Intro

I haven't often written about my own military experience on this site, but the next version of the Military History Carnival gives me good reason to do so. MHC edition 14 is about contested boundaries, so I thought I would brush off the memories and write a post about my time on the old east/west German/Czech border during the Cold War. Fittingly, 14 May is the anniversary of the signing of the Warsaw pact in 1955.

I got posted to Germany in June of 1988 with the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment (2ACR) and the border was the reason I had requested the posting. It was one of only a few places in the Army at that time that had a real readiness rating to keep things fixed and running as if the balloon might go up at any time (Korea being the other main one). 2ACR had a long lineage of distinguished service going back to the Seminole Indian Wars in 1836 and they had retained that strong history after World War II by assuming the front line against the Russians and the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War. A lot more of 2ACR's history can be found here. http://www.2scr.army.mil/#history

When discussing my border service, it is important to point out that I am speaking of the frontier border of West Germany and not the border in Berlin. Everyone assumes you mean Berlin when you speak of the Cold War border, but the frontier border was the long border between NATO member, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany), and the Warsaw Pact members of Czechoslakia and the German Democratic Republic (DDR or East Germany). Even more specifically, the 2ACR was responsible for the Bavarian (FRG state) border from Austria to a point near Bad Konigshofen, west of Coburg, FRG. In Germany (east and west), the border followed the historical borders of Bavaria with Saxony and Thuringia. The border with the then Czechoslavakia (modern day Czech Republic), Bavaria bordered the Karlovy Vary, Plzen and South Bohemia regions. The 11th ACR had the next, northern, stretch of the Thuringia border with Bavaria and Hesse until it met the British sector in the far North.

Border Sectors

Source; http://www.history.army.mil/documents/BorderOps/ch6.htm

Significance

The reason this area was so important to NATO in the Cold war was that the Fulda Gap in 11ACR sector and, to a lesser degree, the Meiningen and Hof Gaps in the 2ACR sector provided the most likely avenues of approach for a Soviet thrust into West Germany. NATO believed it could win a drawn out conventional war, but feared a deep Soviet thrust into the FRG that would so rattle the NATO allies that it could not be overcome. Therefore, the thin line of hyper-alert cavalry regiments along the most likely avenues of approach seemed to provide the best chance of detecting potential Soviet movements and moving quickly enough to stem the tide. Those of us who manned this border often, only half-jokingly, referred to ourselves as the world's most effective speed bumps.

The Physical Border and Its Make-Up

The border when I was there had quietened down from its worst times of the 1940s through the 1970s. Events such as the Berlin airlift, the 1st Russian nuclear weapon, the space race, the Berlin Wall and Vietnam kept NATO and the Warsaw Pact faced off at high alert. However, there were still sectors of heavily mined fence zones until the early 80s. Particularly gruesome were the automatically triggered "shotgun" mines that were placed at different heights on the fence and had a 25 meter blast radius. Even until the end of 1989, the fences and walls were formidable obstacles to civilians trying to escape. And, if there was any doubt what the border was designed for, one need only look at who built the fences and what they were designed to do.

US Cavalry Patrols

We had variable schedules and tiered configurations for patrolling the border in the 2ACR sector. At any given time, a Troop (company) from each of the 3 ground Squadrons (battalions) would occupy a border camp(s) in their assigned portion along the whole Regiment's sector. Each camp had a camp duty officer (usually one of the Troops platoon leaders) who was responsible for all operations in that camp's area of operations. Each camp would be on 3 levels of readiness. 1st, several patrols a day, usually led by Sergeants, would keep up a presence on the border. 2nd, a reaction force would be ready to roll extra patrols or the whole reaction platoon and its armored vehicles to a border section within 15 minutes. 3rd, the whole troop could muster and be ready to move within an hour.
During my time there, it was not common to have major issues on the border, but each patrol would normally spot our opposite number on the ground on the other side of the border. Of course, the towers were usually manned. We sometimes saw Russians, but normally we saw East German troops.
The patrols were conducted in HMMWVs (Hummers) or Mercedes 300 series SUVs normally, but also on foot inserted by trucks or helicopters. In the winter, it was not unheard of to patrol on nordic skis. Additionally, the 2ACR's 4th Squadron of helicopters, kept up a routine of over-flights along the border.

