Russians
36:17saying
36:17we're not going
36:18to talk
36:19we're going
36:19to continue
36:20to confront you
36:21across the frontier
36:23of barbed wire
36:24minefields
36:25and machine guns
36:26and watch tires
36:27this is not
36:28the conduct
36:29of
36:30an enemy
36:32who might be
36:33thinking of
36:34making friends
36:35this is the conduct
36:35of an enemy
36:36who believes
36:37that we are going
36:38to remain enemies
36:39for a very long time
36:40British forces
36:44in West Berlin
36:45became even more
36:46isolated
36:47only the railroad
36:49and the motorway
36:49linked the capital
36:51with the army
36:51in West Germany
36:52when driving
36:53to Berlin
36:54British soldiers
36:55had to observe
36:56a strict protocol
36:57as they were watched
36:59all the way
36:59by Warsaw Pact forces
37:01it was strange
37:03it was strange to think
37:04that you were still
37:04in Germany
37:05but to get to it
37:07you had to go
37:07through
37:08East Germany
37:10shall we say
37:10Russian controlled
37:11communist Germany
37:13you drove into
37:14the checkpoint
37:15checked
37:17ID card
37:18straight through
37:19once you were
37:21in the corridor
37:21you couldn't stop
37:22you were not allowed
37:24to communicate
37:25with anybody
37:26if you broke down
37:27you stayed
37:28in the vehicle
37:29the VOPOs
37:30came along
37:31the East German police
37:33came up to you
37:35started banging
37:36and rattling
37:36you just had a little card
37:38with Russian
37:39and German writing on it
37:41put it up against the window
37:42and it said
37:43I am a British soldier
37:44on duty
37:45please bring your senior officer
37:47secondly was
37:50when you left
37:51one end of the corridor
37:52they radioed through
37:53to the other end
37:54with your registration number
37:56and your time of departure
37:57and you were given
37:58I believe it was
37:59one and a half hours
38:00for the trip
38:01and if in one and a half hours
38:03you hadn't appeared
38:04at the other end
38:05then they came looking for you
38:06while the vast majority
38:10of British soldiers
38:10were stationed
38:11in the Rhineland
38:12there was a small
38:14but significant military force
38:15in West Berlin
38:17the presence of the Allies
38:20in West Berlin
38:20was a symbolic presence
38:22so the Warsaw Pact knew
38:26if we harm West Berlin
38:28we harm the Americans
38:29the British and the French
38:30David McAllister
38:36is the current Prime Minister
38:38of the German region
38:39of Lower Saxony
38:40he grew up in West Berlin
38:42where his German mother
38:44and British father
38:45worked for the army
38:46I grew up in West Berlin
38:48my father worked
38:50for TELS Group
38:51TELS Group
38:52were responsible
38:53for the telecommunications
38:54for the British forces
38:56but much like
38:59the army bases
38:59in the Rhineland
39:00West Berlin
39:01felt like a bubble
39:03of Britishness
39:03I had a wonderful childhood
39:06in West Berlin
39:08until we moved away
39:10when I was 11 years old
39:12the British were
39:15in Charlottenburg
39:17and Spandau
39:17in these two parts
39:18in West Berlin
39:19we lived near
39:21the Olympic Stadium
39:22and even though
39:24we were living
39:25in the middle of West Berlin
39:26in the middle of Germany
39:27it was more or less
39:28a very British life
39:31I remember
39:32British kindergarten
39:33British school
39:34British military hospital
39:36we went
39:39to the Presbyterian
39:40church service
39:40because it was
39:44surrounded by
39:45Soviet forces
39:46Berlin was
39:47a precarious place
39:48to be
39:49during the Cold War
39:50good evening
39:51my fellow citizens
39:52this government
39:54has promised
39:55has maintained
39:57the closest
39:58surveillance
39:59of the Soviet
40:00military build-up
40:01on the island
40:02of Cuba
40:03in 1962
40:06the Soviet Union
40:08dispatched
40:08nuclear missiles
40:09to Cuba
40:10a move
40:11that would
40:11leave Berlin
40:12in the firing line
40:13if a nuclear
40:14escalation resulted
40:15I was actually
40:20on the train
40:20going into Berlin
40:21when I was met
40:22at the other end
40:23and my colleague
40:24said
40:24have you heard
40:25the news
40:25no
