A total of 101 fatalities were recorded as a result of the operation, including 40 Britons and 31 Americans, mostly due to non-flying accidents. Seventeen American and eight British aircraft crashed during the operation. At the height of the Airlift, one plane reached West Berlin every thirty seconds. British transports, including Handley Page Haltons and Short Sunderlands, flew as well. Īmerican C-47 and C-54 transport airplanes, together, flew over 92,000,000 miles (148,000,000 km) in the process, almost the distance from Earth to the Sun. : 338 The French also supported but only to provide for their military garrison. In addition Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and South African air crews assisted the RAF during the blockade. The US Air Force had delivered 1,783,573 tons (76.4% of total) and the RAF 541,937 tons (23.3% of total), totalling 2,334,374 tons, nearly two-thirds of which was coal, on 278,228 flights to Berlin. The Berlin Airlift officially ended on 30 September 1949 after fifteen months. On, the USSR lifted the blockade of West Berlin, due to economic issues in East Berlin, although for a time the Americans and British continued to supply the city by air as they were worried that the Soviets would resume the blockade and were only trying to disrupt western supply lines. Having initially concluded there was no way the airlift could work, the Soviets found its continued success an increasing embarrassment. Among these, candy-dropping aircraft dubbed " raisin bombers" generated much goodwill among German children. By the spring of 1949, that number was often met twofold, with the peak daily delivery totalling 12,941 tons. American and British air forces flew over Berlin more than 250,000 times, dropping necessities such as fuel and food, with the original plan being to lift 3,475 tons of supplies daily. The Western Allies organised the Berlin Airlift ( German: Berliner Luftbrücke, lit.'"Berlin Air Bridge"') from 26 June 1948 to 30 September 1949 to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin, a difficult feat given the size of the city and the population. The Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutsche Mark from West Berlin. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. Operation "Little Vittles" continued for the duration of the Airlift and was joined in by other pilots and aircrews.The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – ) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. ![]() The gesture worked and has never been forgotten. ![]() Appreciating their dilemma Halvorsen responded in an effort to boost their morale. Glad to receive any food or even some coal, they became ecstatic when they received just a small bit of candy, a rare commodity. He began this in response to an earlier visit with some of the children who were stoically enduring the deprivations of the Soviet blockade. He was known variously as the Candy Bomber, Uncle Wiggly Wings, the Chocolate Uncle, and the Chocolate Flier, but US Air Force Lieutenant Gail Halvorsen captured the hearts of Berlin's children by staging his own Operation "Little Vittles." During the height of the Airlift Halvorsen began dropping small parachutes containing gifts of chewing gum, chocolate bars, and assorted candies down to waving throngs of West Berlin children as his aircraft would pass overhead. The Candy Bomber received many of his supplies from sympathetic groups in the United States. The base of the monument at Tempelhof reads, "They gave their lives for the freedom of Berlin in service for the Berlin Airlift 1984/1949." The location at Tempelhof is presently being considered as a UNESCO World Heritage site. All together there are three matching monuments: at Rhein-Main Air Base near Frankfurt, at Wietzenbruch near the former British airbase Celle, and at the Luftbruckenplatz (Airbridge Place) Berlin-Tempelhof airfield. In honor of the pilots and aircrews who were lost the Berlin Airlift Monument was created from a fund established by the former Federal Republic of Germany and private donations. The remainder is composed of civilians who perished on the ground while providing support for the operation or who lost their lives when aircraft accidents destroyed their homes. The majority died as a result of accidents resulting from hazardous weather conditions or mechanical failures. The number includes 40 British and 31 American servicemen. There were 101 fatalities recorded during the Airlift. The three prongs on the monument represent the three air corridors used during the Airlift.
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