Private Papers of Squadron Leader R C Saar MBE RAF

A word-processed account (100pp, June 2012) entitled 'Brixmis: 1970 – 1973, A Secret Journey – The Route to Being Made Persona Non Grata Behind the Iron Curtain,' together with an updated and expanded version (550pp, Version 5, August 2016), now entitled 'BRIXMIS: A Secret Journey Behind The Iron Curtain', the second illustrated throughout with photographs, maps, and images of documents, about the British Commander-in-Chief's Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS), background information and brief history of Brixmis, details of the Malinin/Robertson Agreement of 16th September 1946 setting up the role of Brixmis and Soxmis (the Soviet equivalent), the organisation and numbers in each mission, the evolution of the missions into intelligence gathering, East German Secret Police (the Stasi) setting up a special unit to monitor and harass Mission activity using the Volkspolizei (Vopo) overtly, as well as Stasi covert activities, Saar's brief training and introduction to Brixmis as Squadron Leader Operations (April 1970), billeting in the mess in the Olympic Stadium in West Berlin, clashes with the 9/12th Lancers who were temporarily messing there, his wife and son joining him and moving to married quarters, details of the Mission House in Potsdam, with German (and KGB) staff, how mission members crossed in to East Berlin via the Glienicker Bridge, organisation and command, a map of Permanently Restricted Areas and different security classifications of Brixmis reports due to infiltration by the Stasi, details and photographs of Brixmis Officers and their Wives (1970 – 1973), photos of Glienicker Bridge and the Mission House, an incident in 1958 when Germans attacked the mission house leading to families being billeted in West Berlin, details of the military strength of the East Germans and Soviet frontline in East Germany compared to the Allied forces, Brixmis operational staff, RAF role in Brixmis and lack of intelligence training, equipment used and the sorts of targets for intelligence gathering operations or 'tours', including airfield or bombing ranges, the Opel Kapitan, Range Rover and Mercedes G-Wagon cars they used, their reliability and handling, with photographs, his training in tours, how to spot and lose tailing Stasi, the makeup of tour teams, and modus operandi, typical tours and how they were carried out, examples of photos taken of Soviet radar, planes, helicopters, tanks, and other equipment taken from official Brixmis reports, the approaches to observation points (OPs) for covert photography and intel gathering, cat and mouse games with the Stasi, Spetsnaz ambushes, an account of a mission to Finow Soviet Airfield to see Mig 21 (Fishbed Js), limited number of OP places and changes in aggressiveness of the Soviets in detaining members of the mission, using out of date maps of Germany, use of cartographers to update targeting information, destroying Soviet mission signs saying that an area was prohibited, an incident near Dresden when his car was rammed by a Vopo car, escaping but being pursued to a road block and taken to the Soviet Kommandatura at Riesa, details with photos of other ramming incidents in the 1970s and 1980s by Soviet trucks near restricted areas, including the death of a member of the French Mission (FMLM), Saar's anger at a report blaming him for the incident in which he was rammed, his poor view of peace time high ranking officers who did not know conditions on the ground, respect for Brigadier David Baines who did step up missions and backed his men, detention of tour teams and Stasi photos of their equipment, a French team being involved in a traffic incident caused by the Stasi and being made 'Persona Non Grata' (PNG), camera equipment and lenses used, including night equipment and infrared film, Soviet and East German Army (EGA) Airfields, Bombing Ranges, SAM, Radar, Sigint and Comms sites he photographed, including some solo foot recces Saar carried out, a close call while observing a Surface to Air Missile (SAM) site at Gross Doebern (1972), getting onto Altenburg Soviet Fighter Recce Airfield to take photos of a Mig 21 H with recce pod, other dispersed grass airfields, boring holes to get soil samples, picking up spent cartridges from a Soviet Mig 21 J and an unexploded bomb from bombing ranges, his first sighting of a Soviet Tactical Air to Surface Missile (TASM) and simulated Nuclear Labs Attack (July – September 1971), briefing Air Marshal Sir Harold Martin, the C-in-C 2nd Tactical Air Force and ex-Dambuster, more cat and mouse games and ambushes with the Stasi, life in East Germany under a Police State, East German anti Mission tactics, illustrated by Saar's attempt to get close in photography of the East German airfield, Klotzsche, his thoughts on the Soviet soldiers he encountered, examples of detention at a Kommandatura, details of the Brixmis Chiefs and Group Captain Deputies and his opinions of them, the defection of the Station Commander of Bautzen airfield, East German Air Force (EGAF), Brixmis reconnaissance using Chipmunk light aircraft (Operation Schooner), details of the flights and personnel, photos taken, an occasion when a Soviet soldier took a shot at the plane, meeting Prime Minister Edward Heath, a US recce flight dropping a camera lens while over an airfield, training new men on tours, being caught on a tour by Spetsnaz (Soviet Special Forces) and being made Persona Non Grata (September 1972), staying on at Brixmis but posted to RAF Gatow on Paper, remaining till November 1973 as full time Squadron Leader Operations, receiving an MBE (February 1974), the usual lack of recognition for Brixmis work, details of the PNG of Major Dave Hall USAF (USMLM) (July – August 1971), Saar's acting as an instructor for an Intelligence (Special Duties) Course for Brixmis Tour staff, set up at Ashford, the Army Intelligence Corps Centre (1973), photos of some of the people on the courses (1973 – 1990), visits to MOD Intelligence Desk Officers at Northumberland House and frustrations at their lack of understanding of the Brixmis intel, the social side of the time in Germany and relations with other Allied Missions, relations between Germans and Russians in East Germany, the stress and thrills of the work of Brixmis, personal risk, casualties, including the deaths of US Major Arthur D Nicholson Jr (March 1985) and French Adjutant Chef Phillipe Mariotti, the value of the Allied Missions in East Germany, a list of 'scoops' and information supplied by Brixmis (1949 – 1988), details of reports at The National Archives, Kew, with examples of intelligence gained by RAF Tours in 1971 and 1972, details of the Army tours and scoops, with extensive photos of Soviet equipment taken by Brixmis tours, an incident involving a crashed Firebar (Yak-25) (April 1966), family life of Brixmis personnel in Berlin, the Berlin Wall, Saar's personal opinion of his role and of senior officers, books and documentaries about Brixmis, the disbanding of Brixmis in 1990 at the end of The Cold War, with throughout details of colleagues, friends, casualties, tours and opinions, and Saar's personal career in the RAF, with brief details of training and operational experience at RAF Cranwell and No 38 Squadron, flying Shackletons at RAF Luga, Malta, his RAF interrogation training (1966), and time as Assistant Defence Attaché in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1967 during the Katangese and mercenary uprising, his own service with Brixmis (1970 – 1973), with details of his taking up the post of Squadron Leader Operations after 2 years as Adjutant of Experimental Flying Department at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough (April 1970), time after Brixmis at the Scottish Police Staff College (1974), and the French Air Force Staff College Paris (1975), leaving the RAF, his career in the computer industry, and finding out about his German Jewish ancestry and that he was born German, his father's internment and later service in the British Army, and Saar's later role as the archivist for the Brixmis Association.

A word-processed account (100pp, June 2012) entitled 'Brixmis: 1970 – 1973, A Secret Journey – The Route to Being Made Persona Non Grata Behind the Iron Curtain,' together with an updated and expanded version (550pp, Version 5, August 2016), now entitled 'BRIXMIS: A Secret Journey Behind The Iron Curtain', the second illustrated throughout with photographs, maps, and images of documents, about the British Commander-in-Chief's Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS), background information and brief history of Brixmis, details of the Malinin/Robertson Agreement of 16th September 1946 setting up the role of Brixmis and Soxmis (the Soviet equivalent), the organisation and numbers in each mission, the evolution of the missions into intelligence gathering, East German Secret Police (the Stasi) setting up a special unit to monitor and harass Mission activity using the Volkspolizei (Vopo) overtly, as well as Stasi covert activities, Saar's brief training and introduction to Brixmis as Squadron Leader Operations (April 1970), billeting in the mess in the Olympic Stadium in West Berlin, clashes with the 9/12th Lancers who were temporarily messing there, his wife and son joining him and moving to married quarters, details of the Mission House in Potsdam, with German (and KGB) staff, how mission members crossed in to East Berlin via the Glienicker Bridge, organisation and command, a map of Permanently Restricted Areas and different security classifications of Brixmis reports due to infiltration by the Stasi, details and photographs of Brixmis Officers and their Wives (1970 – 1973), photos of Glienicker Bridge and the Mission House, an incident in 1958 when Germans attacked the mission house leading to families being billeted in West Berlin, details of the military strength of the East Germans and Soviet frontline in East Germany compared to the Allied forces, Brixmis operational staff, RAF role in Brixmis and lack of intelligence training, equipment used and the sorts of targets for intelligence gathering operations or 'tours', including airfield or bombing ranges, the Opel Kapitan, Range Rover and Mercedes G-Wagon cars they used, their reliability and handling, with photographs, his training in tours, how to spot and lose tailing Stasi, the makeup of tour teams, and modus operandi, typical tours and how they were carried out, examples of photos taken of Soviet radar, planes, helicopters, tanks, and other equipment taken from official Brixmis reports, the approaches to observation points (OPs) for covert photography and intel gathering, cat and mouse games with the Stasi, Spetsnaz ambushes, an account of a mission to Finow Soviet Airfield to see Mig 21 (Fishbed Js), limited