Berlin Airlift: The Effort and the Aircraft PDF
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The Effort and the Aircraft The Greatest Humanitarian 4 Airlift in History By John Provan and R.E.G. Davies • Illustrated by Mike Machat BERLIN AIRLIFT The Effort and the Aircraft OTHER WORKS BY JOHN PROVAN Frankfurt InternationalAirport: Portrait ofan Airport in Europe (Anton Plenk Verlag) The German Airship in World War I (Master's Thesis for University ofDarmstadt) The Hindenburg (CD-ROM) (Francis Verlag) The Dornier Do-X (CD-ROM) (Francis Verlag) OTHER BOOKS BY PALADWR PRESS Davies and Machat full-color, fully-illustrated, series PanAm: An Airline and Its Aircraft Lufthansa: An Airline and Its Aircraft Delta: An Airline and Its Aircraft Aeroflot: An Airline and Its Aircraft Saudia: An Airline and Its Aircraft TransBrasil: An Airline and Its Aircraft Charles Lindbergh: An Airman, his Aircraft, and his Great Flights Library Series Fallacies and Fantasies ofAir Transport History For Pilot's Eyes Only By Dead Reckoning Fasten Your Seat Belts! PanAm's First Lady Standard DaviesAirline History Series Airlines ofthe United States Since 1914 Airlines ofLatinAmerica Since 1919 Airlines ofAsia Since 1920 Bibliography (2,700 titles) CommercialAir Transport Books BERLIN AIRL'IFT The Effort and the Aircraft by John Provan and R.E.G. Davies Illustrated by Mike Machat © 1998JohnProvan andR.E.G. Davies Allrights reserved. Nopartofthis publication, includingphotographs, maps, and artwork, maybereproducedortransmittedin anyform orbyany means,electronicor mechanical, includingphotocopy, recording, orany information storageandretrievalsystem, withoutthewrittenpermissionofPaladwrPress. PublishedbyPaladwrPress, J906WilsonLane,#101, McLean,Virginia22102-1957, USA Manufacturedin Hong Kong BookDesignbyR.E.G. Davies ArtworkbyMikeMachat MapsbyR.E.G. Davies TypesettinglLayoutbySpotColor,Oakton,Virginia Prepressandpress managementbyTheDrawingBoard ISBN 1-888962-05-4 FirstEdition Contents Foreword Introduction 6-7 AIRLIFT AIRCRAFT (BRITISH) by Dr. F Robertvan der Linden Bombers to Freighters Handley Page Halifax/Halton .48-49 Avro Workhorses-Tudor ... . .. and York 50-51 PRELUDE TheAirTankers-Lancasters, TheWar Ends The SovietEmpire 8-9 Lincolns ... . .. and Liberators 52-53 New Frontiers Control Zones l0-11 Passing the Salt-Sunderland The Ubiquitous DC-3 54-55 BlackMarket Currency Reform 12-13 Answering the Call The Spirit ofFree Enterprise 56-57 Confrontation Berlin Isolated 14-15 The British Contribution U.S. Spirit ofCompetition 58-59 TheAirliftBegins ... · .. With Vittles and Plainfare 16-17 THE HUMAN SIDE OFTHE AIRLIFT AIRLIFT AIRCRAFT (U.S.) The Human Touch The Soldier's Life 60-61 The FirstAirlifters: Dakota ... · .. and Skytrain 18-19 Operation Little Vittles The Candy Bomber 62-63 General WilliamTunner BEALCOM 20-21 The Lighter Side AirliftLaffs 64-65 The Corridors Douglas C-54G Skymaster.. .22-23 The Darker Side British Problems 66-67 Skymaster ... · .. Master ofthe Berlin Skies 24-25 Armed Forces Cooperation Vittles Statistics 68-69 Douglas C-74 Globemaster I Fairchild C-82 Packet... 26-27 The Siege and the Berliners Sticking it Out 70-71 Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter Douglas R5D (Naval C-54) 28-29 Things Could Have BeenWorse Other Sides ofthe Coin 72-73 Getting Under Way British Commonwealth Support.. 30-31 CombinedAirlift Route Pattern The BerlinApproaches 32-33 VICTORY TheAirliftEnds Reflections 74-75 AIRLIFT AIRFIELDS Memorials The Spirit ofFreedom 76-77 Berlin-Tempelhof Berlin-Gatow and Tegel... 34-35 The Final Count Into the Book ofRecords 78-79 The Southern CorridorFields The Central CorridorFields 36-37 The Northern Corridor Fields The Other Bases 38-39 Index 80 Maintenance "90% ofAviationis ontheGround"..40-41 The endpapers ofthis book comprise (left) British artist Ronald Wong's splendid Airfield Construction P.S.P., or the Marston Mat.. .42-43 montage which encapsulates the many facets-military and human-ofthe Berlin Airlift; and(right) aviationmasterartistR.C. Smithspainting, whichsynthesizesthe U.S. ScheduledAirline Help U.S. Non-ScheduledAirline Help..44-45 concentration ofunprecedented air logistics activity-not to mention the uncertain Tunner's "Jungle Drums" Marching to Different Drums .46-47 weather. (Courtesy ofDouglas/Boeing) 5 Foreword by Dr. F. Robert van der linden Fiftyyearsago