British Diplomat Archives -

Albania My First Posting A Bloodstained Surprise

November 4, 2026January 14, 2021 by Jim

Albania My First Posting A Bloodstained Surprise. How did this come about?

So it was on a cold and windy January morning in 1998 that I arrived at Heathrow airport to catch my early morning flight to Vienna en-route to my final destination Tirana the capital city of Albania. With all the background briefs on the country I had read up on, I was setting off on this, my first overseas posting with a lot of excitement and more than just a little bit of apprehension and trepidation, determined to do a good job come what may.

Having changed planes in Vienna, I boarded the small Austrian Airlines BAe146 for the final leg of my flight to Tirana. Because of the ongoing unstable situation that still prevailed in Albania at that time, very few regular airlines were still flying into the country. Austrian was one of them and despite the relatively small size of the BAe146, it was virtually empty with the crew very nearly outnumbering passengers.

As the plane descended steeply, coming out of the fog enshrouded mountains to land at Tirana airport, there was a thick blanket of snow on the ground with a strong, stiff wind blowing which made for a very bumpy landing. Disembarking from the aircraft we boarded a lorry (no bus here) for the short trip from the aircraft to the single-storied airport terminal.

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RAF Russian Linguist: Pathway to Diplomat

November 4, 2026January 13, 2021 by Jim

What was the journey from the RAF to the Diplomatic Service? Did my military service and qualifications help with the process? All reasonable questions, so here is a brief description of the journey.

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North Korea Military Work With British Diplomat

November 4, 2026July 16, 2020 by Jim

Scene Setter:

North Korea Military Work With British Diplomat relates to a unique situation where a British diplomat had a close working relationship with the North Korean military for a 6 month period, and this would in itself raise more than a few eyebrows. Working for 3 years in North Korea was on the one hand a time of frustration and on the other a time of discovery in this fascinating yet enigmatic country.

Life In North Korea As A Foreigner Surviving 3 Years

Butting heads on a daily basis with the stifling North Korean bureaucracy was always a battle, but occasionally there was a glimmer of achievement and sometimes from the most unlikeliest of sources. The North Korea Military context provided unique insights.

In early 2004, I was contacted at the embassy in Pyongyang by the brother of an RAF pilot who had been shot down in 1952 over North Korea during the Korean war. He said he had full details of the shoot down supplied by eyewitness United States Air Force (USAF) pilots and map coordinates of the site of the crash (which he sent to me) and wished to visit the area to discover the fate of his brother.

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Albania British Diplomats Shot

November 4, 2026July 16, 2020 by Jim

Background:

Albania British Diplomats Ambushed And Shot is Part 1 of a story that occurred in 1998. It was a volatile year in Albania’s recent history. At this time, British diplomats who were posted to a volatile or conflict region received virtually no Hostile Environment Training (HET). It was usually the case you popped into King Charles Street for a quick chat with the relevant desk officer. You would get a quick country brief, then it was off to Heathrow.

There was still no HET in place before my next posting to Kosovo after an eventful year in Tirana Albania. However, thankfully the FCO had got it’s act together by 2005. Then, just prior to my posting to Iraq, I received a one week HET training course. This was carried out by a private contract firm just outside Hereford.

It was comprehensive and tailored to the area where I would be serving. Perhaps, if we had had this training in 1998 the event that took place below may have turned out differently. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

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