Soldiers of the British Army of the Rhine taking part in an exercise in Osnabrück, West Germany, January 1978

Photograph, West Germany, 1978.

The British Army of the Rhine stood on the front line of the Cold War against the Soviet Union. At it's peak there four armoured divisions, making up 1 (BR) Corps, ready to fight if and when the Soviets attacked.

Osnabrück was a major garrison for the British from 1945 until the last troops were relocated in 2009.

From a group of 145 photographs of the British Army, 1971-1981.