Berlin Brats Alumni Association BERLIN BRATS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER April 2008 Volume 5, Issue 2 What was the Berlin Airlift? related by the th Berlin Airlift Historical Anniversary60 of the By 1948, it becameFoundation apparent that the plan of the Western Powers (Great Britain, France, and the US) Berlin Airlift to rebuild Germany differed from the Soviet Union's plan. Currency, German Unification, Soviet War June to Sept. reparations, and mere ideology were among the many differences the two sides had. There would be 1948 1949 no compromise. As a result, Stalin wanted them out of Berlin. In early 1948, tensions between the once former Allies climaxed. On April 9, 1948, Stalin ordered all American Military personnel maintaining communications equipment out of the Eastern Zone (Soviet controlled Berlin). Trains were halted on June 1st and June 10th. On June 21st, the Soviets halted a US Military Supply Train and refused it passage to Berlin. On the 22nd, they placed armed Inside this issue: guards aboard, attached a Soviet engine and hauled it back to Western Germany. In a final move to 1 60th Anniversary spurn the Americans, British, and French out, on June 24, 1948, all land and water access to West of the Berlin Airlift Berlin was cut off by the Soviets. There were to be no more supplies from the West. What was going to happen? Where were the necessary supplies going to come from for the Occupation Forces? For 5 Operation Little Vittles that matter, where were the supplies for the 2,008,943 Berliners going to come from? It was a grave situation. 6 Col. Halvorsen’s impressions of an Airlift Pilot The Allies were certainly not going to stand for this. Diplomacy failed, Ground invasions were planned, and World War III was on the brink of existence. US Military Commander Lucius Clay had 8 The Spirit of Freedom developed a plan by which an armed convoy through Soviet controlled Germany would break the 10 Friends Always blockade. This action would certainly create a war. 11 Legacy of BAHS’s Alumni However, British Commander Sir Brian Robertson offered an alternative: supply the city by air. A Association daunting task. Supplying the Occupation forces of 22,679 was easy, but the entire population? The 12 Salvaging the Trophies and only aircraft the Americans had available for the task were 5 year old Douglas C-47 Skytrains, which Yearbooks by Bill Planz ‘71 would only hold 3.5 tons each. After some consultation, the decision was made: it was worth a try. 13 Receiving Yearbooks Earlier in April, US Forces airlifted in supplies to replace the ones being delayed by the Soviets. This by Laura Coats ‘71 was what became known as the "Little Lift." West Berlin had two airports, Tempelhof, which was Berlin's main airport and located in the American Sector, and Gatow, in the British Sector. Supplies Extras in the Movies 14 could be airlifted in by C-47 and there was nothing the Soviet Union could do about it because, in 15 Berlin Message Videos 1945, someone had foresight. On November 30, 1945, it was agreed, in writing, that there would be three 20-mile wide air corridors providing access to the city. These were unarguable. Berlin Zoo 16 When the blockade began, the Soviets rejoiced, because they believed the Western powers had only 19 Announcements one option, to leave Berlin. But they underestimated the West airlift supplies. Gen. Clay called upon General Curtis E. LeMay, commander of USAFE and asked him if he could haul supplies to Berlin. German Embassy in Berlin 21 LeMay responded, "We can haul anything." Two days later Gen. LeMay called upon Brig. Gen. 22 Trends in Berlin Joseph Smith, Commander of the Wiesbaden Military Post, and appointed him Task Force Commander of an airlift operation estimated to last a few weeks. The only US aircraft initially available were 102 Fahrvergnügen 23 C-47's and 2 C-54 Skymasters. On June 26, the first C-47's landed at Tempelhof Airfield, foreshadow- 24 Contacts & Upcoming ing the great operation that was to come. Smith dubbed the mission "Operation Vittles," because he Events said "We're haulin' grub." The British called their part "Operation Plane Fare." PAGE 2 BERLIN BRATS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2 The card below was created for the 60th Anniversary of the It was determined that the city's daily food ration would be 646 tons of Berlin Airlift by Curtis Carter parent of Betty Carter '72. flour and wheat; 125 tons of cereal; 64 tons of fat; 109 tons of meat and fish; 180 tons of dehydrated potatoes; 180 tons of