Frank Baldwin was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1979 and served for ten years, rising to the rank of Major. The first battlefield study he planned was in 1989 for HQ 4th Armoured Division. Since then, he has been a guide or historian for over 200 realities of war tours, battlefield studies and staff rides. Frank reels off lots of great anecdotes as he takes us through the initial years of the BAOR and the British Army’s plans for the defence of West Germany. He talks about the evolution of doctrines, on both the Soviet and NATO sides including their nuclear war-fighting techniques.Frank also describes working with Warsaw Pact observers of NATO military exercises and the British view of the effectiveness of other NATO armies as well as the armies of the Warsaw Pact.

Maps and material to accompany this episode are here https://www.staffrideservices.com/?p=461Now if you are enjoying these podcasts I’m asking for you to support my work with a small monthly donation. Your donations enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available for free to others. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ for more details.Do join our Facebook discussion group where the cold war conversation continues between episodes. Just search Cold War Conversations on Facebook.I am delighted to welcome Frank Baldwin to our Cold War conversation…Battlefield tour websiteStory of a BAOR Cold war tourMaps and material on BAOR and the Cold war. Cold war background materialFrank Baldwin's blog The Observation Post0:00 Introduction and overview of the episode2:37 Discussion on the planning and strategy during the Cold War8:50 The concept of flexible response and the shift in NATO's planning19:39 Tactics and maneuvers in the face of Russian forces27:14 The Battle Group trainer and war simulation33:04 Introduction of CSC and Stockholm agreement, and experiences during Iron Hammer exercise37:07 Interaction with officers from the Warsaw pact and insights into Russian training methods46:23 Perception of East Germans and experiences in East Germany53:00 Post-cold war British army engagements and core values56:31 Civilian evacuation during the Cold War and the role of German transport1:00:34 Supporter acknowledgement and episode closingTable of contents powered by PodcastAI✨

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