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European Stay-Behind Organisations during the Cold War
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After WWII, the Cold War
was a state of political and military tension
between the powers in the Western-Block (USA, NATO
and allied countries)
and the powers in the Eastern-Block (USSR
and Warsaw Pact countries),
starting around 1947. The virtual line
between the two powers became known
as the Iron Curtain [8][9].
As the countries in the West were constantly fearing
an imminent attack by the East, many western countries developed a secret
underground army that would stay behind in the event of an invasion
by the Soviet Union and its partners.
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It was thought that after a Soviet invasion, the government of the invaded
country would make its way to a 'safe' country, like the UK or ultimately
the USA. The Stay Behind Organisation (SBO) had the task to pass strategic
information to its government in exile, setup a resistance organisation
and carry out sabotage activities, as to undermine the authority
and morale of the aggressor.
Many European countries had such an SBO and although it had a different
name in each country, they are commonly known as Gladio by the public,
after the Italian branch of the network. The Swiss SBO, for example,
was called
Projekt-26
or P26
whilst in The Netherlands it was first known as O&I
(Operatiën en Inlichtingen: Operations and Intelligence)
and later as A en B.
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 [10]
and subsequently the collapse of the Soviet Union (USSR)
and the Iron Curtain in 1991,
the Cold War came to an end and the SBOs were gradually dismantled.
In order to maintain contact between an SBO, its government in exile,
and the SBOs of the other countries, stay-behind agents used radio transceivers
which were often hidden in caches, along with frequency charts, code material,
money, weapons and ammunition. Such radio equipment is commonly known
as spy radio sets,
some of which are described in more detail on this website.
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Stay-behind radio sets on this website
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During the Cold War,
Europe was divided into two areas, separated by
an ideological and physical border, known as the
Iron Curtain
which is shown as a thick black line
in the diagram below.
To the west of this border was the free Western Block, consisting of the
NATO countries
and
neutral
West-European countries.
To the east of the border was
the communist Eastern Block consisting of the
Soviet Union (USSR)
and the Soviet-controlled satellites of the
Warsaw Pact.
Throughout the Cold War,
Yugoslavia
was a communist state,
but managed to remain largely independent of the USSR, whilst Albiania initially
was part of the USSR, but became independent in 1960.
Germany was divided in West-Germany (BRD) and East-Germany (DDR).
Berlin, the (then) former capital of Germany was divided in
East- and West-Berlin — shown above as
a black dot at the heart of East-Germany (DDR) —
whilst the capital of West-Germany was relocated to Bonn.
After the reunification of Germany in 1990, Berlin once again became
the capital of Germany.
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The pan-European stay-behind network consisted of the (then) 16
NATO countries
plus four European neutral countries [3]. In is uncertain whether
or not Iceland – a NATO country without an army – actually participated.
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- Belgium
- Denmark
- Germany (West)
- France
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- Greece
- United Kingdom
- Iceland
- Italy
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- Canada
- Luxemburg
- Norway
- Portugal
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For communication between the agents and their government (in exile),
but also between agents themselves, it was necessary to have radio
equipment that could be used for long-distance communication. The equipment
had to be small so that it could easily be hidden. In many cases the equipment
was stored for many years in secret storage facilities (caches), often
undergound.
In the early years, morse code (CW)
was used as the main operating mode, for which operators had to take a long
training. Furthermore, the operator had to have in-depth technical
knowledge of antennas and the (complex) operation
of the receivers and transmitters of the era. It will not come as a surprise
that many operators were in fact amateurs radio operators (HAMs).
Rumour has it that,
in the 1970s, the Soviets had assembled longs lists of European HAMs
that would be eliminated in case they (the Soviets) would invade
Western Europe.
Between the start of the Cold War and the early 1980s, each European country
founded its own stay-behind organisation and chose its own radio equipment.
As a result, a wide variety of (incompatible) radios, cipher systems and
burst encoders was used for many years. When discussing 'spy radio sets', it
is often unclear whether a radio set was used for diplomatic traffic, for
special forces, for espionage or for stay-behind use.
Some popular stay-behind radio sets are listed at the
top of this page,
but other spy radio sets
may have been used for this purpose as well.
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Because of the wide variety of (incompatible) radios, and the increased
risk of using Amateur Radio Operators (HAMs), the
Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC)
that was attached to NATO headquarters SHAPE
in Mons (Belgium), decided in the late 1970s to order the development
of a pan-European system for communication between
all stay-behind organisations in Europe.
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This included several non-NATO countries [1].
It was also decided that the equipment should no longer reply on the use of
morse code, but instead use
cryptographically protected digital data.
The equipment had to be fully automatic, so that a non-technical user
could operate it.
