BRIXMIS: The Last Cold War Mission

by Steve Gibson, Richard J. Aldrich (Foreword)

BRIXMIS (The British Commander-In-Chief's Mission to the Group Soviet Forces of Occupation in Germany) is one of the most little-known and covert elite units of the British Army. They were dropped in behind 'enemy lines' ten months after the Second World War had ended and remained operation their intelligence-gathering missions until the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. During the period Berlin was a hotbed of spying between East and West. BRIXMIS was established as a legitimate channel of communcation between the Red Army and the British Army on the Rhine, they were trusted by the Russians. Its 'clean status' made BRIXMIS a key part of the Cold War. However, their missions were covert and they acted behind the shadows to steal advanced Soviet equipment and penetrate top-secret training areas. Their vehicles and equipment have continued to hold fascination for military history and vehicle enthusiasts. This unique history of this most elite of units offers a new understanding of the British role in the Cold War.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction

402 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 2011

Reviews

[Cold War Conversations Podcast · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard of Brixmis when I discovered Tony Geraghty's Brixmis.

For those of you that don't know Brixmis was a little known Cold War unit who's role was to obtain as much military intelligence about the Russian forces in East Germany as possible, within the rules laid down in the Robertson-Malinin Agreement made shortly after the end of the war in Europe. The Soviets were allowed a similar mission in West Germany called Soxmis. There were also French and US equivalents.

The original intention was to create a mechanism to facilitate liaison between the occupying military governments, particularly between those of the Western allies and the Soviet Union. The exchange of military liaison missions appeared to offer a convenient solution, however they soon effectively became spying missions.

With only cameras and tape recorders Brixmis were allowed to travel across East Germany and obtained a constant stream of information on Soviet equipment and dispositions despite the constant harrying and in some cases assualts of the STASI and Russian special forces.

Steve Gibson's book complements Tony Geraghty's by covering the Brixmis mission up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and German re-unification.

It's full of tales of derring do, close scrapes with the Stasi and fascinating detail of how they obtained their intelligence.

Well worth a read!

[M R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about a little known British Army unit during the cold war. Very little has been written about 'Brixmis' I could only find 2 books on the subject and this is one of them and I think the only one written by a guy who served in the unit. Fascinating what went on very interesting and very real daring do kind of excitement and unarmed behind enemy lines! (warning: last chapter was added to the original book and this is that updated version. And this last chapter is a bit of a rant and theorizing about the role of intelligence and the world we live in today, I personally did'nt need it)

[Andy Eccles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Modern military history

A fascinating read of a little known part of the cold war. The telling part is the last couple of chapters which even now are out of date. A really enjoyable read.