NATO's Secret Army in Switzerland, Austria, Sweden and Finland

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Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a second video on Operation Gladio, as the US and NATO create stay-behind secret armies in Switzerland, Austria, Sweden and Finland
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#ColdWar #Gladio #Nato

[@mateuszmattias]

A friend of mine told me one of his officers during his service in the Swedish Army in the late 80s during an instruction session said "remember, the enemy is always coming from the east!". One guy then asked if maybe the enemy could come from the west as well, whereupon the officer replied "theoretically, but it would be one hell of a detour."

[@ValWasTakenWasTaken]

Heard that in Finland too

[@totallynotalpharius2283]

That's actually really funny

[@TheRedLocker]

That was used way later then the 80s, I'll tell you.

[@hassetjifrebro8222]

Still in use today :)

[@Alex_FRD]

"If Switzerland is neutral, how do you explain massive Allied base?" - Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

[@MortalWombat1988]

Dolphins are salt water creatures!

[@fernandostaejak3705]

Lol

[@ThoriberoCaroli]

This bank, is now property of beneolent Soviet premier!

[@Republic3D]

Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well

[@JonasUllenius]

@@MortalWombat1988 Not when stranded.

[@kieranfitz]

Actual neutral countries: Right, if it all goes south here's our plans. Ireland: Ah sure why would we want to be doing that.

[@Marinealver]

Everyone says they are for action, but when action comes everyone hides.

[@jorgealdridge6665]

The IRA gets a little something

[@davidw.2791]

Ireland actually sent a “Sorry your head of state just died” telegram to Berlin in May 1945. Ballsy or brainless ballsy?

[@kieranfitz]

@@davidw.2791 Our only mistake between 39 and 45.

[@davidw.2791]

Kieran Fitzgerald I mean, presumably there was still a human ambassador to Germany from Ireland at the time? Couldn’t he/she just casually passed the coundolescense along instead of making it official?

[@joetemple533]

Love the use of the A Team in this

[@stalkinghorse883]

It just so happens that Forgotten Weapons released a video today on the AC-556, the quintessential A-Team gun known for its inability to hit a target.

[@mynameismynameis666]

unlike the a-team, they dealt drugs, bombed civilian infrastructure in milano, bologna and many more bombings (carlos) and killed women and children in brabant

[@RandallFrequentFlyerFlagg]

I love it when a plan comes together. The moment I heard the brilliant A-Team analogy in this video was the moment I fell in love with this channel.

[@eetutorri8767]

I have to say that there is bit misleading information regarding Lauri Törni. First of all Lauri Törni never took part in the Army sponsored official "unofficial" weapon cache case. Instead Törni and one of his company men, on their own, had made an arms cache which was regularly visited and checked until 1991(!) when it was finally revealed to police, after the fall of Soviet Union. And add to this weird tale, one of the weapons in the cache (DP -machine gun) was identified and used by Finnish president Mauno Koivisto during the war. And secondly Lauri Törni resistance role is bit murkier but first I have to point out Törni did rejoin Finnish army after kick off of opertation Barbarossa (he returned to Finland on 30.8.1941) after short period in Wiking division. And he did stay in Finnish army (gaining the reputation which he had) until 1.12.1944 when he was discharged from service. Then things get weird. On 22.1.1945 Törni joined with German submarine on Finnish gulf with objective being starting up German sponsored Finnish resistance network in case of Soviet occupation. And he either only took on lessons spying and sabotage until when Germans were going to lose and only tried to take a walk back to Finland or Törni would actually lead German naval battalion against Soviets before surrendering. Either way, Törni would end up in British custody and then returned to Finland. Törni and any other Finns that did join the Germans would face charges of treason as Finland was technically at state of war after the start of Lapland War with Germany. State of war that would actually technically only end in 1960s. And there was other plans well after ww2 in case of war with anyone, including setting up resistance.

[@dzejrid]

Can you elaborate a bit on that "State of war that would actually technically only end in 1960s" please? Or point to an article on it, I have only read what is on Wikipedia and there the end date is given as 1945. I am interested in how the relations between two states proceeded afterwards.

[@herptek]

Those involved with the weapons cache case were the true patriots. Those who sympathised with the Soviet Union were the real traitors.

[@stein-arne6613]

In Norway stay behind was partly exposed by finding a large amount of weapons connected to Hans Otto Meyer(stay behind agent) in 1978. And the secret service denying any knowledge to the police. So it became a large news case, and then the stay behind was exposed by Meyer.

