After studying History at Cambridge University, Peter Williams spent over 30 years in the Coldstream Guards and enjoyed an unusually varied career.
As an Infantryman he carried out ceremonial duties in London, spent two years with Baluchi soldiers in the mountains of Oman, served twice in Northern Ireland and commanded 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards in Germany. In the early 1990s he wrote speeches for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, an American general.
During the Cold War he specialised in intelligence, serving first in Berlin from 1973 to 1975 as a Regimental Intelligence Officer. He then studied Russian and German before spending more than four years in the 1980s in Berlin and East Germany as an officer in the British Commanders'-in-Chief Mission to the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (known as BRIXMIS), in effect working as a military spy. In 1983 he was awarded an MBE for his success as an intelligence collector and analyst.
From 1993 to 1994 he commanded his Coldstream Guards armoured infantry battalion group in central Bosnia on UN peacekeeping operations during the civil war there, for which he received an OBE. In the late 1990s he then went on to do two more 6-month tours in the former Yugoslavia, first as the Deputy Chief UN Military Observer and then in Sarajevo as a senior NATO officer liaising with the Bosnian Serb and Federation general staffs and with the national Mine Action Centre.
After serving first on the Western European Union's and then on the European Union's Military Committee as UK Deputy Military Representative, his final posting was from 2002 to 2005 in Moscow, where he started up and led NATO's Military Liaison Mission to the Russian Federation, working on military cooperation projects, including defence reform and peacekeeping issues, with the Russian armed forces. On leaving Moscow he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. He retired from the Army in December 2005.
He now enjoys giving talks on cruise ships, to military academies, schools and summer schools and to charity audiences about the Cold War and other current and historical issues; these include talks under the Government-sponsored pro bono 'Speakers for Schools' scheme. He also helps to train British military diplomats.
He is the Chairman of the BRIXMIS Association, a member of the International Guild of Battlefield Guides, the Patron of the British Ex-Services Association of Western Australia and a Governor of Rendcomb College near Cirencester. From 2008 until 2013 he was the editor of The Guards Magazine, the in-house journal of the British Army's Household Division (Household Cavalry and Foot Guards).
He is married to Anne, a language teacher and jewellery designer. They live in Wiltshire and have three grown-up children and two grandsons.
'My Life as a Cold War Military Spy'
This talk examines the three Allied military liaison missions that operated as intelligence agencies in East Germany from 1946-90. It is based on my long involvement in the 1980s with these extraordinary Cold War organisations as one of their 'licensed spies'.
'Rudolf Hess: A Most Curious Life & Death'
This talk covers the strange saga of the career of Hitler's Deputy, his flight to Scotland, his 40-year incarceration in Spandau Prison and is based, in part, on my role as an interpreter at the gaol in Hess' final years in Berlin.
'Spies, Lies and Surprises: Berlin in the Cold War'
This talk gives an overview of the titanic struggle between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies as it affected Berlin and Germany as a whole, with an emphasis on the city as a centre of Cold War espionage. I spent six years in Berlin in the 1970s and 1980s and my experiences colour this talk.
'Russia and the Russians:A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery inside an Enigma'
This talk examines why the Russians are so very different from us, despite often appearing to be so much like us. It explores the country's sad history of foreign, including British, intervention and reflects on the state of Russian politics and society today, based on my work against and with the Russians over four decades.
'Bosnia: Looking back at a Tragedy'
This talk is based on my three operational tours in Bosnia and the wider former Yugoslavia during the 1990s. It looks at the background to the conflict, how peace of a sort was imposed on the country and the prospects for the future.
"Peter Williams came to address our Parents' Society in January 2014. The talk attracted one of the largest audiences we have seen, and they all left feeling that their enthusiasm had been duly rewarded.
For the youngsters, it was an extraordinary insight into a world which in many cases they did not know to have existed. For those who remember the Cold War, it was an extraordinary insight into the kind of everyday life experienced by those suspicious and hostile towards their counterparts on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
The talk was beautifully illustrated, wittily delivered, and drew an enthusiastic, quick-fire patter of questions, all succinctly answered. I would happily recommend this talk to anyone considering either a Sixth Form lecture, or a talk for parents."
Tim Hands, Master, Magdalen College School, Chairman of HMC, 2013-14
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"Peter Williams' erudite and authoritative talk on Military Spying in Cold War Berlin is a fascinating professional and personal insight into the work of BRIXMIS in the 1980s and is extremely well received by the pupils.
