The story of BRIXMIS. Britains most daring cold war spy mission.
We were all taken back to the Cold War on 19th Oct when Lt. Col. Simon Cleveland MBE gave us a talk about BRIXMIS- Britain’s most daring Cold War spy mission.
The Cold War lasted about 44 years and really ended with the destruction of the Berlin wall in 1989. During this period the Soviets were occupying the eastern part of Germany and Berlin, and BRIXMIS ( the British Exchange Mission) were ordered to constantly tour the area to see what the Soviets were up to. This intelligence gathering exercise was done in specially adapted vehicles often at great risk to life and limb.
We were shown an interesting selection of slides and video clips illustrating the sometimes desperate and unpredictable life in the eastern zone and some of the risky missions that BRIXMIS personnel undertook.
At the end of the evening, as one of our audience eloquently put it, the whole horrendous affair could be put down to a desperate lack of mutual trust between countries and this very sad aspect of human interaction is still true today.
The next talk will be on Friday 16th November at 7.30 pm. It is entitled 1000 years of London Hospitals in one Hour and will be given by Bob Ayers.
Peter Dutton
Bob Ayers will give a talk on " 1000years History of London Hospitals in One Hour"
for more information about this and other talks go to the Village Society's programme