The project was given the codename HARPOON, and in late 1980 the order
was granted to AEG Telefunken
in Ulm (Germany). In 1985 the highly adaptive
HF radio set was ready for use and the Field Station became known as the
FS-5000
[6].
The complete system was designated SY-5000.
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The system was capable of sending digitally encrypted messages over
distances of more than 6000 km in under one second.
In 1989 the Dutch stay-behind branch
(called O&I) was the first to
have fully automated radio traffic handling via their base station NEBAS [6].
By March 1991, all FS-5000 sets had been delivered to the SBOs,
just before the various organisations were dismantled.
➤ More about the FS-5000 (Harpoon)
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Although quite some information about the SBOs of the various West European
countries is available on the internet, much is still unknown. Furthermore,
a lot of information in the public domain appears to be inaccurate or even
incorrect. Detailed information about the countries listed below, is available
on this website. For additions and corrections, please contact us.
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In the Netherlands a secret stay-behind organisation was formed just after
WWII had ended. For many years, this organisation was known as
Operatiën en Inlichtingen (Operations and Intelligence)
or O&I.
Although its name was changed a number of times, the public
commonly refers to it as Gladio.
O&I was operational from 1946 to 1992, when it
was dismantled by the Dutch Government. During this time, the network
consisted of 100 to 200 agents that were trained in a variety of skills
and were able to operate a range of clandestine radio sets.
According to several investigations, the Netherlands was the only
country that had a completely automonous stay-behind organisation.
It was not controlled by NATO, MI6 or the CIA.
➤ More about the Dutch stay-behind organisation O&I
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After WWII, Austria was a liberated but controlled nation,
occupied by the WWII Allies: the United States (USA), the Soviet Union (USSR),
the United Kingdom (UK) and France, until 1955.
As the Cold War had meanwhile
begun, the Western Allies were afraid that Austria would be invaded by the
Soviets once they themselves had left. In order to protect Austria's
autonomy, its was decided to setup a secret underground stay-behind army,
that could be activated in case of an escalation.
The secret stay-behind organisation became known under different names, such as
Militärisches Sonderprojekt (Special Military Project),
Einsatztruppe (Action Group) and
Österreichischer Wander-, Sport- und Geselligkeitsverein
(Austrian Association of Hiking, Sports and Society).
➤ More about the Austrian stay-behind organisation OeWSGV
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- Erich Schmidt-Eenboom & Ulrich Stoll, Die Partisanen der NATO
July 2016 (2015). ISBN: 978-3-86153-889-3.
- Leo A. Müller, Das Erben des Kalten Krieges
1991. 156 pages. ISBN: 3-499-12993-0
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- Dr. D. Engelen, De Nederlandse stay behind-organisatie in de koude oorlog 1945-1992
Ministerie van Algemene Zaken, Ministerie van Defensie & Rijksarchiefdienst/PIVOT
The Netherlands, National Archives, Institutional Investigation, 2005. (Dutch)
- Danielle Ganser, The British Secret service in Neutral Switzerland;
An Unfinished Debate on NATO's Cold War Stay-behind Armies.
Intelligence and National Security, Vol. 20, No. 4, December 2005, pp. 553-580.
- Daniele Ganser, NATO's secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe
ISBN 978-071465607-6, 2005.
- Geschiedenis van de Sectie Algemene Zaken, Hoofdstuk VI, Consolidatie
History of the Section General Affairs, Chapter 6, Consolidation. (Dutch)
Describing the period May 1970 - December 1981.
Dutch National Archives. Top Secret.
Partly declassified and released in 2007 under the FOI Act.
- Geschiedenis van de Sectie Algemene Zaken, Hoofdstuk VII, Voortgang
History of the Section General Affairs, Chapter 7, Progress. (Dutch)
Describing the period December 1981 - May 1987.
Dutch National Archives. Top Secret.
Partly declassified and released in 2007 under the FOI Act.
- Geschiedenis van de Sectie Algemene Zaken, Hoofdstuk VIII,
Van Stroomlijning tot Ofheffing
History of the Section General Affairs, Chapter 8,
From Streamlining to Dissolution. (Dutch)
Describing the period May 1987 - January 1994.
Dutch National Archives. Top Secret.
Partly declassified and released in 2007 under the FOI Act.
- Telefunken Racoms, History
Timeline -> 1985, SY5000 adaptive HF system to NATO special services.
Telefunken website. Retrieved May 2009.
- Wikipedia, Cold War
Retrieved January 2013.
- Wikipedia, Iron Curtain
Retrieved January 2013.
- Wikipedia, Berlin Wall
Retrieved January 2013.
- Wikipedia, Operation Gladio
Retrieved February 2020.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Friday 02 October 2009. Last changed: Monday, 09 December 2024 - 14:17 CET.
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