On this day, May 12th in 1949, and the Berlin Blockade ends after 318 days. Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, abandoned a blockade of the city that began on 24 June 1948.
Germany had been partitioned into four zones of occupation by the Allies in 1945, with its capital Berlin also split into four zones. And it was 100 miles (160 km) inside the Russian controlled territory.
So the Soviets cut rail, road and canal links leading to the city, in an attempt to starve it into surrender, and also cut off electricity supplies.
Their aim was to force the western powers into allowing the Soviet zone to begin supplying Berlin with food, fuel, and aid, giving it practical control over the entire city.
The Allies began supplying West Berlin by air, die Luftbrücke – air bridge, with planes landing at least every three minutes during the blockade, and transporting 2.34 million tons of supplies into the city.
Each aircraft was unloaded by German crews in 20-30 minutes.
Three hundred aircraft, with aircrews from the British Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, South African Air Force and the United States, flew 277,000 flights.
Landing at Tempelhof in the American sector, Gatow on the Havel river in the British sector, and Tegel inside the French sector – built by army engineers and Berlin volunteers in just 49 days.
The Allies continued airlifting supplies until August 27, ensuring there was enough in storage to withstand an emergency.
Thirty-nine Britons, 31 Americans, and eight Germans, lost their lives during the airlift… 78 people, and they are remembered on the Berlin Airlift monument at Tempelhof.
The Soviets never fired at the cargo planes, but did harass pilots and force crashes.
“Buzzing” planes, shooting close to them, and aiming searchlights into pilots eyes during night flights.
Die Berliner Luftbrücke (“The Berlin Airlift”) was such a success Berliners received on average 2,300 calories a day, which at the time was higher than the average available to the population of all other European countries.
And the rest of Germany.
Photo credit: Luftwege während der Berliner Blockade: Leerlaufprozess, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons