Field Station Berlin Commemorative Initiative

is run by a group of Field Station Berlin Veterans in support of the efforts now underway to have the Field Station Facility placed under protection as a registered Historic Building (Denkmalschutz). They hope to place a bronze plaque atop Teufelsberg. T.H.E. Hill supports this initiative through his Berlin Skyline Monuments design.

Save Teufelsberg!

The Field Station Berlin Vets Group is sponsoring an action to Save Teufelsberg! and preserve it as the "Major Arthur D. Nicholson" Cold War Memorial, in memory of the last casualty of the Cold War, the U.S. Military Liaison Mission tour officer who was shot and killed by a Russian sentry near Ludwigslust on March 24, 1985; and in recognition of the countless men and women of the Allied Armed Forces who resolutely stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the West Berliners during the Cold War, ensuring that the island of freedom known as "West Berlin" remained free. Follow this link to learn how you can help.

The Berlin images to the left (touch the image with your cursor to see it change) are available from time to time on eBay as business-card sized fridge magnets. If you can't find one there, send an eMail to our contact address below and we will put some up.

Brendan Jamison’s Teufelsberg Spy Station Project

From September 2012 to September 2013, Belfast-based sculptor Brendan Jamison will be working on a project based on the “secret Cold-War listening station” built atop Teufelsberg in Berlin’s Grunewald Forest. “It started with temporary mobile units in 1960, and converted to a permanent facility in 1963. However, the 'architecture of espionage' was forever evolving. The field station expanded rapidly between 1963-1977.  In the beginning there were no radomes, by 1977, there were 5.” For more information on Jamison’s Teufelsberg Spy Station Project you can follow me. Includes a historical photographic overview of the development of Tberg, and—I’m pleased to say—some of my art with a link back to Voices Under Berlin.

Jamison is collaborating on the Tberg Project with Sean Miller, Director of the John Erickson Museum of Art (JEMA), a miniature mobile unit for international projects. You can learn more here.

The Field Station Berlin Vets Group

This is the place to go for Field Station Berlin Vets on the web. This is a Yahoo Group where you can swap war stories and talk with other Field Station Berlin vets, view photos of Berlin and T-berg, and use a host of resources like the Reunion page. You have to join to be able to access the info available here, but it's worth it.

They also have a Field Station Berlin Vets "News" page, which—I am pleased to point out—has a short blurb on Voices Under Berlin.

78th ASA SOU Group

This is the place for Berlin ASA Vets "who served in Berlin, Germany between the end of WWII through the end of the 'Vietnam Era'." Smaller than the Yahoo Field Station Berlin Vets Group, but an interesting crew nonetheless. You have to join to be able to participate, but it's worth it.

For a selection of Field Station Berlin souvenirs, visit our CafePress shoppe:

we invite you to visit our Cold War Berlin store at CafePress.

And don't overlook our Berlin T-Shirts page.

Berlin was a dangerous place during the Cold War

Read as this Air Force Office of Special Investigations hand-out to see why.

The Berlin Island Association

This is the place to go for Air Force vets of USAF Security Service (USAFSS), USAF Electronic Security Command (ESC), USAF Intelligence Command (AFIC), Air Intelligence Agency (AIA) units in Berlin, Germany. "Dedicated to the heroes and heroines of Tempelhof, Marienfelde, Teufelsberg, Club Silverwings and other places of high social repute." Most of the features are "Members Only," but be sure to take a look at the "Welcome to Berlin" packet on the "Mementos Page". Their only swag is BIA lapel pins. It's a neat pin. Too bad I wasn't in the Air Force.

Gatow Old Boys Association

The Royal Air Force equivalent of The Berlin Island Association.
This site was reported dark on 21 April 2014.
That means that they did not renew the lease on their domain name, and
the organization is probably defunct.
Requiescat in pace

Berliner Kameraden

An association of former members of the 280th ASA Co in Berlin. Has a history of the 280th ASA Co, a history of Andrews Barracks, "What Was the ASA?," and a photo gallery.

Field Station Berlin

The FSB page at Military.com. Not as active as the FSB Vets Group, but, nevertheless, a place to look for FSB vets. Registration required. Ignore the swag links on the page. They are only for general military stuff; nothing specific to FSB.

USMLM Association

United States Military Liaison Mission to the Commander-in-Chief, Group of Soviet Forces, Germany (USMLM), had its representational headquarters in Potsdam, and its Operational & Administrative Headquarters in West Berlin. The Mission was a four-service unit staffed by officers and enlisted men from the US Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps.

