Military Importance
NATO military strategists identified the North German plain as an area which might be used as one of two major invasion routes into Western Europe by Warsaw Pact forces, led by the Soviet Third Shock Army, should the Cold War have ever gotten "hot". The plain's geography which makes it suitable for the deployment of armoured and mechanized manoeuvre, was the main reason for it being identified as a significant risk similar to that presented by the alternative route, the Fulda Gap. The defence of the Plain was the responsibility of NATO's Northern Army Group and Second Allied Tactical Air Force, made up of German, Dutch, Belgian, British and U.S. forces including 1st British Corps.
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