Cold War Express – Last British Military Train to Berlin and Airlift 70th Anniversary Tour

Celebrating seven decades of Anglo-German friendship on land, in the air and in the community

The iconic Berliner British Military Train is to be revived – for only the second time since German re-unification to form the backbone of the largest Joint Service BAOR/RAF-G reunion since the Berlin Wall fell. It is running from Manchester to Berlin in June 2019 to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift and the role of military engineers and logisticians in the post war recovery of Germany from 1945 to 1949 – the worst man-made humanitarian crisis in modern European history.
The UK section will be steam-hauled from Manchester to Harwich by loco 60163 Tornado – itself an Anglo-German engineering project, named in honour of the RAF GR4 aircraft, and the continental leg will use the historic Rheingold train. .
En route the train will call at Arnhem for a “Bridge too Far” Cocktail Reception and private viewing of the Airborne Museum, into Germany at Wesel where, after Arnhem, the British 21st Army finally crossed the Rhine and arrived in Germany, their home-from-home for he next seven decades, three nights “back to barracks” as guests of the Luftwaffe at Fliegerhorst Fassberg for the official Day of the German Armed Forces Air Lift 70th flying display, and a multi-faith Service of Thanksgiving at the Monument where Montgomery accepted the Nazi surrender in 1945. The journey ends with a Blockade Buster commemorative drive from Helmstedt (Checkpoint Alpha) to Berlin remembering the only time in human history that cancelled trains have been replaced by an Emergency Air Service.
Project Manager Neil Howard said “We know from operating the 2012 Berliner British Military Train tribute that Cold War warriors have an appetite to visit old friends and old haunts in like-minded professional company. This is not a Battlefield Tour, or a conventional railway enthusiast jaunt. It is an off-duty staff ride through 70 years of contemporary history that you can take a loved one on and which serves better Gin. Ín the highest tradition of British forces in Germany, the train has more restaurant and bar cars than the Orient Express! ”
First Class fare is£2999 per person if you or your partner served in Germany and details can be found at www.coldwarexpress.co.uk

Further details:http://coldwarexpress.co.uk/info/