To a focused and accessible historical and political background he adds the kind of perspective and colour gathered from his own experience as a military intelligence officer which brings the Cold War to life.
Lively and witty, his talk is one of the highlights of the weekly U6 Current Affairs programme at Bryanston School."
Ian McClary, Head of Sixth Form Enrichment, Bryanston School
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"Peter Williams is among the best speakers I have ever enjoyed listening to. He is every inch an officer and a gentleman and, as such, is a fantastic role-model for young people, particularly those with half-an-eye on the military or international intelligence.
Despite having had a career that culminated in top secret work as a multi-linguist and information-gatherer in covert military missions, Peter has retained all of his humility and perfect manners; the students find him approachable and friendly and he is unfazed, open and honest when it comes to Q&A at the end of his talks.
Importantly, Peter does not assume any significant prior knowledge about this period in modern History on behalf of his audience and gives excellent contextual information at the start of his talk to 'fill them in' and make his stories more easily understandable and relevant, even to non-history students.
Peter has been making guest speaker appearances at our secondary school for two years now and our senior students are always glued to the fascinating stories he has to tell about unique spy missions he conducted with his military colleagues during the Cold War. In a nutshell, Peter delivers an informative and enlightening account of the frosty relations between East and West in the late 20th century with wry humour and a cut-glass English accent - I very highly recommend him!"
Mark Coates, AST/Lead Practitioner, The Connaught School Aldershot
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"It has been an absolute delight to work with Peter, a very fine speaker indeed who has packed the Neptune with each of his talks, even in excellent weather (which is always a speaker's enemy!). I would certainly recommend us using him again and a lot more often."
Cruise Director, Fred Olsen's Balmoral, 2008
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"Peter is a good speaker with a very interesting subject. He had a full house on all his talks. It was good to have him onboard and I hope to have him back as guest speaker in the future."
Cruise Director, Fred Olsen's Black Watch World Cruise, 2009
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"Peter was a very competent speaker with a good varied topic area and certainly he had a very strong following. The guests enjoyed his lectures which were delivered very well."
Cruise Director, Cunard's Queen Victoria World Cruise, 2010
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"I wanted to tell you how much my wife and I enjoyed your most interesting talks on Berlin and Rudolf Hess. We were both impressed by the presentations; just the right speed and amount of humour.
We have been using Fred Olsen cruises for ten years now and look forward to the talks from visiting speakers on the cruise and yours has [sic] certainly been the best."
Unsolicited letter from a passenger on Fred Olsen's Black Watch, 2013
'This was an interesting, eye-opening and well thought out course. It exposed what had been to me and others on the course a completely unknown area of military activity which must have played a significant part in the eventual ending of the Cold War.
'We were treated to an account of the activities of the British Mission (BRIXMIS) and, to a lesser extent, the US and French Mission, which were similarly tasked to discover and report on Soviet and East German military activities, military planning and equipment. Having served as a National Serviceman in the period 1950-51, I was completely unaware of what was going on in Berlin and the GDR by BRIXMIS and its national equivalents. It is a comfort to have learnt that such activities were in the hands of such capable and efficient operatives as Peter Williams.
'What was delivered to the course students was a clear, but down-played, account of considerable bravery and ingenuity on the part of the BRIXMIS operatives, who scored highly in the fulfilment of their role. Perhaps it did not become a Major General to suggest that he revelled in some of the boyish and successful tasks which he and his colleagues accomplished against the odds, but reading between the lines it was plain that both he and they did so.'
Sir Michael Turner, former High Court Judge'I found this series of lectures very factual and well illustrated. The tutor's personal experience made a big contribution and it was impressive that he did not consult any notes during his delivery. He had also obviously carried out much research in finding photographic support for his material.
'The content of the lectures took us from the reasons why the post-war situation in Berlin arose to how East and West Germany somehow achieved a form of more or less peaceful co-existence, car ramming and spy exchanges notwithstanding! In contrast were the story of Rudolf Hess' flight to Scotland and imprisonment in Spandau and the photograph of the new Mrs. Williams receiving her Russian identity pass.
A comprehensive reading list, available in advance, and a course outline gave a good idea of the atmosphere and excitement to be experienced as a member of Peter's audience. We were not disappointed!'
Mrs Jill Ramsay, former teacher of German
A dynamic and versatile speaker, Josh is able to draw upon his experience and expertise to give inf…