Tag: West Germany

Foe To Friend – The National Army Museum’s BAOR Exhibition

A couple of months ago I visited the UK’s National Army Museum in London. They had an exhibition exploring the history of the British Army in Germany since 1945. Titled Foe to Friend it explores the British Army’s post-war experience in Germany first as an occupier and then as a NATO ally. 

Inside the Foe to Friend exhibit (Matthew Moss)

More than a million British soldiers have lived and served in Germany over the past 75 years. The exhibition tries to capture some of their experiences while relating the history of their operations – no small task.

One of the highlights of the exhibit were the small personal items like photos and uniforms but also vehicles like the Brixmis Opel – a car used by British observers to travel through East Germany. There was also an interactive light up display that let you identify various Cold War Soviet vehicles – just like a Brixmis observer!

Inside the Foe to Friend exhibit (National Army Museum)

The exhibition also shows off some of the uniforms and kit used during the UK’s 75 years in Germany as well as some of their weapons including some instantly recognisable Cold War icons like the L1A1 SLR and the Carl Gustav, as well as the SA80 and my old friend the Sterling SMG. Another essential piece of kit – the Boiling Vessel takes centre stage in a multi-media area with a section on the famous food van owned by Wolfgang Meier – he followed British troops on exercise and sold them bratwurst and fish and chips. 

Inside the Foe to Friend exhibit (Matthew Moss)

The exhibit covered several rooms but was more sparse than I’d hoped and some of the smaller items seem a little lost. I would have liked to have seen more on the large-scale exercises the British Army of the Rhine took part in, like Lionheart 84. The exhibition does, however, conclude with some displays on the operations some of the men station in Germany took part in, including peacekeeping in Bosnia and the first Gulf War.

It would have been great to have had some interactive displays featuring audio or video interviews from service personnel who had been in Germany during the various periods of the Army’s presence. This is something the West Indian Soldier exhibition, which we recently looked at, did well.  

It ends with an excellent graphic depicting how troop numbers in Germany fell dramatically after the Second World War – despite the Cold War, from 780,000 in 1945 to just 135 at the end of the British Army’s deployment in 2020.

The exhibition ran from September 2020 to December 2021.

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Further Reading:

‘Active Edge: The Army, Germany and the Cold War’, National Army Museum, (source)
‘Foe to Friend: The British Army in Germany since 1945’, National Army Museum, (source)
‘Foe to Friend: Virtual Tour’, National Army Museum, (source)
‘Army Life in Germany: Virtual Tour’, National Army Museum, (source)

West German Police Pistols

In 1976, the West German Police issued a specification for a new small, lightweight service pistol to replace their stocks of Walther P38/P1′s and various 7.65×17mm (.32 ACP) pistols.

The police specification limited the new pistols weight to 2.2lb/35oz/1kg, it was to be no larger than 18x13x3.4cm and was to be quick to draw and safe to carry with a round in the chamber.

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SIG Sauer P230 (Edelweiss Arms)

Earlier trials had taken place in 1974 examining pistols chambered in the 9×18mm Ultra round. Walther had submitted the PP Super and SIG-Sauer had entered the P230 for testing but with increasing criminal and terrorist activity in West Germany during the 1970s it was decided to adopt a pistol chambered in the more powerful 9×19mm round.

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As a result a new round of trials with the new specifications was arranged. Mauser, Walther, SIG-Sauer and Heckler & Koch all submitted designs. Mauser offered the HsP,Walther offered the P5, SIG-Sauer entered the P225 (which became the P6) and Heckler & Koch submitted the PSP, later known as the P7.

The trials involved a gruelling 10,000 round endurance test (with cleaning after every 1,000 rounds), a rapid-rifle 500 round test and accuracy testing at 25 metres. One of the main problems of producing the desired sub-compact sized pistol in 9×19mm was that after approximately 1,000 rounds the pistol’s recoil spring may become prone to failure.

The police specification called for a 10,000 round lifespan. Each had their own approach; Walther’s P5 tackled the problem by using the dual-spring system used in the P38/P1 while Heckler & Koch used a gas-delayed blowback system in the P7. SIG-Sauer, however, employed the simplest solution – a heavy gauge braided spring to give increased strength combined with the Short Recoil action. This was also substantially cheaper to manufacture.

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Clockwise: Walther P5, SIG Sauer P6, HK P7 (Matthew Moss)

The short-recoil, lever-locked Mauser HsP was eventually dropped due to durability issues, while the Walther P5, SIG-Sauer’s P6, and Heckler & Koch’s P7 were successful and deemed fit for service and adopted by various German police departments.

The P5 was adopted by Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate’s State Police as well as the Dutch national police. TheP6 was the most widely adopted as it was the cheapest option available, with a total of seven German state police forces adopting it along with orders from the border police, railway police and the Federal Criminal Police Office. The most expensive of the pistols, the P7 was favoured by more specialist units like GSG9.

Our thanks to our friends at Gunlab for allowing us to take a look at these pistols.

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