Cold War Short Stories Ep 1 (413)

0:00Ian Sanders:Cold War Short Stories is a series of unique, unknown tales from our listeners and followers that may not fill a full episode, but are far too good to be left untold. This episode is brought to you by Disney. What does it take to build a world people never want to leave? In Disney World Builders, Academy Award and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks takes audiences inside the creative journeys of some of Disney's most influential storytellers. Featuring exclusive interviews with James Cameron, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige and more, this new documentary reveals the imagination, innovation and storytelling that continue to inspire generations and shape entertainment.

0:37Now streaming on Disney+.

0:41Ian Sanders:In this first episode, we've got a brilliant mix. Memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a chance encounter with a Cold War legend, a 13-year-old's unexpected flight behind the Iron Curtain, some poignant family reflections from the Korean War, and a visitor's unfortunate timing when they arrived in Ukraine just as the Chernobyl disaster was unfolding. If you have a story to share for Cold War short stories, whether in text or audio form, you can send it to me at ian at coldwarconversations.com. We begin in 1962 with this story from Robin Stocks, a member of our Facebook group. I was 11 and living in Lincoln in 1962 when we saw and heard a Vulcan bomber flying low overhead.

1:30Ian Sanders:This was nothing unusual except that this one had a rocket powered missile mounted underneath which had been designed to carry an atom bomb to Russia. This autumn was not the only time when they were flight testing the Vulcans carrying the missile called a Blue Steel at nearby Waddington, but was also when the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of war. It was my dad who pointed out the missile on the aeroplane. He could recognise it having spent many years as an aircraft mechanic and engineer in the services and was very proud of British aeroplane design. He told us that there were at all times planes in the air carrying atom bombs to bomb Russia in case there was a sudden attack on the aerodromes.

2:14Ian Sanders:I remember my mum telling the 11-year-old me that we would have nothing to worry about because if it ever happened we'd know nothing about it, as it would all be over in an instant. With Waddington on one side and Scampton on the other we were a primary target, although we might not have known about the Thor missiles at Bardney as well. I should have been frightened but I found this strangely reassuring and felt almost honoured to have been given information that few others knew. During the actual week of the missile crisis all the Vulcans were kept on the ground, loaded with atom bombs and full of fuel ready to attack the Soviet Union at a moment's notice.

2:53Ian Sanders:But we, ordinary citizens, knew no more than the TV and what the news was telling us. It was 60 years later when I tried to record my memories that I discovered that many of those that had been closely involved in those frightening moments were now prepared to tell what they remember happened around them. Not only have some of the Vulcan crew shared their memories, but so have Russian missile operators and submariners, as well as those close to Khrushchev and Castro's deliberations. I was even more excited to discover that the American Government War Committee was secretly tape-recorded by Kennedy, and that these have made public and transcribed.

3:34Ian Sanders:So now I could try to piece together what was going on and put my fragmentary memories into their historical and world context. It is a true piece of history that began as one child's experience in Lincoln, but which soon took me into the most murky depths of the Cold War, and a time when the world came dangerously close to Armageddon. Thanks Robin for that incredible child's eye view of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

4:09Ian Sanders:Julian shared an unplanned meeting with one of the most important figures of the Cold War. One of the most pinch-me moments of my life was meeting Gorbachev in the most unlikely circumstances. In the mid-90s I was doing a radio production evening class which usually took place near Waterloo but for one week was instead at a place in Westminster called Church House which had a radio studio that we were going to use. There were several other rooms and suites in the building and as we hung around downstairs waiting for the tutor to arrive I noticed that one of the rooms was booked in the name of Gorbachev Reception.

4:51Ian Sanders:Various Sir Humphrey types drifted in then I think Douglas heard which made me take notice and then a few minutes later a blacked out jeep pulled up outside several security heavies came through the door followed by Gorbachev and Raisa. It was one of the few moments in my life where I literally gawped open-mouthed in disbelief. He saw the look on my face and smiled and said good evening so I replied the same and stuck out my hand which he shook before heading off on his way. No photos, sadly. And I'm not in touch with any of the witnesses who can confirm that it happened. But I know that it did.

5:33Ian Sanders:Thanks, Julian, for that story. That's great. Maybe I'll share my meeting Margaret Thatcher story at some stage.

5:48Ian Sanders:Russell Phillips has written several Cold War books and has financially supported Cold War Conversations since 2018. He was a guest in episode 8. There will be links to his books in the episode notes. He shares two stories about his father's experiences during the Korean War. My dad was serving on HMS Ceylon during the Korean War. My mum was pregnant with their first child when Ceylon was sent to Korea in 1950 during the early part of the Korean War. This may be apocryphal but I was always told my father was on duty when the news arrived that my brother had been born. Apparently an officer came up to my dad and said something like Congratulations Phillips, you have a baby son.

6:33Ian Sanders:Now get back to work. When he came off duty he discovered that his entire mess had saved their rum rations for the announcement. He drank it all and went to bed happily drunk. The second story Russell says he has been able to verify. They were on station off the Korean coast in winter. Christmas was approaching so a platoon of the Royal Marines was sent ashore supposedly to look for North Korean gorillas but actually to find a tree to put up in the mess. Close to a graveyard the platoon found a ramshackle hut where three adults were trying to look after 20 or so children ranging from infants to 13 years old.