[@stein-arne6613]

Norwegian broadcasting article about it (in Norwegian, two videos in english) www.nrk.no/dokumentar/xl/james-bond_-den-mystiske-skipsrederen-og-norges-hemmelige-haer-1.14878057

[@sundhaug92]

I'm Norwegian and I didn't know about this

[@kystartilleriet0270]

@@stein-arne6613 Jepp stemmer det også var stay behind skolen på Torås fort🙂

[@devinklassen9769]

Veldig interessant

[@willyustad6670]

@@devinklassen9769 Norway was possibly the first country to have a secret system of that kind, instigated before CIA coame into the picture. In 1946 the chief of norwegian military intelligence asked then major Vilhelm Evang to take over the comand over that service - a somewhat controversial decicion in itself. It is not entiredly clear when his work for buiding up the system later named Stay Behind startet, but in 1947 Evang got a shock: A handfull of small, privat groups were already organised, and was ordered disbanded as soon Evang or then chief of security police Asbjoer Bryhn got wind of them. Still one of these groups became very importent in the "secret army", one can absolutelye say that the system startet there: The one started by lt. colonel Halvdan Hanevold Hansen and editor, writer etc Finn Duchesne de Vauvert. (A man writing for the same publisher I had, for many years) The meeting that set this group rolling, was held in Oslo Military Socieaty, not exactly a secret location, but still only with pre-contacted men.. Very short time after that meeting the two forementioned gentlemen were called to a meeting with Evang and Bryhn and got an ulitmatum: Stop this work or get arrested! But very soon later, a friend of mine said "as soon Bryhn were out the door" - Evang gave them another offer: Keep organising, but work for me! Certainly the words "or else " were floating in the air. Later on, when CIA boss Bill Colby called a meeting and suggested that the free world countries should start a secret readiness system, Evang remarked very casually - " Oh, but we already have such a service in Norway!" Fully grown, the norwegian Stay behind had three main undersystems. ROCK - sabotage and guerilla. BLUE MIX - system for getting important people out of the country if (when) Norway was occupied. LINDUS - inteligence.

[@Dk-tt4yc]

I am amazed that you have the guts to speak about those things. We live in such times that everything should be said. Keep up the good work. Greetings!

[@Thaumazo83]

There was a time in my country, Italy, when one would have risked a lot if one had tried and talked about Gladio...

[@Slithermotion]

Why does it take guts? Everything he says already is documented on wikipedia it's not like there is any secret about those things... P-26 was a huge scandal pretty much everyone knows about it now...back then that was a different story but nowadays there is nothing secret about those information...

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Sounds like Churchill's secret Home Guard units of WW2.

[@TheColdWarTV]

sort of a similar concept except the Auxiliary Units in the UK were only ever meant to last for a short time (up to about two weeks) where as Gladio Units were conceptually meant to last for an ongoing period of time.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@@TheColdWarTV yes they did have an expected life of about 12 days. I doubt Operation Gladio teams would have lasted much longer.

[@eddiemchugh8391]

@@TheColdWarTV Are you going to do one of these on the British gladio? I've heard it was 21 SAS's main role throughout the cold war. Anyway great video , keep up the good work.

[@mynameismynameis666]

@@neiloflongbeck5705 since they are now all in management, banking and lobbying position preventing humanist politics and still running their WACL nazi bullshit (just look at police brutality and cooperation with fascist millitas e.g. proud boys) i would say, their lifetime is still not over.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@@mynameismynameis666 I was talking about how long they would have lasted if the Cold War had turned hot.

[@blakedake19]

1:06 Sad slow noises by James May

[@dh1040]

I heard him say "oh, cock" in my head.

[@blakedake19]

@@dh1040 nice one

[@Arbiter099]

He replied but it took him 17 minutes

[@AA-mf3om]

It makes me remember the red dawn movie. The 80s version. The good one.

[@Plissken72]

Wolverines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Matt_from_Florida]

That was a great flick!

[@kikufutaba1194]

Love your channel and your presentation. You do such a great job.

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

05:55 A - team!!!

[@mynameismynameis666]

unlike the a-team, they dealt drugs, bombed civilian infrastructure in milano, bologna and many more bombings (carlos) and killed women and children in brabant

[@Grimpy970]

What's that beast of a book you have on the middle of your desk? I tried turning up my video resolution but I couldn't *quite* make out the title. Anyway thanks for the upload, I'm a big fan of this channel!

[@bhutochakrabarti4173]

God , looks like there were infinite numbers of secret groups and armies . This is certainly a cold war because its shocking that with so many armies or secret agencies there was no direct confrontation.

