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PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE ARCHIVE -
2ND GREEN JACKETS (THE KING'S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS)
IN BERLIN
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This photograph, intended to accompany a press release,
shows members of 2nd Green Jackets (The King’s Royal
Rifle Corps) in front of the Brandeburg Gate in Berlin
in 1961/2, soon after the wall was built. Corporal
Nick Carter of the Reconnaissance Platoon is in the
turret of the Ferret Scout Car Mark 2 and Rifleman
Freeman is the driver. The Lance-Corporal wearing a
steel helmet, holding a sub-machine gun, standing in
front of the Ferret on the left, and the Rifleman
wearing a steel helmet and spectacles, with a
self-loading rifle on his right shoulder, standing in
front of the Ferret on the right, are presently
unidentified.
At the front of the ferret are painted (from left to
right), the unit identification number ‘9’, a Union Jack
and the formation sign of the Berlin Infantry Brigade
(shown in detail left).
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Background
2nd Green Jackets was stationed in Berlin from November
1960 to July 1962.
On 13 August 1961, just after midnight, the East German
authorities began to seal off East Berlin (the Russian
Sector) from the American, British and French sectors.
Initially, coiled wire barriers were erected followed by
a concrete wall. The British Garrison was immediately
given the task of observation over, and patrolling of,
the sector boundaries.
The 1962 Regimental Chronicle records:
After the Berlin Wall had been completed in August
1961 the situation gradually reverted to normal, at
least on the surface. There were, however, still heavy
guard and patrol commitments down by the Brandenburg
Gate and still an ‘eyrie’ with a breath-taking view to
be manned at the top of the Reichstag [nearby].
The Brandenburg Gate was built between 1788 and 1791 on
the orders of King Frederick William II of Prussia. Atop
the gate is the Quadriga, facing east, a chariot drawn
by four horses driven by Victoria, the Roman goddess of
victory.
The Berlin Wall was built on the west side of the
Brandeburg Gate. It was removed after the East German
government announced on 9 November 1989, after several
weeks of civil unrest, that all East German citizens
were free to visit West Germany and West Berlin. Passage
through the Brandenburg Gate was restored on 22 December
1989.
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