Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaymoss
Anyone else getting a twitchy bottom? My anxiety levels are rising with this latest bit of news. Am I being over dramatic or is it really scary?
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You’ll get inured to it (eventually, maybe…
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In the late 70s/early 80s, I was stationed at RAF Gatow and worked at Teufelsberg (both in West Berlin) - bearing in mind, this was at the height of the Cold War, so most days were like today (waiting for "The Big One to go off). My place of work was the at the highest point of Berlin (120 metres high, the hill was built of rubble from the devastation of Berlin by the Soviets), and we were very visible, and knew we were one of the first targets, to all the GSFG/East German artillery and missile batteries that surrounded West Berlin.
It gets better - our Married Quarter was on Queensway in RAF Gatow (Gatow’s runway was next to the Berlin Wall, which was a couple of tall barbed wire fences with minefields between in that location), and the Station Armoury was next to the airfield; the East German Mechanised Battalion on the other side of the Wall (fence) were closer to the Armoury than we were.
Another one of the perks of being there was regular NBC drills, where we would suit and mask up, and then run about for a couple of hours playing soldiers, and then practice the "all clear" drill - this consisted of testing various test strips to ensure there were no "nasties" still in the air, then, if you were the junior squad member, you got to take your respirator off before everyone else, as the final test.
So, as I said, you get used to it…