40:25I've been travelling
40:26since five
40:27in the morning
40:27and he said
40:28well Kennedy and
40:29Kristoff
40:29are having a great
40:30debate at the UN
40:30and we think
40:32that if it isn't
40:33resolved
40:34then Berlin's
40:35future
40:35is sort of
40:36in the balance
40:37so welcome to Berlin
40:38you may not be
40:39getting out of it
40:39again
40:40down in the zone
40:41in Cologne
40:42my wife
40:42and we had
40:43three small children
40:43was contacted
40:44by the family's
40:45officer to pack
40:46a suitcase
40:46and be prepared
40:47to be evacuated
40:48this crisis
40:52saw the first
40:53use of the term
40:54mutually assured
40:56destruction
40:56and it would
41:00change the strategy
41:01of the Rhine army
41:02outnumbered
41:09five to one
41:10by communist forces
41:11it was estimated
41:13the British army
41:14would only be able
41:14to withstand
41:15an attack
41:15for 48 hours
41:17before having
41:18to capitulate
41:19the strategy
41:22of the allied armies
41:24at that particular
41:25stage
41:25was to accept
41:26the fact
41:27that they would
41:27never be able
41:27to hold back
41:28a major
41:29Warsaw Pact invasion
41:30and so all
41:32of our training
41:33really was to
41:34fight a delaying
41:35action
41:35during which time
41:38either the threat
41:39of nuclear weapons
41:40or in the worst
41:40case scenario
41:41the use of nuclear
41:42weapons
41:42would stop a
41:44Soviet takeover
41:45of Western Europe
41:46and British soldiers
41:50were expected
41:50to fight
41:51until the Western
41:52allies launched
41:53their own
41:54nuclear weapons
41:55soldiers have
41:59an old joke
41:59when they say
42:01in a desperate
42:01situation
42:02well it's time
42:02for a futile
42:03sacrifice
42:03well the thinking
42:05soldiers
42:06in Rhine army
42:06always knew
42:07that they were
42:08going to be
42:09the futile
42:09sacrifice
42:10the thought
42:12was so appalling
42:13that you didn't
42:14think about it
42:14I mean you know
42:15one's been since
42:16told that as a
42:17troop leader
42:18my life expectancy
42:19if the Russians
42:20came over
42:20was about eight
42:21hours
42:21and you don't
42:22think about that
42:23you can't
42:23think about that
42:24so you think
42:24about something
42:25else and say
42:25life is normal
42:26have another
42:27gin and tonic
42:28let's get on
42:28with life
42:29in 1968
42:32BBC television
42:34followed the
42:3417th 21st Lancers
42:36as they trained
42:37for war
42:38the film
42:40featured a
42:41young Christopher
42:41Marriott
42:42who commanded
42:43a squadron of
42:44tanks
42:44one joins
42:51the army
42:51I suppose
42:53because one
42:53has certain
42:53beliefs
42:54they might
42:55sound rather
42:56outdated
42:56about the
42:57free world
42:57yes one's
43:00prepared to
43:00fight for
43:00them
43:01one was
43:09very conscious
43:10going up
43:10and down
43:10the border
43:11we used to
43:11border patrols
43:12normally in the
43:13winter when it
43:13was bitterly cold
43:14it brought it
43:15home to one
43:16in a big way
43:17seeing the actual
43:19border seeing the
43:20the towers the
43:22watch towers
43:23people looking at
43:25you looking at
43:26them
43:26we were vastly
43:45vastly outnumbered
43:46vastly outnumbered
43:48and I think
43:48and I think in
43:48hindsight
43:49that if they had
43:50come across
43:51we probably
43:52could have
43:52slowed them down
43:53for three or four
43:53days
43:54unless we had
43:55gone nuclear
43:55and that was our
43:56whole training
43:57actually was
43:57tactical nuclear
43:58weapons
43:59trying to
44:00corral them
44:00into an area
44:01and then
44:01dropped something on
44:03and they went
44:03off with a very big
44:04bang
44:04through the 1960s
44:21while the soldiers
44:22of the rhine army
44:23prepared for the
44:23unthinkable
44:24life on the
44:25british bases
44:26carried on as
44:27normal for the
44:28thousands of
44:28children who
44:29lived there
44:29this generation
44:34of young people
44:34grew up embracing
44:36the military
44:36lifestyle
44:37in many ways
44:41looking back now
44:41of course when
44:42you're there as a
44:42child you think
44:43this is normality
44:44and of course it