Berlin Brigade dot com

A place for you to keep track of what's happening for veterans of the Outpost of Freedom. It is dedicated to all those who served in U.S. Army's Berlin Brigade / Berlin Command between 1945 and 1994. During that time, it was the most prestigious and unique unit in the history of the U.S. Military. Those that served in Berlin performed their unique Duty with Honor, Valor, Dedication, and Professionalism. We are proud to note that BerlinBrigade.com has a link up for The Day Before the Berlin Wall, and that they made Reunification: A Monterey Mary Returns to Berlin their Book of the Month for Summer 2013.

Dave Guerra, the power behind BerlinBrigade.com has a new book out, entitled Doughboy City: Tales from Freedom's Outpost. Check it out at Amazon.com.

Please don't overlook our:

• "Americans in Berlin" Cinderella Stamps page
• our 50th Anniversary of the Construction of the Berlin Wall Cinderella Stamps
• or our 50th Anniversary of the First Permanent Buildings on Teufelsberg Cinderella Stamps
  

Berlin U.S. Military Veterans Association

A place to get together with Berlin Brigade vets. They have an active Reunion program. Dues are $20/year, for which you get a newsletter.

Berlin Brigade Memories

This website is just what its name implies: a website full of memories about the American presence in Berlin. A much less formal site than the Allied Museum, it is full of snap shots of places that those stationed in Berlin will immediately recognize: from the PX and Commissary, to McNair, Andrews and Clay Allee, from USMLM to T-berg. Heartily recommended as a place to visit.

Berlin Brigade Wall Watchers

This is a Yahoo Group for folks interested in Berlin, but the focus on veterans of the Berlin Brigade. Membership is necessary to post and access the archives, but it's worth the effort.

The Berlin Observer

This is a website with archive issues of stories from the Berlin Command official newspaper, The Berlin Observer. The stories are in PDF format. No membership needed, but contributions are welcome.

USAB 6941st Guard Battalion Kameradschaft

This is a website of the Veterans Association for the 6941st Guard Battalion, the folks who used to guard all our installations so that we could accomplish other duties. The site is all in German, but there is "Google Translate" button at the top of the page that will turn it into English for you, if your German is not up to it. Lots of good links, and plenty of good memories.

The Cold War Museum

The Cold War Museum is presently only a virtual museum, but it is looking forward to developing its permanent physical location at the former U.S. Army Security Agency Field Station at Vint Hill Farm. The museum has an article on the PBJOINTLY (Project Gold) tunnel, written by T.H.E. Hill.

The Allied Museum in Berlin

Located on Clay Allee in the Outpost Theater and "Nicholson Library", they have exhibits commemorating the period during which the city of Berlin was Occupied by American, British, French and Soviet military forces. The museum has an article on the PBJOINTLY (Project Gold) tunnel. It also has a number of "tunnel" pages"

• Berlin Spy Tunnel
• The Berlin Spy Tunnel: The Whole Truth …
• Special Exhibition on the Berlin Espionage Tunnel
• The Tunnel Opens
• Spy Tunnel News

Wikimedia Gallery of B&W Tunnel Stills

A collection of black and white photographs of the Project Gold tunnel right after it was discovered in 1956. Courtesy of the German Archives, via Wikimedia. This hand-written sign, for example, says "Property of the Government of the USA: Entry prohibited," in both Russian and German.

The International Spy Museum

The International Spy Museum—located in downtown, Washington, DC at 800 F Street, NW—also has a Berlin tunnel exhibit.

The CIA

The Declassified CLANDESTINE SERVICES HISTORY: THE BERLIN TUNNEL OPERATION 1952-1956 is available from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Electronic Reading Room. Just search for "Berlin Tunnel". Must reading for every spy tunnel aficionado.

Report on the engineering that went into the tunnel.

Wonderful Tunnel

The original Time Magazine article on Project GOLD from Monday, May. 07, 1956. The last line is quoted in Voices Under Berlin: "It's the best publicity the U.S. has had in Berlin for a long time."

The Berlin Spy Tunnel Affair

An interesting article on Project GOLD from Invention & Technology Magazine (Spring 1995 Volume 10, Issue 4). A good, brief overview.

The Spooks from Rudow

A first-hand account of the Berlin tunnel (located in the Rudow district of Berlin) with pictures by John Quirk. Hosted by Berlin Brigade Memories.

CIA: The 1950s: The Berlin Tunnel: (Operation PBJOINTLY)

A very-good academic overview of the specialist literature on the Berlin tunnel by J. Ransom Clark (Emeritus) Muskingum College, New Concord, Ohio.

A Berlin Tunnel Cryptologic Factoid

In a letter to "The Times" on Blechley Park from July 1980, a reader reveals a factoid about the Berlin Tunnel that I had not see before: US Navy Bombes (electro-mechanical computer-like machines built to recover Enigma keys) "were still being used in 1956 to solve East German police traffic in case it revealed intelligence about the CIA's Berlin Tunnel."

For further reading: "The Last Bombe Run, 1955" by Colin Burke.