Emma Berlin airlift cut off from the West
The Berlin Airlift lasted 323 days and was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. Basically, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies’ rail, road, and river access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. This was due to the newly introduced Deutsche Mark in West Berlin, which the USSR wasn’t too happy about.
The Berlin airlift was organised to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin. This immense task involved members of the United States Air Force, the Royal Air Force, the French Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and the South African Air Force.
The Berlin Air Bridge, Berliner Luftbrücke in German, operated more than 250,000 times.
Looking for more in Berlin? Click here for World War Two posts.
One of the lingering stories from the airlift is about American pilot Gail Halvorsen. It is said that he walked over to a crowd of children who had gathered at the end of the runway to watch the aircraft. He introduced himself and they started to ask him questions about the aircraft and their flights. He handed out his only two sticks of Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum. The children quickly divided up the pieces as best they could, even passing around the wrapper for others to smell. He was so impressed by their gratitude and that they didn’t fight over them, that he promised the next time he returned he would drop off more. Before he left them, a child asked him how they would know it was him flying over. He replied, “I’ll wiggle my wings.”
The next day on his approach to Berlin, he rocked the aircraft and dropped some chocolate bars attached to a handkerchief parachute to the children waiting below. Every day after that, the number of children increased and he made several more drops. Soon, there was a stack of mail in Base Ops addressed to “Uncle Wiggly Wings”, “The Chocolate Uncle” and “The Chocolate Flier”.
Other pilots participated, and when news reached the US, children all over the country sent in their own sweets to help out. Over the airlift, three tons of sweets were dropped to the children of Berlin.
On 12 May 1949, the USSR lifted the blockade of West Berlin. However, the allies still supplied the city by air in case of any disruption to supply lines.
Berlin Airlift Monument in Berlin-Tempelhof with the inscription “They gave their lives for the freedom of Berlin in service of the Berlin Airlift 1948/49”. The names of 9 British and 31 American airmen who lost their lives during the operation
Where
When
24 Jun 1948 – 12 May 1949
Transport
U-Bahn: Platz der Luftbrücke, U6 line