44:44was far from it
44:45it was a really
44:45very peculiar
44:46existence but also
44:47at the same time
44:48huge fun
44:49I mean you know
44:49we had an enormous
44:50amount of fun
44:51but what I remember
44:52is in a way it's
44:53like living in a
44:53normal village or
44:55a normal town
44:55you know you've
44:56got your friends
44:56and your parents
44:57and school and
44:57shops and all that
44:58kind of thing
44:58but the big
44:59difference was
45:00that there was
45:00only one job
45:01going on
45:01every single
45:02job was to
45:03do was in
45:03the army
45:04but with so
45:07many children
45:08living on
45:08british bases
45:09it was the
45:11army who were
45:11responsible for
45:12their education
45:13the teachers
45:17were actually
45:17civilians who
45:18were contracted
45:19by the british
45:20families education
45:21service bfes
45:22and they would
45:23provide education
45:24in english schools
45:26for british army
45:28kids and those
45:30those people were
45:31specialists in
45:32providing a
45:32curriculum to
45:34children who
45:35were being
45:35continuously uprooted
45:37from one school
45:38to another i think
45:39i went to six
45:40schools by the age
45:40of nine
45:41yeah i remember very
45:44well going to school
45:45in hona and the
45:46school was called
45:47montgomery school
45:48and it was a it was
45:49a basically a state
45:50primary school
45:51and funnily enough
45:52what i can remember
45:53of it is the building
45:54and the and the
45:55playing and all the
45:56sorts of things you
45:56normally do at primary
45:57school can't remember
45:58a single one of my
45:59friends interestingly
46:01because it was such a
46:02transient population
46:03a big population but
46:05there was always
46:05movement and so you
46:07really essentially never
46:08knew who your friend
46:09was going to be there
46:09next week
46:10for us in and
46:18around a military
46:19base in northern
46:20germany there was
46:22so much debris from
46:25from world war ii
46:26and we would we'd go
46:27off exploring on our
46:28bikes and come across
46:29a field full of
46:30derelict american
46:32tanks waiting for a
46:33scrap merchant or
46:34something to take them
46:35all away
46:35and i also remember
46:37i have to say that
46:38i mean there was a
46:38there was a fairly
46:39high level of risk
46:40because we were in
46:41an area that had had
46:42an enormous war
46:44fought over it and
46:44there was therefore
46:45quite a lot of
46:46unexploded stuff still
46:48lying around in the
46:49sixties and and my
46:51brother certainly with
46:52our one of my
46:52brothers certainly with
46:53our family and a
46:54little bit broader
46:55than that acquired it
46:56you know the ripe old
46:58age of eight or nine
46:59a bit of a reputation
47:00as a little boy who
47:01would bring back
47:02something he found
47:02near the golf course
47:03which turned out to
47:04be i don't know
47:05a german hand grenade
47:06and then there'd be
47:07an enormous panic as
47:08they got the bomb
47:08disposal people in
47:09but even by the late
47:121960s old wartime
47:15prejudices among british
47:16army families remained
47:17there was some wasteland
47:21between where we lived
47:23and and where there was
47:24some german civilian
47:25housing and being
47:27children of course we
47:27wanted to get on our
47:28bicycles and cycle
47:29over the wasteland
47:30and enjoy ourselves
47:32and we would start to
47:33make friends with with
47:34german german children
47:36of our own age but our
47:38parents were uncomfortable
47:39about that they they
47:41they didn't necessarily
47:42back in those days like
47:44us mingling with german
47:47children and and
47:48definitely my my parents
47:49at least my mother would
47:50would wave for us to
47:51come back in they didn't
47:52like us playing with
47:53german children
47:54in the 1970s a new threat
48:08to life with the rhine army
48:09emerged
48:09the troubles in northern
48:15ireland would bring changes
48:16for those on british army
48:18basis for germany
48:19in the 1970s when northern
48:27ireland became a major
48:29indeed the major commitment
48:30of british army that
48:31virtually every soldier
