Publisher's Synopsis
Cold War Berlin: An Island City Volume 3, US Forces in Berlin - Preparing for War, 1945-1994 examines how the American Berlin Brigade prepared for war: the units that made up the brigade, how it trained, how it was equipped, how it planned to defend the city, and also looks the Special Forces units that served alongside it. At the end of the Second World War, the victorious Allies split Germany into three zones of occupation, and Berlin into four sectors, one each for the British, Americans, French and Soviets. The city was surrounded by around 420,000 Soviet troops, the shock troops who would lead the invasion of Western Europe if that day came, and 180,000 East German troops spread across East Germany, and tens of thousands of paramilitary police. US Forces in Berlin - Preparing for War looks at how the Berlin Brigade, the 5,000 strong American component of the 33,000 Western military presence in the city prepared to defend West Berlin from the Communist threat. US Forces in Berlin - Preparing for War is the second of two volumes covering US forces in Berlin during the Cold War, from their arrival in July 1945, through to the departure of American Berlin Brigade in 1994. The text is richly illustrated with photographs, illustrations, diagrams, tables, maps, plans, and colour profiles, and is printed in full colour throughout.
