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

Jul 29, 2022

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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

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I am delighted to welcome Paul to our Cold War conversation…

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Don’t miss our previous episode where Paul joins the Army as a boy soldier in the Royal Engineers here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode245/

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