48:32at what every specialization
48:34including the artillery and
48:35the engineers could expect
48:36to find himself doing his
48:38stints on the street of
48:39belfast or derrick a peculiar
48:41new cycle evolved where
48:44you'd have units based in
48:47germany would be training
48:48in germany and then one
48:49morning they all climb
48:51into the plains and wave
48:52goodbye to the families
48:52and the families are left
48:54for months on end of a
48:56northern irish tour out
48:58there in germany at the
48:59bases whereas the units
49:00move on to northern ireland
49:03where at times especially
49:05in the 1970s that they had
49:08a very tough and sometimes
49:10very hairy time
49:11with british troops deployed
49:15in northern ireland for up
49:16to six months at a time
49:17many army wives back in the
49:19rhineland grew lonely and
49:21depressed
49:22in 1975 a lot of servicemen
49:32from germany were rotating
49:34through northern ireland it
49:35was a very trying traumatic
49:37time the girls who could be
49:381920 didn't necessarily speak
49:41any german they had small
49:43children and from what one
49:44gathers they were getting
49:46terribly depressed and this
49:47isn't a good thing if the
49:49husband who's over in northern
49:50ireland where it's not very
49:51nice begins to worry about his
49:53wife back in germany
49:54this was an age before
49:59satellite television so the army
50:01decided that to improve morale
50:03they would set up their own tv
50:05service in 1975 popular british
50:09british television shows were for the
50:11first time transmitted to army bases
50:13in the rhineland
50:16seven o'clock on september the 18th
50:181975 a historic moment for us in bfbs as we open up our first television service
50:24and it went out in september 1975 and i can remember there was a newspaper headline for that christmas week which said the number of drink driving offences had dropped almost to zero because the servicemen or his family were at home watching television
50:43but the introduction of television couldn't distract from the escalating troubles in northern ireland
50:50in 1978 the ira detonated a bomb at the barracks at rheinland it was the first of several attacks on the british army in germany
51:04this attack had succeeded it could have affected a lot more than just the british families it's possible that the provisional ira if they were responsible have decided to internationalize the northern ireland conflict if so it's a disturbing thought
51:20at the time the ira was attacking service families you know servicemen were being targeted service families were issued with extended mirrors and with torches affixed to them that you would put underneath the car so that you could look underneath the car to see whether there was an explosive device fitted to it british military bases in germany could be a very soft target for the ira at that time
51:47into the 1980s the resources of the british army were stretched between fighting the ira and holding the line against warsaw pact forces and the bases in the rhineland began to show signs of this strain
52:06all those bases and barracks in germany which had seemed so cozy and comfortable in the 1940s and 50s by the second
52:1770s and afterwards they were getting pretty old they were starting to fall to pieces they were starting to leak and british governments were incredibly parsimonious about paying for repairs paying for standards
52:28and i remember very well the general saying to me every time i visit a barracks in which our men are living i feel ashamed that we're making men live in these conditions
52:39even now the rhine army still had the task of holding off a soviet-led invasion
52:48do you know what's so unrealistic about this seriously they get the whole battalion on the square
52:55right if this was real and the russians were coming they get the whole battalion on the square in two hours
52:58and the russians bomb us on the square and we're all dead because they know what we do
53:02it's great the defense strategy of the rhine army in germany which had been in place for decades
