Throughout the Cold War, USAF crews took advantage of the air corridors to Berlin to spy on the Soviet forces in East Germany. The Berlin For Lunch Bunch By Walter J. Boyne

Below: A RB-17G flies a mission over West Germany in the mid- 1950s. Right: Berlin’s famed Brandenburg Gate, just inside the border of East Berlin, is seen in this 1954 surveillance photo taken from a B-17 photo recon aircraft.

56 AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2012 AIR FORCE Magazine Magazine FORCE AIR T British British sector. Two ad-hoc air corridors, as Gatow at the facilities in air Airfield rary British and Americans, setting up tempo city. the to access air required their needed entourages to flyin and thus ish Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and July 1945. President Harry Truman, Brit in Conference Potsdam the of result a as Cold entire War.the of program reconnaissance military successful and lasting, longest important, most the ably argu was what for operations in three routes used themselves, called aircrews world. the in forces Sovietmilitary intelligence on the densest concentration of also, for 44 years, how the Allies collected were they that known well less is city. It and Americans to supply the beleaguered British the enabled which Airlift, Berlin be the routes of corridors vital the as famous came air these 1948, in blockade The Soviets cooperated fully with the the with fully cooperated Soviets The about came Berlin into routes air The the Bunch,” as Lunch for “Berlin The its imposed Union Soviet the When

in the former Nazi capital. capital. Nazi former the in Allies air access to their garrisons World War II to give the Western were established after the end of hree air routes to West Berlin to routes air / July 2012 July /

