So a little Christmas Tale of Galosh intelligence gathering
I was told this a while back (25 + years ago) and have finally got around to writing it down. This account is reproduced as accurately as I can remember it.
The chap that told me the following was a former employee at the UK’s GCHQ and prior to that an electronic signals intelligence specialist with the RAF. The story starts in the late sixties when as a civilian he’s joined a small team tasked of monitoring Galosh missile testing then underway at Sary Shagan. At the time Galosh was very high priority for intelligence as it threatened to neutralise the U.K.’s new Polaris deterrent before it was introduced into service. The signals were collected at two clandestine listening station in north east Turkey, on the high ground, right on the Soviet border ( now Georgia and Armenia). The key discovery was that the flight test telemetry was unencrypted and at high enough altitude to be received, thus allowing an engineer familiar with missile performance to usefully interpret and determine critical details .
The listening stations were located in two high mountainous area’s, one on Mount Ararat and the other was further north which was just within the Turkish border. The border was mostly unmarked, open, frequently snow covered ground, so in pre GPS times, navigation was very demanding. The listening stations consisted of networks aerials, and remote relays stations. As launch timings were unknown, 24/7 monitoring was required. which required constant maintenance and resupply of generator fuel.
Four GCHQ teams supported the operations, alternatively going out on six week rotations. The chap relating this story had completed a few rotations when news come in of tragic incident with one of the teams. A GCHQ operator together with a Turkish guide had set off in bad weather to a remote relay station, and they had not returned. After a few days of searching they were found dead. The teams were told this was an accident consistent with trekking in demand terrain and weather. However it coincide with unusual damage found at one of the remote stations. It was against this background he departed on a routine rotation.
The events of last few weeks had convinced the Turkish military to step up patrols in the area. Additionally it was decided each British operator when undertaking remote operations had to be accompanied by an armed member of the Turkish security liaison in addition to a guide at all times. A few weeks passed when suddenly all hell broke loose on the teams radio on Christmas Day just after lunch. They initially couldn’t make sense off it but were told to grab they’re gear and proceed to one of the relay stations. As he and his colleagues got closer they could hear sporadic gunfire. When they got to the epicentre of this they found a Turkish army patrol in a stand off against an opposing force, presumed to be Soviet, who were sniping at the relay station. The engagement was taking place inside a few Km inside Turkish territory. The situation was very tense with the Turkish unit being instructed to stand firm, return fire but not to assault the position occupied by the opposing force. This continued for the rest of the afternoon with some lively exchanges of gunfire with some rounds passing very close by. It quietened down at sunset and by the morning the opposing force had pulled out.
There were no casualties on the Turkish side, no signs of injuries on the opposing side and examination of spent ammunition confirmed it to be of Soviet origin. The relay station was quite badly damaged and not repaired;- it was replaced by another further inside the border.
The whole incident was played down by all governments although years latter there was some very sparse acknowledgement. This region was sensitive as it’s allocation to Turkey had been been somewhat controversial with Russia prior to the formation of the Soviet Union. Additionally it was not too far away from where a US C130 was shoot down about ten years early.
The chap telling me the story told me it was the single most terrifying afternoon of his life, not only for be shot at but more that he thought he was witnessing the very start of WW3. He reflected on the earlier tragic loss of their colleague, and speculated that it may not have been as they were told;- for reasons of security the results of the post mortem were not shared. Also it was obvious that the whole operation had been compromised which itself had some unpleasant ramifications for all of the team members.
Merry Christmas