High Tension Events

Very occasionally, we would have an event that would warrant a heightened state of alert. Some of these would be a Soviet aircraft tracking or pacing a Regimental aircraft which was considered aggressive. Other issues, would be observed alerts on the other side of the border or the most anticipated of all events, an International Border Crossing (IBC). About once a quarter, some east German would make it across the heavily fortified area and make it to freedom. These were normally co-ordianted through family members in West Germany and the FRG agencies (Zoll, Grenze Polizei or Bundesgrenzshutz (BGS)). The Regiment never caught an IBC whilst I was there, but there were always stories of some old Sergeant somewhere who had helped an IBC across the border back in the 60s or 70s.

Results

We won! Eventually. Which is the only good news. I was on the border, the day it fell. That afternoon, I went out to the road crossing to see the spectacle. There were miles of Trabants lining up to enter West Germany. In the years following the fall of the eastern bloc, I've had occasion to speak to East Germans, but mostly Czechs and Poles. They had a very hard life during the time I was enjoying all of the western treats a kid from Kentucky gets in the 60s, 70s and 80s. I wish we had won a lot earlier. I have now also travelled extensively through Poland, East Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Baltic states. They are still recovering a sense of self and creating lives that they can be happy with. If you are ever tempted to say they had it better in some areas than we in the West did, I suggest you go and talk to a few more of them.... you're sample size may be limited.
I am very proud of my service on the border and I hope we continue to look back on it with pride for many generations. Take the ride below and get a feel for the place before time swallows up the last vestiges of what it was like.

Ride Recommendation

Check out this 240 kilometer ride which simulates pretty closely one of the 2ACR's mounted patrols in the Hof sector in 1988. The ride in the Frankenwald Park is particularly nice for bikers. There are so many places to stop, I can't even begin to mention them. Just go and enjoy!

View Larger Map

Book and Map Recommendation

As part of my research on Operation Bluecoat, I travelled along this road running from Villers Bocage to Vire.

It was a great ride and, just off it, I visited the British cemetery at Saint-Cahrles-de-Percy, which was quite a moving place. The American cemeteries have the stark white marble crosses and stars of David, but are bare except for name, rank, unit, home state and date of death. The British traditional headstones are made in what looks like the local Normandy stone, which resembles Cotswold stone, and had all of the basic data as well. However, the British also allowed the families to put incriptions on the stones. When I walked along reading the families' inscriptions, I welled up like I never had in the American cemeteries. I think the British stones make the visit far more personal. You feel the pain that parents, wives and children.... many of whom are still alive today... felt with the loss of huge chunks of their lives with each man's passing. I recommend this cemetery to anyone travelling in Normandy. It truly drives home the magnitude of human suffering, including those back home.

Heres a picture of the cemetery at Saint-Charles-de-Percy;

Motorcycle Ride Recommendation

Try this circular route, which takes in Villers Bocage, Vire, Montchauvet, Aunay and Saint-Charles-de-Percy.

Book Recommendation: Operation Bluecoat from AbeBooks.com or Amazon.com

Map Recommendation: Michelin Historical Map 102: Battle of Normandy from AbeBooks.com or Amazon.com

Accor Hotels in the Caen area

On the morning of 13 December 1862, the preparations were done and the day of reckoning was at hand.

Burnside had decided on taking the nearest hills, but had sent ill-defined orders to his left which resulted in a weak effort to roll up Lee's right flank.
As the morning progressed, A federal bombardment of the Rebel positions on Prospect Hill preceded the push from Union General Meade. Meade was delayed by the "gallant Pelham," for a critical half hour. Finally, the main assault was underway and repulsed once, but Meade was determined and found a way to defeat Confederate A.P. Hill through a marshy area. Once Meade was through, he found that the promised left flank movement was far too weak to support his breakthrough. Seeing Meade exposed, Stonewall Jackson threw Jubal Early's division into couter-attack and drove Meade out. A Union opportunity of great importance had been lost.
Over on Marye's Heights, it was a turkey shoot as the Confederate's repelled wave after wave of Union assult.
Burnside had been critisized for not being aggressive enough previous to Fredericksburg, so he decided that this would not be the case here. He renewed his attack on Marye's Heights and on Lee's right flank. This turned a defeat into a bloodbath.
The day was lost to Burnside due to weak orders and dithering in his preparation, not his lack of aggressiveness.

Books from amazon.co.uk

Motorcycle Ride

For a motorcycle ride that also takes in the Spottsylvania battlefield, head west out of Fredricksburg on VA State Route 3, then head southest on Virginia State Route 20 at Wilderness and follow VA SR 20 for approximately 50 miles to Charlottesville.