53:12was slowly unraveling we didn't really have a snowball's chance in hell of stopping the soviet union
53:19if it really did intend to capture a large chunk of west germany and other parts of western europe in those
53:27the disadvantages were first that an awful lot of personnel that comprised the force that would do the
53:37fighting were actually somewhere else they were in northern ireland the second issue that we had was
53:44that an awful lot of our equipment back then was not fit for purpose it was old it was beaten up it
53:50didn't take kindly to being left idle when we were in northern ireland
53:57as the rhine army felt the strain of these commitments on the basis the wives were also struggling
54:06this generation of women were less prepared to accept their traditional role of wives and mothers
54:14when the british army was first in germany social expectations for wives are quite different from how
54:20how they were later and are now women who perhaps had had careers uh wanted something for themselves it
54:27was separate from military life and it's very hard for for people to have that then wives would be very
54:34much trapped on base i just feel like it's an existence yeah i'm not living it's just existing
54:42and have it because he's going on exercise a week after it's gone when they stopped him going
54:46i said i just feel like you know somebody was locked away in an attic yeah nobody'd know if i were dead or alive
55:03while the rhine army seemed to be at a crossroads across the border the soviet union was in crisis
55:14in november 1989 a dramatic turn of events was unfolding so an extraordinary night of euphoria in
55:22berlin within hours of east germany's decision to let its people go by opening the border to the west
55:27the city erupted in a frenzy of celebration
55:44people scrambled playfully up and down on the berlin wall itself something they used to be shocked for
55:50the fall of the berlin wall and the collapse of the soviet union ended the military threat which had
55:56loomed large over the rhine army for the previous 50 years well the threat of world war iii had always
56:06been uh referred to in sort of typically british um humor as the next fixture um and suddenly they
56:13realized you know there wasn't going to be a next fixture having held the front line for decades
56:20the rhine army's job as a defense force was now over the need to defend uh germany against the soviets that
56:28had provided a case for a big army once that threat had gone the case for a big army was gone
56:36and this caused a problem for the british government the end of the cold war completely changed the position
56:43of the british army of the right and it's posed huge difficulties for uh defense policy ever since
56:49because uh the germans no longer felt that they needed defended defending by the british
56:58they no longer needed to have uh tornadoes flying at naught feet over the houses shaking all the tiles
57:04off they no longer needed to put up with huge tank ranges uh they um they got pretty restive
57:11about the large british presence and they started to think it would be nice if we went home
57:17but an agreement was reached with the german government which allowed the british army to
57:21stay in the rhineland they continued to train there and the basis became a transit point for fighting wars
57:35in the last year british troops have begun to be pulled out of germany
57:40with the aim of a full withdrawal by 2020 from an army of occupation to our first line of defense
57:52in the cold war this era of active service in germany is coming to an end it seems beyond the
58:01imagination i think of a younger generation to visualize this sort of great army in germany
58:06which had been there from the second world war i mean it's an astonishingly long period of time in
58:11peacetime for any army uh to have been positioned in a friendly country and so finally after almost 70
58:20years in germany the british army are coming home
58:41next this evening stay with us for a ride in the maharaj's motor cars and rolls royce's indian story
58:50uh
58:54uh
58:58uh
59:00uh
59:02uh
59:04uh
59:06uh
59:08uh
59:10uh
Be the first to comment