number of OP places and changes in aggressiveness of the Soviets in detaining members of the mission, using out of date maps of Germany, use of cartographers to update targeting information, destroying Soviet mission signs saying that an area was prohibited, an incident near Dresden when his car was rammed by a Vopo car, escaping but being pursued to a road block and taken to the Soviet Kommandatura at Riesa, details with photos of other ramming incidents in the 1970s and 1980s by Soviet trucks near restricted areas, including the death of a member of the French Mission (FMLM), Saar's anger at a report blaming him for the incident in which he was rammed, his poor view of peace time high ranking officers who did not know conditions on the ground, respect for Brigadier David Baines who did step up missions and backed his men, detention of tour teams and Stasi photos of their equipment, a French team being involved in a traffic incident caused by the Stasi and being made 'Persona Non Grata' (PNG), camera equipment and lenses used, including night equipment and infrared film, Soviet and East German Army (EGA) Airfields, Bombing Ranges, SAM, Radar, Sigint and Comms sites he photographed, including some solo foot recces Saar carried out, a close call while observing a Surface to Air Missile (SAM) site at Gross Doebern (1972), getting onto Altenburg Soviet Fighter Recce Airfield to take photos of a Mig 21 H with recce pod, other dispersed grass airfields, boring holes to get soil samples, picking up spent cartridges from a Soviet Mig 21 J and an unexploded bomb from bombing ranges, his first sighting of a Soviet Tactical Air to Surface Missile (TASM) and simulated Nuclear Labs Attack (July – September 1971), briefing Air Marshal Sir Harold Martin, the C-in-C 2nd Tactical Air Force and ex-Dambuster, more cat and mouse games and ambushes with the Stasi, life in East Germany under a Police State, East German anti Mission tactics, illustrated by Saar's attempt to get close in photography of the East German airfield, Klotzsche, his thoughts on the Soviet soldiers he encountered, examples of detention at a Kommandatura, details of the Brixmis Chiefs and Group Captain Deputies and his opinions of them, the defection of the Station Commander of Bautzen airfield, East German Air Force (EGAF), Brixmis reconnaissance using Chipmunk light aircraft (Operation Schooner), details of the flights and personnel, photos taken, an occasion when a Soviet soldier took a shot at the plane, meeting Prime Minister Edward Heath, a US recce flight dropping a camera lens while over an airfield, training new men on tours, being caught on a tour by Spetsnaz (Soviet Special Forces) and being made Persona Non Grata (September 1972), staying on at Brixmis but posted to RAF Gatow on Paper, remaining till November 1973 as full time Squadron Leader Operations, receiving an MBE (February 1974), the usual lack of recognition for Brixmis work, details of the PNG of Major Dave Hall USAF (USMLM) (July – August 1971), Saar's acting as an instructor for an Intelligence (Special Duties) Course for Brixmis Tour staff, set up at Ashford, the Army Intelligence Corps Centre (1973), photos of some of the people on the courses (1973 – 1990), visits to MOD Intelligence Desk Officers at Northumberland House and frustrations at their lack of understanding of the Brixmis intel, the social side of the time in Germany and relations with other Allied Missions, relations between Germans and Russians in East Germany, the stress and thrills of the work of Brixmis, personal risk, casualties, including the deaths of US Major Arthur D Nicholson Jr (March 1985) and French Adjutant Chef Phillipe Mariotti, the value of the Allied Missions in East Germany, a list of 'scoops' and information supplied by Brixmis (1949 – 1988), details of reports at The National Archives, Kew, with examples of intelligence gained by RAF Tours in 1971 and 1972, details of the Army tours and scoops, with extensive photos of Soviet equipment taken by Brixmis tours, an incident involving a crashed Firebar (Yak-25) (April 1966), family life of Brixmis personnel in Berlin, the Berlin Wall, Saar's personal opinion of his role and of senior officers, books and documentaries about Brixmis, the disbanding of Brixmis in 1990 at the end of The Cold War, with throughout details of colleagues, friends, casualties, tours and opinions, and Saar's personal career in the RAF, with brief details of training and operational experience at RAF Cranwell and No 38 Squadron, flying Shackletons at RAF Luga, Malta, his RAF interrogation training (1966), and time as Assistant Defence Attaché in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1967 during the Katangese and mercenary uprising, his own service with Brixmis (1970 – 1973), with details of his taking up the post of Squadron Leader Operations after 2 years as Adjutant of Experimental Flying Department at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough (April 1970), time after Brixmis at the Scottish Police Staff College (1974), and the French Air Force Staff College Paris (1975), leaving the RAF, his career in the computer industry, and finding out about his German Jewish ancestry and that he was born German, his father's internment and later service in the British Army, and Saar's later role as the archivist for the Brixmis Association.

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