[@JenniferinIllinois]

OMG, the use of the A-Team to describe the team structure. BRILLIANT!!!!! ;)

[@mynameismynameis666]

unlike the a-team, they dealt drugs, bombed civilian infrastructure in milano, bologna and many more bombings (carlos) and killed women and children in brabant

[@westrim]

10:47 There are a bunch of comments on the A-Team reference, but I'm here for the Sabaton reference!

[@WhiskyandBacon]

Apart from the Stay Behind movement in Finland,there was also Finnish WW2 veterans serving in the CIA,hwo went into the Soviet Union 1948-55.They went into the old Finnish areas,that was lost to the Soviet Union after WW2.

[@MrTopSpeedy]

Then immigrating to US.

[@peterdiaz3796]

Colby: I’m already four parallel universes and two gladio tiers ahead of you

[@bethmarriott9292]

The US: okay, so about our Anti-Soviet sleeper cells in your country Austria: I'm sorry your what

[@brokenbridge6316]

Loved the A-Team reference at the start of the video. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.

[@mynameismynameis666]

unlike the a-team, they dealt drugs, bombed civilian infrastructure in milano, bologna and many more bombings (carlos) and killed women and children in brabant

[@loveis639hz7]

Great information

[@turgaysgc]

Thank you for the video. An interesting topic

[@lundsweden]

6:00 Love the A-team reference, they would've made a hell of a stay behind resistance cell!

[@benweas9802]

Shout, Lauri Törni’s name!

[@vladanlausevic1733]

Regarding Sweden. During WII, the predecessor of CIA - OSS, was operating in Sweden with the approval by the contemporary government. More about that one can read in books by Lars Gyllenhaal

[@kayzeaza]

Keep up the great work

[@gualbertochavez211]

These videos are great and very informative! Thank you!

[@deanbuss1678]

This episode kicks ass. A-team reference made it relatable.👍

[@mynameismynameis666]

unlike the a-team, they dealt drugs, bombed civilian infrastructure in milano, bologna and many more bombings (carlos) and killed women and children in brabant

[@dimitrihadzitomov]

I've watched almost all of the videos, love em, though I got a few pointers for some episodes, and I just realized I smashed the like button for the first time just because you mentioned the grand tour. I'm ashamed of myself :D

[@Wynesons]

First To say that keep up with the great content!!!

[@Mrgunsngear]

Thanks

[@ftdefiance1]

The book Special Forces Berlin: Clandestine Operations 1945 to 1990 discusses caching and other techniques in depth.

[@mcmaha1]

Great episode, very interesting stuff. If you would make an episode on Switzerland, there's some great footage in a film called "La suisse vigilante/Verhaftete Schweiz".

[@charlesparti1990]

Were there any parallel Soviet organizations? I know that the Soviet fears of being invaded yet again were some of Stalin's main reasons for wanting to establish satellite states so far west and I can't imagine that they would discount the idea that they might be invaded yet again and try to set up partisan stay behind armies of their own. I would love to see a video about that and I bet it would be truly fascinating.

[@AA-mf3om]

I dont know if there were , but i believe there was no need. The partizans of the soviet territories were of great number and expierence. In western countries only two countries had partizans.

[@TheCol111]

The Soviet Union's satellite states usually had some militant youth or student group that could probably function for the purposes of partizan warfare.

[@madjackblack5892]

Soviet partisan units developed rapidly after Barbarossa launched because there had been organizations set up for that role in the western military districts in the early 30s. Ref: Starinov's Over the Abyss for some background. The Party, with many members in the Red Army and local communities, understood how to operate underground based on its own experiences. And they had the Young Pioneers - an analog to the Hitler Youth in some ways - to draw upon as well.

[@devinagz9849]

Reminds me of Tom Clancy’s division. Like the P-26 network, the division agents live amongst the civilian population and are activated in 2 waves in the event of a national disaster.

[@grimreaper6557]

thanks for this awsome video keep up the great work

[@johnl5316]

Finns in other countries and their adult children were also involved, as you mentioned. They provided important connections to leaders in other countries

[@Oesterreichful]

The shot in 6:49 contains the church tower of my home village, Gramastetten in Upper Austria (last battle before Linz in May 1945) - I knew they made pictures but not a film, position is probably the tree garden on the north side

[@ThatGuyWhoLivesinChina]

Another great documentary.

[@tarpattituopponen7783]

In the cold war period it was really easy to obtain a hunting rifle in Finland. Pistols were even back then harder to get license of. With a surprise invasion so fast that the conscript army didn’t have time to mobilize there was still plenty of household armory to fight with.

