Berlin Airlift: Tunner's Coal Conveyor, Candy Bombers and Tegel in 90 Days

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On June 21, 1948, the Western Allies introduced the Deutsche Mark in their zones and West Berlin, a city 100 miles inside the Soviet zone. Three days later the Soviets cut rail, road and canal access and slashed electricity to two hours a day, citing technical difficulties. They left the air open because a written November 1945 agreement guaranteed three 20-mile-wide air corridors, and shooting down a cargo plane would have meant war. The Americans launched Operation Vittles and the British Operation Plainfare, needing 4,000 to 5,000 tons a day. On Black Friday, August 13, 1948, rain over Tempelhof caused a crash, a blown tire landing and a ground loop while planes circled blind.

Major General William Tunner brought in ground controlled approach radar, banned stacking so a missed approach meant flying home, and kept crews in their cockpits fed from jeep snack bars. Level-floored C-54s replaced tail-dragging C-47s, and one 12-man crew unloaded 10 tons of coal in five minutes and 45 seconds. Berliners built runways by hand, and bulldozers cut apart, flown in on C-82s and rewelded helped build Tegel in under 90 days. Gail Halvorsen's candy parachutes became Operation Little Vittles. Over 24 hours from April 15, 1949, the Easter Offensive flew 12,941 tons of coal on 1,383 flights without an accident. Squeezed by a Western counter-blockade, the Soviets lifted the blockade on May 12, 1949.

• The old Reichsmark was so worthless that people bartered with cigarettes and coffee.
• Tempelhof's steel planking over grass crumbled under C-54s weighing over 70,000 pounds.
• Historian Joseph Pearson notes West Berliners could ride the U-Bahn east, where the Soviets offered free food to anyone who registered.
• Halvorsen promised to wiggle his wings, and the children named his plane the raisin bomber.
• Over 2.3 million tons arrived on nearly 280,000 flights, and 101 people died, mostly in accidents.