SOXMIS (Soviet Military Mission) By Peter Jackson
The Military Liaison Missions arose from reciprocal agreements formed immediately after the Second World War between the Western allied nations (U.S., UK and France) and the USSR. The missions were active from 1946 until 1990.
The agreements between the allied nations and the Soviet Union permitted the deployment of small numbers of military intelligence personnel — together with associated support staff — in each other's territory in Germany, ostensibly for the purposes of monitoring and furthering better relationships between the Soviet and Western occupation forces. The British, French and American missions matched the size of the counterpart Soviet missions into West Germany (the nominal post-war British, French and American zones of occupations). The MLMs also played an intelligence-gathering role. The MLM teams were based in West Berlin but started their "tours" from the national mission houses in Potsdam in matte-olive-drab heavy cars. The Mission teams on a tour frequently comprised one officer accompanied by an NCO and a driver. The missions persisted throughout the Cold War period and ended in 1990 just prior to German reunification. The missions were
• British Commanders'-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS) • La Mission Militaire Francaise de Liaison (FMLM, more properly MMFL in French) • U.S. Military Liaison Mission (USMLM) • and their reciprocal Soviet missions (SOXMIS/SMLM).
The British-Soviet missions were the first to be established (16 September 1946) under the terms of the Robertson-Malinin Agreement (the respective commanders-in-chief). It also had the largest contingent of personnel with 31 accredited team members. Later agreements with the US (Huebner-Malinin, March 1947) and France (April 1947) had significantly fewer permitted personnel, possibly because those Allied powers did not want large Soviet missions operating in their zones and vice versa.
This former British post marks the entry to former SOXMIS in Bünde, West Germany, where the Soviets lived within a British married officers' compound. Which was a privilege as they could shop at the NAAFI . Areas permanently out of bounds to Soviet Military Missions to British Zone of Occupation in Germany Bunde was a small town, famous for cigar manufacturing and as the home of SOXMIS – the Soviet Mission in West Germany, so people got used to seeing Russian staff cars on our local roads and being followed by them on exercise. Soviet Vehicle and Identity Card
The British Army married officers compound at Engelstraße in Bünde, District of Herford, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. During cold war Red Army's Military Liaison Mission SOXMIS (Soviet Military Liaison Mission Germany, short SOXMIS or Soviet Military Mission BAOR, abbr. SMM BAOR) was based within the British compound. Hence, British and Soviet Soldiers lived "next door". SOXMIS was a notorious base for soviet spy activities within the allied sectors. After cold war British soldiers or German civilians moved in. Nearly all military leftovers from the soviet era were removed, a British watch post to control Russian activities and protect the own officers remained unmanned. Today, the history of this special Cold War place is fairly unknown. As part of the set-up of the military missions, members of each mission had special rights to cross the border and travel about – with very few restrictions on where they could go. Both BRIXMIS and SOXMIS took full advantage of these unusual privileges, regularly sending their highly-trained members on tours of the other side in specially-adapted diplomatic vehicles.
They would frequently push the limits of diplomacy, driving into restricted areas, photographing military installations, and taking careful notes of any troop or equipment movements.
Although they did their best to keep their visits under wraps, both sides were obliged to display a special diplomatic license plate. That meant any opposing soldier could spot a BRIXMIS or SOXMIS crew where it shouldn’t be and take appropriate action – if they could catch the vehicle before it fled back to safety.
Avoiding diplomatic incidents
Everyone had to tread carefully: the missions were based on a diplomatic agreement, and both sides valued the ability to travel around the other’s territory. And, of course, this all took place on the potentially volatile front lines of the Cold War. Mistakes and misunderstandings had to be avoided at all costs.
To that end, British forces in Germany were issued with cards instructing them on how to behave if they spotted a SOXMIS operation underway. These cards, known as BFG Form 66 (for British Forces Germany), seem to be as much about avoiding causing a diplomatic incident as they are instructions on the detention of hostile vehicle.
On spotting a SOXMIS vehicle acting suspiciously – that is, being present in a prohibited area, or ‘taking a close interest’ in military installations or activity – the card’s bearer is instructed to take immediate action.
Finally, on an early visit by SOXMIS to Hambuhren, which appears not to be noticed by the camp guard, resulted in an RAF linguist in uniform one David Manners being given a shock when he attended a Trade Fair in Moscow several years after leaving the RAF being approached by a KGB officer who showed him a photograph of himself walking across a public road in uniform between the two camps unaware that he was been photographed by a SOXMIS vehicle.