[@luxembourgishempire2826]

I never knew this! Keep it up with the interesting videos cold war channel!

[@TheCimbrianBull]

#thirdBeneluxCountry

[@Mr.Nichan]

Does clandestinely supporting the bell button mean creating a secret alternate google account subscribed to this channel with the bell button pressed, while one's main account avoids association with this channel?

[@DanielWW2]

5:55 Just when "Gun Jesus" (Forgotten Weapons) covered the Ruger AC-556, you know the A-team gun that never hit anything. 😅

[@caorusso4926]

Is like the game The Division, where you play as a agent from the civilian population. I would join this "hiking" club

[@mynameismynameis666]

and kill children like f.e. the Brabant killers?

[@oldesertguy9616]

The A Team reference was gold.

[@Ystadcop]

Very good, David. You'll soon be right up there with Indy and Sparty.

[@bigjo66]

Interesting that there is a Welrod pistol @ 08:16 - clandestine assassination pistol developed by SOE in ww2.

[@28ebdh3udnav]

They're still present. We're only told that they are officially gone.

[@ekesandras1481]

I still cannot understand what should have been the scandal about the stay-behind networks. It was just due dilligence and preparation for a very real threat.

[@holmbjerg]

The scandal (if there was one) was the kind of people who were recruited. Not only were they anticommunist, they were often also antisemites. The people who were put in charge often had very concrete experience with fighting the Soviet Union, because they were recruited among former SS Eastern front volunteers, Fascists and Nazis.

[@ShinobiHOG]

You should look into the US Army Special Forces unit called Detachment A. They were a stay behind unit that did daily intel gathering in East Berlin from the 60's through the 80's.......

[@Canhistoryismylife]

Add ends at 2:48

[@springfieldpervert2736]

the swedish stay-behind group was called "arla gryning" it could be translated to "early dawn". i am swedish if you wondered.

[@sfk1066]

Love the A Team reference.

[@followerofjulian1652]

The idiocy described in this episode is a great advertisement for the Non-Aligned Movement.

[@reeyuh526]

You said sans Clarkson and Hammond, so how come I didn't see James May?

[@syedazam2568]

The A Team!

[@mynameismynameis666]

unlike the a-team, they dealt drugs, bombed civilian infrastructure in milano, bologna and many more bombings (carlos) and killed women and children in brabant

[@iancomings7098]

Are those MiG-29s I see in the thumbnail

[@totallynotalpharius2283]

Switzerland plans Germany : shoot twice and go home Soviet union: shoot like 4 or 5 times. 6 to be safe, then go home

[@smithnwesson990]

Seems smart. Plant weapons caches all over and if the day comes then activate guerilla units.

[@Thaumazo83]

Topic suggestion: Salazar's regime in Portugal and its participation in NATO

[@bradenculver7457]

Doing my man James May dirty like that

[@randomka-52alligatorthatis34]

Random Dude : Excuse me, I would like to join your Hiking Club. Front Desk person : Ok, but first you have to go through a test. Random Dude : Test? Front Desk Person : Here's a Handgun. Random Dude : WHAT? Front Desk Person : Now I want you to Dismantle and Reassemble it, I want to see how long you for you to do it. Front Desk Person : Don't worry this is the easiest part, we haven't reach the plastic explosive yet.

[@Marinealver]

8:42 Because you never know when you will need something blown up.

[@AusMedic89]

@thecoldwar you might want to change the thumbnail for this video, the image you used is that of Russian troops. Looks very out of place with the NATO watermark you placed on top,

[@hanzup4117]

Reminds of a British organisation called the Scallywags.

[@Daniel-xb9il]

Hope you can do a Turkey episode

[@beachboy0505]

In and around the Baltic states still relevant

[@whkmla6569]

Secret Army (Switzerland) yes, but not of NATO.

[@robertalaverdov8147]

All the weapons left behind would have been useful for survivors battling Ghouls, Deathclaws and all the other eldritch horrors of the wasteland after the bombs dropped. The planners clearly played fallout and knew how to prepare.

[@donelion6459]

Seems like Division , Percy would be happy

[@Drewster195]

Just found this channel, is there any particular order I should watch these videos in?

[@nikeayuiop]

As they come out, the topics adavence with the progression of the cold war

[@somas0087]

Hi, I read somewhere that agents ( P26 - and others later) also trained in GB by SIS/MI 5/ SAS , and I even read of a location , somewhere in the Porthsmouth area ... but I can´t re-find the info again anywhere, So if you have knowledge about this info, I would appreciate your help.

