The “Unconventional Soldiers” Book Project
When I first arrived in Dortmund in the mid-1980s, the Cold War felt like it might never end. Germany was divided, the Warsaw Pact loomed across the Inner German Border (IGB), and we trained for a war we hoped would never come. On The Unconventional Soldier Podcast, I often talk about “stay-behind” patrols, small, isolated teams who would remain hidden as the contact t battle withdrew from the IGB, watching and reporting enemy movements. Life in those patrols was as far from a conventional gunner role as you could get. It wasn’t glamorous but it was rewarding. Living underground in MEXE shelters, camouflaged deep beneath the forest floor was the kind of soldiering that forged a trust that the man beside you would do his job when it mattered most.
As I look back now, I realise the Cold War wasn’t just a military standoff. It was a test of training, professionalism, and belief in a role few even knew existed. It’s a story that has yet to be told in full but one I am working on and my book “Unconventional Soldiers – Royal Artillery Cold War “Stay-Behind” Operations” is nearing completion. In the new year it will need to be peer reviewed then an editor and publisher sought out. Hopefully at some point in 2026 it will make it to print.
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NEXT PODCAST – COMBAT LOGISTIC PATROLS IN AFGHANISTAN – OUT 20 NOVEMBER 2025
FROM THE ARCHIVES
An account of one of the most audacious and deadly deliberate attacks by the Provisional IRA against an Army permanent vehicle check point.
BOOK ON MY DESK
Ryszard Kapuściński’s Another Day of Life is a haunting account of Angola’s descent into chaos in 1975 as Portuguese colonial rule collapsed. Blending reportage and literary narrative, the Polish journalist takes readers through Luanda’s emptying streets, the confusion of war, and the fragile humanity of those caught between rival factions and ideologies. Kapuściński’s strength lies in his ability to transform frontline journalism into literature , vividly portraying both the absurdity and the tragedy of post-colonial conflict. His writing is spare yet captures the surreal atmosphere of a world collapsing in slow motion. Nearly fifty years on, it remains a timeless reminder of the human cost of political upheaval.
Verdict: ★★★★★ — Brilliantly written, deeply humane, and still relevant.
PODCAST BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
All the books we discuss on the podcast can be found via the link below.
https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/UCS473
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