German autumn
Red Army Faction
Many of the readers - especially in the US - will be familiar with the term "Arab Spring," it was a time during the Obama/Clinton era when the Middle East became the closest to WW3 as we ever came.
However, I doubt if even the older readers have heard the term "German Autumn."
It was the Fall of 1978, I was in Germany, and the RAF (Red Army Faction) -AKA - Bader/ Meinhoff group had begun to fracture as their leadership changed with the death of the people it was named after had died in prison.
NATO camps all across Germany were put on high alert status as death threats spread to US/UK personnel, like most terrorist groups the RAF made no distinction between "hard" targets - military - and "soft" targets - civilian.
It was the Fall of 1978, I was in Germany, and the RAF (Red Army Faction) -AKA - Bader/ Meinhoff group had begun to fracture as their leadership changed with the death of the people it was named after had died in prison.
NATO camps all across Germany were put on high alert status as death threats spread to US/UK personnel, like most terrorist groups the RAF made no distinction between "hard" targets - military - and "soft" targets - civilian.
UK NATO personnel may as well have had Bulle-eyes painted on them as we were offered yellow Cortinas as the vehicle to drive, a more visible target could not have been chosen.
On one return trip from leave, the train I was travelling on was hit by rifle fire as we crossed the Dutch/German border; it was pure luck that the shooter didn't kill the driver. I was washing glass out of my hair for weeks after the shooting. I heard what I thought was at first a bird hitting the glass, as I turned to see, the window opposite shattered showering the lady at the window with shards of fractured glass.
On one return trip from leave, the train I was travelling on was hit by rifle fire as we crossed the Dutch/German border; it was pure luck that the shooter didn't kill the driver. I was washing glass out of my hair for weeks after the shooting. I heard what I thought was at first a bird hitting the glass, as I turned to see, the window opposite shattered showering the lady at the window with shards of fractured glass.
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