[Editor’s Note: This review complements a review previously published on BlogCritics, here, and an interview with the author of the reviewed book, found here.]
Experiences with the CIA 1950’s Berlin Spy Tunnel is a memoir, most of which was penned by Bob Browne, with some details and memories written by three others who were also there during that time. The combined memoir relates some of the memories of these four individuals, along with some photographs and some other associated memorabilia. The first 45 pages were compiled by Browne, while the remaining 23 pages are by three other members of the site crew.
The Berlin Spy Tunnel, 1476 feet of tunneling to hit a target two inches in diameter, buried 27 inches below the main East German/Soviet highway, was completed on February 28, 1955; the tap chamber a month later on March 28; and it was discovered by the East Germans and Soviets on April 22, 1956. Although it was only in operation for just under 13 months, the take from the taps amounted to 18,000 teletype tapes and 11,000 voice tapes. The tapes were then sent weekly via armed courier to London and Washington, DC, for processing and transcription.
Even though the tunnel’s existence was divulged by British MI-6 operative and Soviet mole George Blake from the beginning, and was thus known by the Soviets, it was still very productive, as evidenced by the amount of information taken from it. Although the Soviets knew of it, it is speculated that they took no action on it until its chance discovery a year later. The reason? They didn’t want their knowledge of it to lead back to Blake. George Blake was far too important to the Soviets to risk it. When it was finally discovered, it was by chance when the East Germans came upon it while they were looking for the source of other communications problems they were experiencing at the time.
The crew for the tap compound consisted of 45-50 men, from cooks and guards to electronics experts and a linguist. Life at the compound was not typically military, according to various comments sprinkled throughout the memoir. Some of the atypical perquisites were that military personnel there were allowed to wear civilian clothes; there was no reveille; and there was a huge refrigerator kept full of beer which was free to all (probably bought and paid for by the CIA). On the other hand, all the personnel at the site were very dedicated to their jobs, often working long hours and days of overtime voluntarily to keep pace with the take from the taps.
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