sugar; 11 tons of coffee; 19 tons of powdered milk; 5 tons of whole milk for children; 3 tons of fresh yeast for baking; 144 tons of dehydrated vegetables; 38 tons of salt; and 10 tons of cheese. In total, 1,534 tons were needed daily to keep the over 2 million people alive. That's not including other necessities, like coal and fuel. In fact, the largest quantity of anything required was coal. It wasn't needed to heat homes as much as it was necessary for industry. In addition, there was limited electricity, because the city's power plant was located in the Soviet sector, so that was cut off, too. It was determined that in total supplies, 3,475 tons would be needed daily. A C-47 can haul 3.5 tons. In order to supply the people of Berlin, C-47's would have to make 1000 flights each day. Impossible. Initially, Gen. Clay determined that, with the limited number of airplanes available to him, he could haul about 300 tons of supplies a day, the British effort, was estimated to be capable of 750 tons a day. This left a 2,425-ton deficit daily. Realizing that this kind of tonnage could not be achieved using C-47's, Gen. Clay and Gen. LeMay made requests for more C-54's, for they could carry over three times more cargo than C-47's. On June 27, an additional 52 Skymasters were ordered to Berlin. On June 28, President Truman made a statement that abandoning Berlin was out of the question. He then ordered US B-29 Superfortresses to be stationed at British airfields to show the Soviets that the Western powers were not taking this lightly. We would not abandon these people! By July 1, C-54's were slowly taking over airlift flights, and they were operating 24 hours a day. Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt was made an exclusive C-54 base, and Wiesbaden was a mix of C-54's and C-47's. To accommodate these two different aircraft, General Smith established a block system, giving the bigger, faster C-54's priority. They were also given radio codes to identify each type and the direction it was going. C-47's going East to Berlin were called "Easy," returning C-47's traveling West, were called "Willie." C-54's had the names 'Big Easy' and "Big Willie." Aircraft were also given a spacing of three minutes apart. The size of the operation had to be increased in order to sufficiently supply this city and keep these people going. It needed to be commanded by someone who had expertise in air transport. That man came in the form of Maj. General William H. Tunner. He was revered as "The transportation expert to end all transportation experts" by LeMay. Tunner had previously established the Ferrying Command in WWII, and successfully organized and commanded the "Hump" operation into China near the end of the war. His reputation was not falsely earned. Tunner hated to see airplanes parked on the ramp not being utilized. This was a waste to him. He longed for efficiency and was about to set the standard for all that followed. BLACK FRIDAY Tunner assumed command of airlift operations on July 28, 1948. The airlift had been operating for just over a month. One of the first major changes he made came as a result of "Black Friday." On Friday, August 13th, Tunner flew into Berlin to grant an award to Lt. Paul O. Lykins, an airlift pilot who had made the most flights into Berlin up until that time. Weather that day was awful, and conditions in Berlin were impossible. Clouds had lowered to the tops of buildings and heavy rain had disrupted radar. One C-54 had crashed and burned at the end of the runway. A second landed behind him and blew its tires trying to stop to avoid hitting the burning C-54. And a third ground looped on the auxiliary runway. Pure havoc was reigning supreme. Aircraft were beginning to stack up over Tempelhof and a huge number of airplanes were circling stacked from 3000 to 12000 feet in no visibility conditions. These conditions spurred Tunner to make a fateful decision. He called the tower. "Tunner here, send everyone back to their base and let me know when it's safe to come down." To avoid this stacking problem, a new policy was created. Any aircraft that missed its approach was to continue back to its station via the outgoing center corridor. This created a continuous loop of planes to and from Berlin. If a pilot missed his approach, he would immediately become a departure and head back to his base. The loaded aircraft would get a fresh crew and be sent back as a regular flight. In addition, all aircraft were required to fly by instrument rules to maintain the same speed, interval and altitude.