The planes carried everything from food stuffs and medical supplies to coal and machinery, all vital to the survival of West Berliners who were hungry, scared and still reeling from the wounds inflicted during World War II. At its height, in the spring of 1949, an Allied aircraft landed at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport every 45 seconds. Though it began slowly, the Berlin Airlift grew more and more efficient. Over the next 11 months, American and British pilots ferried some 2.3 million tons of supplies into West Berlin on a total of 277,500 flights, in what would be the largest air relief operation in history. On June 26, the United States launched “Operation Vittles ” Britain followed two days later with “Operation Plainfare.” Over 11 months, American and British pilots ferried some 2.3 million tons of supplies into West Berlin.Īccording to agreements made in 1945, the United States and Britain still had three air corridors to Berlin open to them, so they decided to airlift food, coal and other crucial supplies into the city from Allied military air bases in western Germany.
For the Allies, coming to the aid of West Berlin-a democratic island in the middle of a communist state-was non-negotiable.
The blockade cut off the city’s electricity, food and coal supply, as well as its access to the outside world. On June 24, 1948, outraged by the currency reform introduced by the United States and Britain into their occupied zones of Germany, the Soviets blocked all road, rail and water routes to the Allied-controlled sectors of Berlin. Three years later, as the two sides found themselves increasingly at odds, the future of West Berlin hung in the balance.
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