Photos by Bob Brewer via the 7499th Group Association - - - - ensuring the ensuring success of the Berlin Airlift. confrontation, East-West violent helped a avoid and blockade Berlin the during down corridors air the shut to try not did may have been a major reason the Soviets on land and water access to West Berlin. It written document, unlike the arrangements the corridors and control within zone. This was activity a air coordinate to Center zone, and the four-power Berlin Air Safety tablishing three corridors, a circular control written agreement in November 1945, es armies.” Russian observing from aircraft a corridor was necessary “to prevent your of Soviet forces in Germany, as stating that Zhukov, K. commander Georgy Marshal recorded British the which of beginning the at ensued, discussion detailed Much corridors and this would not be tolerated. agreed the outside flying were the Allies ended, the Soviets began to complain that An Intricate History their garrisons. their established they as continue would this went well, and the Western Allies assumed established. Air support to the conference well as navigation and landing aids, were h fu pwr utmtl sge a signed ultimately powers four The conference the after However, shortly - as as photo-mapping aircraft with electronic that two directed Boeing Europe B-17s in be Forces quickly Air US equipped area. same the in fighters Yugoslav by down shot was and weather bad in lost became internees, a second C-47 on a courier flight Department. were interned, causing a furor in the State by Yak-3 fighters.All aboard survived but entered Yugoslaviandown shot was and inadvertently airspace Italy to Austria, Vienna, from route en C-47, Douglas a 1946, 9, Aug. On shootdowns. two with suspicion. they could flyto and from Berlin without supposedly modifiedfor VIP transport, so were bombers light the cameras, special with Equipped Squadron. connaissance Re 45th the within flight Invader A-26 establishment of a special secret Douglas earlier, the earliest hard evidence notes the recon activityAmerican may have begun Although intricate. is collectors ligence intel corridor become to destined rons begin. to about was that reconnaissance covert ful While While talks were under way to free the Another separate, secret activity began The history of the reconnaissance squad success the to led also corridors The 57 - - - - the only viable Allied option for antennas and retractable radomes to hide keeping West Berlin supplied. their true mission. Given the enormous Soviet su- While the trips into Berlin had become periority in numbers, a ground routine, the requirement for information battle to reopen land access was had not, and the units, equipment, and mis- out of the question. sion profiles continued to evolve over time. When the blockade went into The group in 1959 acquired four Convair Photo via 7499th Group Association effect, the Soviet Union had T-29s to replace RB-26s and C-47s. They roughly 300,000 men surround- had been reconfigured from their navigator ing Berlin, including massive training role to carry carefully concealed numbers of tanks, artillery, and camera systems. They ostensibly flew daily aircraft. In contrast, the three courier flights between Wiesbaden and Allied nations—France, Great Tempelhof as a cover story, but of course, Britain, and the United States— while carrying light cargo and unsuspect- had a total of just over 20,000 ing passengers, they were photographing men in the city, almost all in Soviet military targets throughout the noncombat positions. corridors and control zone. Caught in the midst of its In the early 1960s the Pie Face C-97A relentless policy of unilateral departed and five Boeing C-97Gs arrived. disarmament, the United States Two were outfitted with improved photo responded with a phantom threat and infrared gear and were a valuable ad- of nuclear-armed B-29s and dition on missions on the periphery as well the establishment of the Berlin as in the corridors. Two others, specialized Airlift, during which the US Elint collectors, had too many visible accelerated its corridor intelli- antennas and ungainly protrusions to fly gence operation. Douglas C-47s corridor missions, so they specialized in equipped with cameras under peripheral collection. the floorboards flew the photo But the fifth C-97G, given the name missions during the day, and Creek Flea, was dedicated to highly spe- Elint flights by B-17s occurred cialized collection against a long series of at night. major Elint targets, the first being the radars A 7405th Operations Squadron C-130 of the Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missile returns to Rhein-Main AB, Germany, Pie, Creek, Flea system. The Berlin corridors were uniquely after flying the squadron’s last covert The 7499th Support Group moved to important for this collection because by reconnaissance mission in 1990. Wiesbaden Air Base, near USAFE head- the mid-1960s there were four SA-2 sites quarters, in 1950 and received photo- and directly under the corridors, allowing this Elint-equipped Douglas C-54s to replace special C-97 to fly over them, gathering intelligence (Elint) collection gear. The B- its B-17s. The C-54s, B-26 Invaders, and detailed information on all the important 17s soon discovered that the Yugoslavs had C-47s continued to fly the corridor routes radar electronic parameters. Photo equip- used captured German radar equipment to disguised as transports, and the Soviet ment on board supplemented the Elint and track and intercept the C-47s. Union continued to identify them and their enhanced its value. Intrigued by this discovery and also by mission without protesting. The equipment This collection program became vital intelligence that the Soviets were deploying was regularly upgraded. to US air forces coping with SA-2 sites radars in their zone of Germany, USAFE Camera varieties included those with dif- in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. directed the formation of a secret Elint and ferent focal lengths, from six-inch vertical Its information enabled aircrews to detect, photo B-17 unit. to the huge 240-inch oblique camera of a evade, and deceive the missiles, and destroy In March 1947 the 45th Recon Squadron Boeing C-97A Stratofreighter, first used their launch sites, dramatically reducing moved to Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, near in 1953. This aircraft, code-named Pie casualties. Munich, where it was later joined by the Face, usually operated along the borders Beginning in the late 1960s, the far more special B-17 photo-Elint detachment. Both of the Soviet Union’s satellite nations, at sophisticated Boeing RC-135 aircraft of elements began flying border, or “periph- altitudes up through 30,000 feet. Strategic Air Command gradually assumed eral,” recon missions and corridor flights. The 7499th C-54s also covered the the peripheral reconnaissance missions of More than a year later, on Nov. 1, 1948, the borders. The C-54s and the C-97 flew the 7499th. Also, satellite photo and signals B-17 element became the 7499th Air Force many peripheral missions along the Iron intelligence systems became more useful. Squadron and later still the Invader element Curtain from the Baltic Sea around to the By 1974 the mission concentrated almost became the 7498th. The two merged into Black Sea. But Pie Face would also oc- exclusively on the corridor flights. This the 7499th Composite Squadron in 1950. casionally fly into West Berlin’s Tempelhof remained the most important area in the By June 1948, the Soviet Union wanted Airfield, snapping high-resolution photos world to gather information on the Soviet to have Berlin in its sole possession and all the way. The photo C-54s pioneered military, and collection remained lucrative. decided to oust the Western Allies from the operational use of infrared collec- their occupation sectors. The Soviets tion systems, and their Elint counterparts Electric Bird or Picture Bird? blockaded the roads, railways, and canals incorporated elaborate electronic suites. One of the group’s three squadrons, into Berlin, but allowed the air corridors With these “newer” aircraft came the use the 7405th Support Squadron, moved in to remain open. These air corridors were of sliding panels to cover camera ports and December 1975 to Rhein-Main AB, West 58 AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2012 Germany, and was redesignated the 7405th Operations Squadron. (The 7499th and its An Extraordinary Safety Record two other squadrons were inactivated in One of the most remarkable aspects of the 44-year-long operation of the 1974.) Re-equipped with three Lockheed “Berlin for Lunch Bunch” corridor missions was its surprising safety record. C-130Es featuring a wide variety of sensors The mission was characterized by a complete absence of crashes or air- and cameras, the unit soldiered on, and col- craft being shot down. Consequently, for 44 years and spanning more than lection grew even more valuable. A classic 10,000 missions, the airmen flying the Berlin missions never suffered any example of this occurred on a mission in operational casualties. 1982 when a C-130 named Creek Fury, in In those same years, there were other continuous reconnaissance efforts a corridor over a Soviet training area, noted being made by the United States elsewhere around the world, and these a new SA-8 highly mobile, low-altitude, missions saw flights felled by mechanical failures, bad weather, and outright short-range tactical surface-to-air missile enemy opposition that resulted in many losses. To illustrate the Berlin for Lunch Bunch’s extraordinary safety record and vehicle. The technical Elint operators highlight the inherent danger and sacrifice of the Cold War USAF reconnais- collected information on the Land Roll sance aircrews, the 7499th Group Association historian, retired Lt. Col. John guidance radar, the infrared and photo F. Bessette, aided by retired Lt. Col. Vance O. Mitchell, provided the following operators imaged the transporter-erector- chart on how Cold War aerial reconnaissance was a deadly serious business. launcher, and the scanners confirmed the American Reconnaissance Aircraft Lost on Operational Missions, 1950-1969 Date Type Where Number Recovered Recovered Not Lost on Board Alive Dead Recovered

