The Berlin Airlift
27 OCTOBER 1948
THE BERLIN AIRLIFT
After the surrender of the Axis, the major Allied powers occupied Germany’s territory under a divided arrangement. Then shortly, France, England, the US, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg began working to rebuild the tattered German economy and restore a benign German state. Russia stood alone in opposition, demanding harsh reparations for her war losses and refusing to relinquish control of the German soil she held. Frustrated at Soviet obstinacy, in 1948 the Western nations met in Brussels and voted to forge ahead without Stalin. They united their individual holdings into a restored (West) German Republic and introduced a new, stable, non-inflated currency.
Berlin proved a vulnerability in this Western initiative, as the former German capitol lay entirely within the Soviet occupation zone. The city itself was divided between British, US, French, and Soviet sectors. The western sectors united under the Brussels Pact and stood as an island inside East Germany. Stalin, who wished Germany to be entirely Communist, reacted predictably. Citing “technical difficulties” he closed all rail, road, and river supply lines into West Berlin on 24 June 1948. With the hard German winter approaching, Stalin then cut off all electric power under his control into West Berlin.
The Allies debated whether to forcibly re-open the supply routes or write off Berlin as a Cold War casualty. Neither was deemed acceptable, and agreement was reached on an effort never before attempted at that scale, a massive airlift. B-29s, C-47s, C-52s and C-54s leftover from WWII were quickly returned to service to carry food, clothing, coal, and other necessities to the 2.5 million isolated Free Berliners. Perhaps because he thought the effort would fail, or perhaps because he hoped for resumption of talks, Stalin never denied use of the airspace over the Soviet zone. But even with Berliners rationed to a few slices of bread, 2 oz. of Spam and 3 oz. of potatoes a day, there was a phenomenal payload requirement. Around the clock for a year, cargo-laden planes thudded down at Gatow airfield in the British sector, Tegel in the French zone and crumbling Templehof in the American zone. On this day, the first of two US Navy transport squadrons was recalled from the Pacific to assist.
“Operation Vittles” far exceeded all expectations and proved a propaganda embarrassment to Stalin, who quietly lowered the blockade early in 1949. Though they played a small part overall, the 24 Navy R5Ds of VR-6 and VR-8 nevertheless set impressive records. Between 7 November and 31 July 1949 they carried 129,989 tons of cargo, a payload record, and over the entire 8 months kept their aircraft operational an unequalled 10 hours/plane/day.
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CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Collier, Richard. Bridge Across the Sky: The Berlin Blockade and Airlift, 1948-1949. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1978.
Department of the Navy, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air Warfare). United States Naval Aviation 1910-1980. GPO, Washington, DC, pp. 172, 173, 1981.
Love, Robert W. History of the US Navy, Vol 2 1942-1991. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA, pp. 295, 1992.
“Naval Aviation’s Involvement in the Berlin Airlift.” Navy Historical Center website. www.history.navy.mil/ branches/org4-10.htm, 22 October 2001.
Parrish, Thomas. Berlin in the Balance: The Blockade-The Airlift_The First Major Battle of the Cold War. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1998.
Weisberger, Bernard A. Cold War Cold Peace: The United States and Russia since 1945. American Heritage Pub., New York, NY, pp. 89-96, 1984.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: In order to promote payload efficiency, the airlift commanders instituted a 100-point rating scale designed to identify the best air crews. In the critical period of December 1948-April 1949, VR-8 earned an efficiency rating off the scale at 120.2. Second and third place ratings were recorded by two Air Force squadrons at 97.3 and 90.9, respectively.
The R5D was the Navy version of the 4-engine Douglas C-54, known in the civilian world as the DC-4. Its cargo capacity was 15,000 pounds.
