Recently I
was asked to write something about the Cold War from the point of view of
someone who served in Germany during the Cold War period. In my case,
1964-1966. Since this will be blog #601 in the WSF list of things not needed to be
said, prepare for a long one.
Ground
warfare is more than anything, logistics and movement. My assignment was to a
Float Bridge Company. Between Madrid and Warsaw, per classes we attended, an
army will encounter a water barrier (river, canal, wetlands) requiring
specialized equipment every 50 miles, on average. A small view with equipment
from the actual unit I served in:
The main
focus of the units we supported was split into two areas. First, near Hanau,
German, was staged all the equipment for a Division. All vehicles were loaded,
fueled, and ready to go. The plan was to fly in a Division from the United
States that could immediately go into the field.
The second
area was the East German/Czechoslovakian border. Then,
And now.
Probably the
best known area was around Fulda, Germany popularly known as “The Fulda Gap.”
The terrain is mainly rugged with a few valleys and low areas (gaps). Invading
and retreating armies have used these routes for centuries. Napoleon retreated
through one. The US Army maintained a large presence in these areas. A long,
but comprehensive, documentary can be found at:
My unit was
often tasked with “shitty little jobs” along the border in support of various
units. One engineer unit (not us) based at Gelnhausen was in charge of portable
atomic demolition munitions (SDAM). One model, pictured below, was loaded into
the back of a M 151 (jeep) and driven to
a predetermined position where it was to be armed, timer set, and the crew to
run like hell.
Access and
improvements were needed to these positions, with many positions made so as to
confuse the enemy. Hello, Ditch Boys, get to work.
We were
called upon to investigate “strange” objects. We dug the remains of one of
these out of some nasty bushes.
The Calvary
units in the area had a particularly nasty atomic weapon called the Davy
Crocket.
These were
little more than a hand grenade as far as survival of the crews firing them was
concerned. Again, access and improvements to the sites was needed so again,
hello Ditch Boys.
Part of the
Combat Engineer’s trade is land mines, both emplacing and clearing. From time
to time we got to play with these:
The units
stationed in the area had their own engineers. Why did they haul our happy
little asses up there? My guess was to force the Soviets to find more spies to
cover more bars, further away, to report drunken soldier talk.
Going back
the first focus, the prepositioned equipment, our assignment was to bridge the
Main River (assumed the fixed bridges would be destroyed/damaged) and hold the
bridge head for troops retreating from the North, and then for use by the
troops flown in. I had little faith in the plan (shouldn’t have known about it;
way above my pay grade – bite me). We assembled next to the best airborne
landing site in West Germany:
Goggle Earth
N 50° 06’ 36” E 8
57’ 12” which was treeless in those days and
flat.
Whenever we had an alert (always one or more per month) we would load up for war and head out from our nearby Kaserne (if we weren’t in the field somewhere) to the assembly area. I always looked up expecting Russian airborne. As an aside, our ammo and demolition supply bunkers were in that area. A lovely place to walk guard with no live ammo, in the dark, with radical elements of the German population looking for bomb making supplies. With all the sand, wind, and precipitation, you came back muddy.
All in all, a lot
better duty than Korea, or later, Vietnam.
I never understood the attitude of many in my unit. While I never bought into the whole Hoorah, I damn sure paid attention to those things that could get me killed or could keep me alive. I acquired, and carried with me, all kinds of maps. Had my own compasses and knew how to use them. Acquired my own .308 caliber rifle (early M-14s were not well made or reliable). Made it a point to really explore the area around Hanau and Wolfgang. Went to every school available (film projection, postal clerk, photography lab, Pathfinder, Mines/Demolition school, etc. This got me off a lot of shit details as the NCOs knew I went way past the Guard Duty/KP/Motor Stables daily grind in knowledge, ability, and reliability. Alcohol and temper remained an issue but made me fit right in with the career NCOs.
Just in case people don’t think the
Army was prepared for an ugly war, look at the tank retriever below. Now,
picture it with a heavy steel v shaped 6’ high snow plow. The plow wasn’t
needed for snow. They were to be used to clear the roads of refuges and their
vehicles.
Hopefully, this is what
my reader wanted. I hope the other two or three of you weren’t bored.
Special note to any Brown Shoe soldiers still alive to read this. Look at the boots of the SFC in the Davy Crocket picture. With those shinny lace grommets, those must be brown boots redyed black. And who was going to tell him he couldn't wear them?
