Location: Berlin, Sachsenhausen, Dresden and Colditz Castle, Germany; Sagan, Poland

Date: 20th to 23rd October, 2008

As part of a RAF-run 'Staff Ride', I had the chance to visit a variety of locations in the former East Germany and Poland relevant to Service history and, for Berlin and Dresden in particular, RAF Bomber Command in World War II. Starting in Berlin, we travelled across the city which was the focus of so much of the RAF's bomber offensive. We took in the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden, the site of Checkpoint Charlie, Tempelhof Airport (which closed a week later) and, memorably, one of the many Allied war cemeteries. Our second morning was spent at Sachsenhausen concentration camp to the north of Berlin (which was also used by the Russians between 1945 and 1950 to house political dissidents).
Next, it was on to Sagan in Poland - the site of Stalag Luft III and the famous Great Escape where, typically, the weather was cold, and wet. Then, the final day was spent in a surprisingly engaging Dresden and a very disppointing Colditz Castle.


  • The improsing front of the German Parliament, the Reichstag.

  • The Brandenburg Gate.

  • Sitting atop the Brandenburg Gaste is the famous Quadriga of Peace.

  • Close-up of the Quadriga.

  • The famous Television Tower built by the Russians in Berlin.

  • Russian Embassy.

  • Walking along Friedrichstrasse.

  • Hugo Boss - designer of the 1933 pattern SS Uniform...

  • Friedrichstrasse again.

  • All that remains of the Berlin Wall at the site of Checkpoint Charlie.

  • Berlin Wall museum.

  • Reconstruction of Checkpoint Charlie.

  • just to the right of the trailer is reputedly the site where Hitler's body was set alight after his suicide.

  • Inside Tempelhof Airport.

  • Tempelhof Airport.

  • The facade of Tempelhof.

  • Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.

  • Communal wash basins in one of the huts.

  • Part of the museum.

  • The memoirs of one of the former interns of the camp.

  • An example of the kind of bed provided.

  • The cramped conditions endured by the labour camp occupants.

  • Communal toilets.

  • In Remembrance.

  • Memorial to the Russian prisoners of Special Camp No. 7.

  • The Soviet Liberation Memorial.

  • Soviet Liberation Memorial.

  • Soviet Liberation Memorial.