April 8, 1950 PB4Y Baltic Sea 10 10 Nov. 6, 1951 P2V Sea of Japan 10 10 June 13, 1952 RB-29 Sea of Japan 12 12 Oct. 7, 1952 RB-29 Kurile Islands 8 1 7 July 29, 1953 RB-50 Sea of Japan 17 1 2 14 Sept. 4, 1954 P2V Siberian Coast 10 9 1 Nov. 7, 1954 RB-29 Sea of Japan 11 10 1 April 17, 1955 RB-47 North Pacific 3 3 Aug. 22, 1956 P4M Taiwan Strait 16 4 12 Sept. 10, 1956 RB-50 Sea of Japan 16 16 Sept. 2, 1958 C-130 Armenia 17 17 May 1, 1960 U-2 USSR 1 1 July 2, 1960 RB-47 Barents Sea 6 2 1 3 Oct. 26, 1962 U-2 Cuba 1 1 Dec. 14, 1965 RB-57 Black Sea 2 2 April 15, 1969 EC-121 Sea of Japan 31 2 29 TOTALS 171 23 29 119 vehicle was moving about the training area. pilot, who knew a bit of English. When the sions patrolling the Berlin corridors and This was a collection “trifecta” virtually navigator said he had flown to and from siphoning vital information from the very unique at the time. West Berlin almost every day, the pilot’s heart of the Soviet presence in Europe. It was often claimed that the Soviets face lit up and he asked, “Which you fly, The unit’s Latin motto for years knew what these corridor missions were the electric bird or the picture bird?” was “Veritatem Suppeditare” (“To doing, and this proved true, as the follow- It developed that the Soviets knew Supply the Truth”). For 44 years it did ing anecdote indicates. In 1994 a former exactly what was going on, monitored the exactly this. n Soviet scientific research vessel had been flights closely, and had tasked their fighter reconfigured as a cruise ship and was tak- units to shoot down any reconnaissance ing on passengers for an Antarctic voyage. aircraft that strayed from the corridors. Walter J. Boyne, former director of the A former 7405th T-29 navigator and his The “Berlin for Lunch Bunch” continued National Air and Space Museum in wife were chatting with the Russian ship its operations through the fall of the Berlin Washington, D.C., is a retired Air Force captain who asked the navigator whether he Wall in November 1989. From that point colonel. He has written more than 600 articles about aviation topics and 40 would like to meet a retired Soviet fighter on, the 7405th covered the Soviet exodus books, the most recent of which is pilot who was now a member of the ship’s from Germany, a C-130 flying its last col- How the Helicopter Changed Modern crew. The navigator immediately agreed. lection mission on Sept. 27, 1990. The unit Warfare. His most recent article for Air The next evening the navigator was was formally inactivated in January 1991, Force Magazine, “The B-29’s Battle of invited to the captain’s cabin to meet the after having flown more than 10,000 mis- Kansas,” appeared in February. AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2012 59