Soxmis Card Obverse 1969
SOXMIS - Soviet Commander's Liaison Mission to HQ BAOR, was established with Western Allies' equivalents; La Mission Militaire Francaise de Liaison (MMFL), U.S. Military Liaison Mission (USMLM), and our British Commanders'-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS), the latter being established in 1946 under the terms of the Robertson-Malinin Agreement.
Basically overt spying organisations, they had the right to tour around East Germany (French, British American missions) and West Germany (SOXMIS) in the former zones of occupation.
SOXMIS were based at Buende near Herford, and a team of RMP fast pursuit drivers was tasked to shadow them whenever they left their compound, nicknamed "white mice" after the colour of their pursuit cars. These were referred to as SOXMIS Pursuit Vehicles (SPVs) earning them the nickname of Spectre Pursuit Vehicles. Since SOXMIS' task was to observe, photograph and spy on Allied military activity (as did the other missions in East Germany), soldiers had to be aware of their possible presence, especially on exercises and particularly in areas permanently barred to SOXMIS (Permanently Restricted Areas - PRAs) or temporarily closed to them due to a sensitive exercise (Temporary Restricted Areas - TRAs). Every serviceman in BAOR was issued with one of these cards with the reporting procedure for sightings. One soldier in my battalion, the Royal Regiment of Wales in the 1970s, was so paranoid about SOXMIS that he was constantly reporting imagined sightings, earning the nickname "Soxmis".
Soxmis Card Obverse 1969
SOXMIS - Soviet Commander's Liaison Mission to HQ BAOR, was established with Western Allies' equivalents; La Mission Militaire Francaise de Liaison (MMFL), U.S. Military Liaison Mission (USMLM), and our British Commanders'-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS), the latter being established in 1946 under the terms of the Robertson-Malinin Agreement.
Basically overt spying organisations, they had the right to tour around East Germany (French, British American missions) and West Germany (SOXMIS) in the former zones of occupation.
SOXMIS were based at Buende near Herford, and a team of RMP fast pursuit drivers was tasked to shadow them whenever they left their compound, nicknamed "white mice" after the colour of their pursuit cars. These were referred to as SOXMIS Pursuit Vehicles (SPVs) earning them the nickname of Spectre Pursuit Vehicles. Since SOXMIS' task was to observe, photograph and spy on Allied military activity (as did the other missions in East Germany), soldiers had to be aware of their possible presence, especially on exercises and particularly in areas permanently barred to SOXMIS (Permanently Restricted Areas - PRAs) or temporarily closed to them due to a sensitive exercise (Temporary Restricted Areas - TRAs). Every serviceman in BAOR was issued with one of these cards with the reporting procedure for sightings. One soldier in my battalion, the Royal Regiment of Wales in the 1970s, was so paranoid about SOXMIS that he was constantly reporting imagined sightings, earning the nickname "Soxmis".