The British Commanders'-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS) was set up on 16 September 1946 under the Robertson-Malinin Agreement between the chiefs of staff of the British and Soviet forces in occupied Germany.
The agreement called for reciprocal exchange of liaison missions to foster good working relations between the military occupation authorities in the two zones. Similar agreements were then reached the following year with the Soviets by the French (FMLM) and the Americans (USMLM).
For reasons that are still not entirely clear, the agreements differed significantly, with the result that the British contingent were allowed almost as many liaison staff in the Soviet Zone as the American and French Missions combined. The British mission also had the right to fly a light aircraft (ostensibly to maintain the flying skills of any pilots stationed there) within a defined area over the Soviet-controlled zone. The agreements remained in force until 2 October 1990 when all three missions deactivated on the eve of Germany's reunification.
During the Cold War, the right of the missions to travel relatively freely throughout East German territory was used for the purpose of gathering intelligence on all Warsaw Pact forces based there. This include intelligence on installations, troop movements, equipment, morale, and other factors. The Missions did not employ agents (unlike the reciprocal Russian Missions present in West Germany).
The early 1960s - coinciding with the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 - and the early 1980s - coinciding with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan 1979-89 - were particularly difficult periods for the operational conduct of all the Missions, as world events were replayed and reciprocated at the tactical level out on the ground. Hostility from various Soviet and East German security and counter-intelligence agencies resulted in the death of a member of the French Mission in 1984 - Adjutant Chef Philippe Mariotti - and a member of the American Mission in 1985 - Major Arthur D. Nicholson. Curiously, this crescendo in hostility coincided with the arrival of Reagan and Gorbachev to power and the beginning of a thawing in East-West relations, culminating in the 'fall' of the Berlin Wall in November 1989.
BRIXMIS was also noted for many technical intelligence coups (Geraghty, 1996), including:
Thus, BRIXMIS was ideally placed to "test the temperature" of Soviet intentions from its privileged position behind the Iron Curtain. However, and perhaps more importantly, it offered a channel for communication between West and East via its secondary but significant role of liaison - the initial reason for its establishment.
The three principal resources at BRIXMIS' disposal were its people, equipment, and a clear sense of mission. The coordinated deployment of its people and equipment delivered significant liaison and intelligence capabilities to the Allied Powers.
The BRIXMIS contingent used Opel Kapitan cars in the 1950s, followed by Opel Admiral cars and their later replacement, the Opel Senator, converted to four-wheel drive in UK. However, the operational need for a vehicle with a higher degree of cross-country performance than the mainly on-road Opel Senator led them to acquire a number of extensively modified Range-Rover vehicles. These proved to be fragile and expensive to run and maintain in Germany. With this in mind, they acquired a single Mercedes-Benz G-Class for trials purposes in 1980/81. After extensive evaluation, they adopted the G-Wagen as the general tour vehicle, and in various models, it lasted in service until they ceased operations in 1990. An ex-BRIXMIS G-Wagen is on display at the Military Intelligence Museum at Chicksands, England.
BRIXMIS also used two De Havilland Chipmunk T10s based at RAF Gatow to maintain and exercise the British legal right under the Potsdam Agreement to use the airspace over both West and East Berlin, as well as the air corridors to and from West Germany to the city. One of these Chipmunks is now in the Allied Museum (see weblink at base of page).
Known from 1956 as Operation Schooner and later as Operation Nylon, BRIXMIS was authorised, on an irregular basis, to carry out covert photographic reconnaissance flights within the designated airspace - a radius of 12 nautical miles within the Berlin Control Zone (BCZ) from the Berlin Air Safety Centre (BASC) located in West Berlin. The spyplane missions were flown at low altitude, typically 800 feet. Various locations of interest within the Soviet sector were extensively photographed.
All flights were notified to the BASC, a quadripartite organisation responsible for authorising all flights in the three Air Corridors and the BCZ. All the Chipmunk Flight Notification Cards in the BASC were stamped by the Soviets - “Safety of Flight Not Guaranteed” - due to their interpretation of the 1946 Agreement as excluding flights outside West Berlin. The Berlin Control Zone and in particular the environs of Potsdam immediately to the east of and adjacent to West Berlin contained both Soviet and East German military and other targets that would be of interest to the British and Allied forces in West Berlin and West Germany at that time.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Chipmunk reconnaissance flights soon ceased and the two Chipmunks were flown to RAF Laarbruch, in Western Germany to await disposal action. Chipmunk WB466 was flown back to Berlin and was donated to the Allied Museum in Berlin, where it remains on display today. WG486 is still in RAF service with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.