In 1946 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." That Iron Curtain erected by the Soviet Union to keep it's people from traveling to the west stretched for 2,000 miles. In the book Brat: Kids of Warriors it is the job of the 4th Armored Division to protect West Germany and the Free World against Soviet tanks and Russian aggression. The fathers of the book's main characters are tankers responsible for a large stretch of the Iron Curtain. They train at a place called Grafenwöhr where, during World War II, the famous German tank commander, Erwin Rommel, trained his Panzerkorps before going up against General Patton in North Africa.
Some of these pictures are from the same time period as the book, others were taken later. Either way they give you a great look at the Iron Curtain, Grafenwöhr, and the real 4th Armored Division on maneuvers.
Training Exercises up at Graf
Photo from Ken Stalker. Combination of armord and infantry...
The Wall and East German Guard Tower
Photo from Ken Stalker. Here the Iron Curtain is not barbed wire, it is a concrete...