[@atklm1]

USSR coming with 2 million men army and 30 000 tanks "Nobody said they have an officer, intelligence agent and a civilian! Run!!"

[@holmbjerg]

They not only prepared to fight Soviet invaders, while they waited, they also fought communists and left leaning groups and people if they weren't sufficiently anticommunist. A ton of evidence support that it was a group connected to Arla Gryning (Swedish stay behind), who kept Lisbet and Olof Palme under surveillance in the days and hours leading up to the assassination in 1986. Arla Gryning was definitely on the streets of Stockholm that night.

[@coldxmlpromax9550]

Imagine Joining a club as a Hiker in Alphine just to find ur self training to blow a tank with missile 😂

[@christopherconard2831]

The like button has been activated. But I question it's core loyalties. Further investigation is recommended.

[@CivilWarWeekByWeek]

Well now it’s not secret anymore

[@TheNismo777]

20 years old or more info, nothing suprising that both sides doesn't know

[@mikaelbohman6694]

Are you sure about SÄPO setting up the Swedish stay behind groups? SÄPO was the more official intelligence agency overseen by the government. Then there were the military agencies, technically sorting under the armed forces but in reality acting without oversight. They were cooperating with OAS, MI5 and MI6 during WWII (whereas the secret police cooperated with Abwehr, that's neutrality in practice for you...) conducting operations in Finland the Baltic countries. I would say that the stay behind groups operated more in this orbit. The secret military agencies didn't become known to the public until the early 70s to some degree, and the stay behind groups not until the 90s.

[@billywiththebulgingbaloonb5105]

IB and the Barbro Group were Swedens GLADIO operators.

[@bensmith5413]

Could you please provide some references for this video. Particularly anything pertaining to uk envolvment with the training.

[@Sunny198325]

So NATO had sleeper cells in "Europe" much before people around the world heard about "sleeper cells" in Europe

[@robertjackson9050]

I've wanted to see a video on this every since it was mentioned on archer

[@chadwahl9085]

What about Captain Slow ?

[@MrTryAnotherOne]

How about the Warsaw Pact's secret army in, i.e.West Germany such as the Group Ralf Forster?

[@cheeminthao6535]

Do the CIA Secret Army in Laos

[@SnabbKassa]

"Government denies knowledge" -- the X Files titles

[@dmgill83]

So James May is coming on then?

[@KimKhan]

So, what NATO base was in Sweden?

[@andrewm1058]

The fighters on the thumbnail are not Nato

[@Mr9Guns]

Just shows how difficult it is to ever be truly neutral. Say this did happen would the neutral countries invaded turn down inevitable massive US aid in such an event.

[@greattribulation1388]

That’s weird, these resistors should have infiltrated colleges. Where the soviets were doing way more damage

[@carlbyronthompson]

Whatcho talkin bout foo!

[@abdullahchhab2325]

I am getting lost with all the names

[@percamihai-marco7157]

I can't believe that you mention Sabaton in your videos. Are you Sabaton fans? @The Cold War?

[@TheColdWarTV]

we have a wide variety of musical tastes here at the Cold War.

[@percamihai-marco7157]

@@TheColdWarTV What is your top 10 Sabaton songs?

[@TheColdWarTV]

I (the host) don't actually know any Sabaton songs, as Heavy Metal is not really what I listen to. There are other here at CW and K&G however that listen to them and we know that lots of people who watch the channel are fans so the reference seemed more than fitting to include.

[@Seouldrift7]

Operation Urgent Fury (1983)

[@TheNismo777]

There has lately been found weapon stash or few in Finland, can't tell more about related stuff to that. 👍 And yes, Finland is still even today the only country that has paid whole war reparations. Let that sink in for a while.

[@zoom5024]

Who did Finland send war reparations to?

[@TheNismo777]

@@zoom5024 Out of all the countries that were required to pay reparations from World War II, Finland is the only one known to have paid its bill in full when it sent $300 million to the Soviet Union in 1952.

[@zoom5024]

@@TheNismo777 why the f... would Finland send money to Soviet? It should have been the other way around

[@TheNismo777]

@@zoom5024 I know, but we had to do what we had to :) Its not always fair game.

[@julianshepherd2038]

Churchill's secret army

[@ProperLogicalDebate]

Now they know we know they know we know they know ... LoL

[@infernosgaming8942]

What if the US had a stay-behind network, but we just haven't found out because it's still around today. Just food for thought.

[@TheColdWarTV]

The US did have stay behind networks setup. Operation Washtub. It's not a secret, just not well known.

[@Masiba7517]

Oh yes the 90's ofcourse