Brixmis The Untold Exploits Of Britain's Most Daring Cold War Spy Mission

by Tony Geraghty

This text presents the secrets of how British intelligence officers working undercover as liaison officers in East Germany stole advanced Soviet equipment and penetrated top-secret training areas. For 40 years the men from all three armed services, the SAS and the Foreign Office conducted an intelligence war against the massive Soviet military strength.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, European History, Military History, Military Fiction, Espionage

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Tony Geraghty is a British-Irish writer and journalist. He served in the Parachute Regiment, and was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal for his work as a military liaison officer with U.S. forces during the Gulf War (1991). He has been a journalist for The Boston Globe and was the Sunday Times Defence Correspondent in the 1970s.

Reviews

[James Marinero · Rating 5 out of 5]

For fans of Len Deighton (Funeral in Berlin) and le Carre' (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold), this book portrays much of the backgound about what was happening, at least for the British Army Int. Corps. Not MI6/SIS, though there was certainly some crossover of information and posibly operations.

Yes, it's a history of espionage in Berlin as spying comes into the elctronic age, but also of the most amazing operations (like breaking into a hangar isn E Germany and sitting in a MIG fighter - yes, and getting clean away too).

I thoroughly enjoyed it, five stars from me but not everyone's cup of tea.

[Corto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the British Commanders'-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (i.e., BRIXMIS) from the time of its inception to the end of the Cold War. BRIXMIS evolved from a curious agreement between the Allies at the end of World War II, allowing for military "liaison missions" to operate in each other's zones of occupation.

Naturally, once the Soviet Union began to enact it's aspirations, the liaison missions were, to put it lightly, in an interesting position.

At first, the British mission "toured" East Germany to reinforce it's diplomatic right to be there- and then over the years, became an out-in-the-open intelligence gathering operation. BRIXMIS role was to keep an eye out for increasing indicators of hostility (i.e., are the Soviets ramping up for a pre-emptive invasion), examine Soviet equipment (which at times involved actual theft), act as a cutout for other streams of intelligence (the British could attribute intelligence gathered from sensitive sources to BRIXMIS) and act as an unofficial diplomatic channel.

The bread and butter of BRIXMIS was not-so-covert intelligence gathering (they criss-crossed East Germany on the ground -and in a limited way- the air to see how Soviet "kit" was deployed and utilized), which is the major focus of this book.

The act of collecting intelligence on Soviet equipment became a very risky proposition as the Soviets and East Germans regularly exercised potentially lethal tactics to prevent it or intimidate BRIXMIS personnel. (American readers over the age of 40 may remember the death of Major Arthur Nicholson in 1985. Nicholson was working for the US counterpart to BRIXMIS, and was shot and killed while collecting intelligence. Oddly enough, I seem to remember the incident being cast as a "misunderstanding" between Nicholson and the sentry.)

If you're into Cold War espionage, this is a great history of a little known unit. One BRIXMIS vet told me that "it was a little heavy on the Robin Hood", but still accurate.

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

Brillant account of little known part of the Cold War. Under post World War 2 treaties both the UK, France and the US were allowed to send military teams into East Germany to monitor military preparations. This tells their story and the obstacles the Soviets placed in their path to prevent them. I would love to find and english language book on Soxmix, their Soviet counterpart who were allowed to travel across West Germany under the same agreements.

[Zori Engelbrecht · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about many incidents of British 'liaison officers' gathering military intelligence on the Soviet forces in East Germany. While their exploits were daring and dangerous, the book is extremely dry because it focuses almost entirely on the details of these incidents with little emphasis on any bigger picture or general points. It reads a bit like a list, as similar incidents become so repetitive. Also, it is hard to understand the point of his paragraphs, as he doesn't explain this well, doesn't remind the reader of context, and sometimes uses terms that wouldn't be familiar to most readers. It is definitely not a well-written book.

[Robert Bagnall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent account of an aspect of the Cold War of which I was utterly oblivious, and initially Googled to verify it wasn’t a fiction. Whilst not well produced - this edition (free with The Daily Telegraph, to be fair) had a page entirely missing from the introduction, and several typos - it was compelling, up to and including the annexes. Perhaps a tad dry in style, a Max Hastings or Antony Beevor may have made it even more of a page-turner, but otherwise thoroughly worth searching out.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable thoroughly entertaining book about the Cold War. BrixMis was originally set up to be the liaison for the British Military in Germany to the Soviet Army in Germany. But as the Cold War developed, it evolved into Britain's best opportunity to get tangible evidence of Soviet Military hardware and software. Then, as the Cold War came to a sudden unexpected close in the 1988-1991, it found itself reverting to being a superb deconfliction asset. All along the way Geraghty's tale is very compelling.

This is boys own stuff. Lots of driving, both cross country and on roads, lots of chases vehicular and ambulatory. Photos taken at too close ranges. Rummaging around in bins and worse. Abuse at the hands of the KGB or East German Stasi. Ramming Car crashes. Breaking and entering to sample T-64 Armour. A tonne of waiting around in cold/hot/smelly/uncomfortable OPs(observation points), in order to catch a glimpse/photo of some new gear that the folks in London/Washington wanted to see. The chapter that is all the "scoops" garnered by this team is really impressive, if one remembers the Cold War as I do.

The junior reader will be rewarded with a ripping good yarn, as the book makes many complex issues simpler than they need to be. The Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast will be like a pig in mud. The book is a great on background for the Cold War for the Team Yankee/Red Storm Rising player generally, but the descriptions of Germany and the techniques of the Russian/East German forces will be of particular interest. There are a thousand diorama ideas in this book alone, for the modeller. The Military Enthusiast will be let in on the fieldcraft of the true Cold Warriors in their era. A fun read- not to miss.

[Colin Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book. Covers a lot of ground regarding the long mostly-secret history of the BRIXMIS 'liaison' operation in East Germany and their efforts to obtain intelligence on Soviet weapons, equipment and personnel.

The book is great on the day to day boys-own-adventure operational stuff (chases, tension, beatings), but also provides a higher level overview of the social and political ramifications/influences on the activity over the years.

Their are extensive appendices providing details of the equipment used by the BRIXMIS touring teams (types of camera, tent, brew kit, sleeping bag, cars etc), and a long list of the 'scoops' they brought home. There's even a report from an East German defector about how the Soviets spied on the spies.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys post war history or espionage novels, and I would especially suggest it to any role-playing gamers who've thought of running a game of Cold War spying. This is the ideal sourcebook.