7:14Ian Sanders:They had a small stove and very little food. Apparently the kids would get a single tablespoon of rice and veg for a meal. All were shabbily dressed, very thin and two of the kids were obviously very ill. The Royal Marine sent word back to the ship and the captain broadcast an appeal over the ship's PA system asking for shirts, coats and woolens to be sent ashore. Lots of clothes were donated and were sent ashore along with dozens of boxes of food. Many of the ship's crew also went ashore to visit the kids, give them chocolate and presents that had been intended for their own kids and chopped wood to ensure the stove had fuel for the rest of the winter.

7:56Ian Sanders:A few days later HMS Ceylon sailed away. The two kids that were ill didn't survive but the rest did and 50 years later in 2000 a couple of the kids travelled to Britain to meet some of HMS Ceylon's crew. My dad never talked about any of this. We only found out about it after he died. Wow Russell that's a really touching story and thank you again for sharing that with us.

8:35Ian Sanders:The next story is from Jim Wilson from our Facebook group. Here's my Cold War story way back in 1988 I was a 13 year old air cadet whose dad worked at Edinburgh airport. He used to let me know when cool military flights were coming in and one of those occasions was in August 88. An RAF VC-10 was coming in to bring troops home from Berlin and take others out. VC-10 XR810 came in, I was there and Dad got me onto the flight deck for a look because I was in the Air Training Corps. In talking with the captain and crew, the captain asked, what are you doing tomorrow? I replied nothing as it's school holidays, to which he replied, well if you're here at 0500 hours tomorrow in uniform, you can come for an Air Experience flight to Germany.

9:31Ian Sanders:I looked at my dad and he said, go for it. So there I was at Edinburgh Airport at 0500 hours, VC-10 sitting waiting. I climb on board with the crew, get strapped into the jump seat and wait as they load the folks heading out to Germany. We take off, fly for a few hours and land in Berlin, Berlin Tegel. I'm told I can get off the plane but not to go wandering around so I climb off, wander about underneath the plane taking photos on my Kodak 110mm camera. I manage to take three picks before being accosted by some MPs who very politely but very firmly advised me to stop which I did. After an hour or so we all climbed back on board and heading back to Edinburgh.

10:21Ian Sanders:So ended a very long but incredibly fun day for a 13 year old air cadet from Edinburgh. It's only now looking back that I realise how lucky I was and how significant my trip was. I'd been inside the Iron Curtain and not even realised it I doubt very much any 13 year old air cadet today would be given such an opportunity as much as the threat of nuclear war was ever present back then I definitely think it was a better time Thanks Jim for that That's an incredible opportunity that you definitely took with both hands

11:06Ian Sanders:Our last story today is from Tracy Bates, who emailed me through my email. That's ian at coldwarconversations.com. On the 26th of April 1986, I left London for a two-week holiday in the Soviet Union. I was 20 years old. It was an organised trip, and I went with an old school friend. There were 16 of us on the holiday. We were to visit Moscow, Kiev, Sochi, Tbilisi, Baku and Leningrad. The first few days were spent going to the famous sites in Moscow. We then made our way to Kiev. It was the first day me and my friend went for a walk in the city and got talking to some local people. They told us that Kiev was a lot busier than normal as lots of people had been moved to the city from a neighbouring area due to a nuclear accident.

12:00Ian Sanders:We hadn't noticed there being any more people than we expected in the city and we hadn't heard anything about a nuclear accident. When we got back to the hotel we were about to ask our guide about it when we heard from someone in our group that one of the four Americans in our group had been contacted at the hotel by one of the American TV networks about the accident at Chernobyl and was going to do a live interview on air. When we did speak to our guide she told us that the manager of the hotel was going to have a meeting with us after dinner in one of the meeting rooms of the hotel to let us know what had happened.

12:34Ian Sanders:I remember he played down the seriousness of the incident and said we had nothing to worry about and that the situation had been contained. During our time in Kiev we attended the May Day Parade. Years later I read that there'd been some discussions about not having the parade that year due to the nuclear accident at Chernobyl but it went ahead although apparently it was shorter than normal. We continued our trip as planned. I don't remember Chernobyl being a topic of conversation though when we flew back to London I remember one of the other members of our group joking that we would be avoided by others at the airport and speculating that if any TV cameras would be there to speak to us but there was nothing like that.

13:18Ian Sanders:We decided we needed to go to our local hospitals for a checkup when we got back. I was living in the Barnet area of North London at the time and remember the doctor was very interested to check me and my belongings for radiation. I guess it wasn't something he got to do very often. I took my suitcase from the holiday and some of my clothes were high in radiation and had to be destroyed but I was given the all clear. It was a great trip and I'm glad I got to visit Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Georgia as well as Russia before the end of the Cold War. Wow, Tracy, thanks for sharing that story. What an incredible memory there.

13:56Ian Sanders:I actually grew up in the Barnet area in my youth. Now, have you got your own Cold War story that you'd like to share? Or maybe you've got a story from a relative. Well, you can contact me at ian at coldwarconversations.com, just like Tracy did. There'll be details in the episode information as to how you can contact me and hope that you're going to send me some more stories because I'd love to continue producing these Cold War clips for you. And I hope you've enjoyed listening to them.