theworldwaspushedtothebrinkofwar. On biographieshavebeenwritten, theanalyses have beenmade, June24, 1948,theSovietUnionsealedoffthedividedcityof but what I found lacking was a single reference that Berlin, escalating the already extreme tensions of the brew addressed the mostimportantaspectoftheAirlift-aviation. ing Cold War. Only three years since the United States and Asidefromtheexcellentbutdifficult-to-findofficialhistories the Soviet Union had fought together to destroy Nazi Ger oftheAirlift prepared by the airforces ofthe United States many, the former Allies now found themselves to be oppo and Great Britain, there is little material except in eclectic nentsinGreece,China,andeasternEurope. periodicals to cover this most critical story. This concise ForPresidentHarry STruman, his doctrine ofcontain volume by John Provan and Ron Davies capably remedies mentandbrinkmanshipsoughttoblockSovietexpansion;for this oversight. GeneralSecretaryJosephStalin,however,theWesternAllies This work, wellillustrated with photographsfrom John were attempting to strangle theSovietUnion, to destroy the Provan's personal collection together with the stunning air Revolution and worse, to rebuild Germany, its traditional craft drawings of Mike Machat and the richly informative enemy.Theseconflictingperceptionsnow cameto ahead in maps of Ron Davies, provides an excellent primer for the Author's Preface occupied Germany in response to the mounting currency interested reader who seeks a well-balanced single-volume For years I have researched the history of the Flug and crisis. Citing "technicalproblems," theSovietarmy blocked referenceontheBerlinAirlift.Thissuccinctbookprovides a Luftschiffhafen (AirandAirship Station) Rhein-Main and its roadandrailaccessintothewestern zoneofBerlin, some80 thorough overview ofthe history oftheAirlift, replete with rolein thedevelopmentofGermanrigid airships. Eightyears milesinside Soviet-heldterritory. Complying to the letterof numerous interesting vignettes that provide ahuman face to ago, during an open houseatRhein-MainAirBase,Ihad the anearlieragreement, they did notblockaccess by air, think thestory.Theproductofcomprehensiveresearchandcareful opportunitytomeetGailHalvorsen,the"CandyBomber."He ing that the Western Allies had neither the stomach nor the editing, ithighlights the triumphs and tragedies ofthis land wasveryinterestedinmyexplanationoftheairshiphistoryof capabilitytosupplyacityof2.4 millionstrictlybyairlift. mark event, underscoring the story of one of the greatest thebase,andthemeetingservedtoawakenmycuriosityabout While many in the West did waver, General Lucius D. demonstrations of military air power in history-a victory therolethatRhein-MainplayedduringtheBerlinAirlift. ClayandPresidentTrumandidnot.Foralmost18months,all withoutguns. Thestorieshe told were moving, stimulating, and emo theneedsoftheformerGermancapitalweremetthroughthe tional, so much so that they encouraged me to research the largestairliftin history.TheUnitedStatesand GreatBritain, topic. These researches included many interviews and con withthetechnicalsupportofFrance,didtheimpossible.They tactswithpeoplewhotookpartinthatremarkableexercisein suppliedthebasic needsofanentiremetropolisfrom the air. aviation logistics, no less than half a century ago. These By May of 1949, the Soviets admitted failure and reopened people are quite old today, buttheirspiritis stillyoung, and road andrail servicetoBerlin.TheWesternAlliescontinued that spirit was outstandingly in evidence during the Berlin the Airlift until September,just in case the Soviets encoun Airlfitof1948-49. tered further "technical problems" in the coming winter AlthoughIwasawareofmanyotherbooksandwritings months. The victory oftheBerlinAirliftfor theWestsetthe on the subject, Ifelt that this historicexampleofhumanitar tone of the Cold War for decades to come. The outcome ianaidhadnotbeen presentedinitsfull perspective.Andso, dividedEuropeforhalfacenturyanddidmuchtochangethe with Ron Davies's help, I wrote this book, which describes West's perception of western Germany from a defeated themanydifferentaspectsandfeatures oftheAirlift,notonly enemyto afriendly ally. ofthe airmen, the aircraft, and the airfields-although these In 1984, as acuratorin theAeronautics Departmentof arewellcovered-butalso thecausesandtheconsequences. theNationalAirandSpaceMuseum,Iwasassignedaproject TheBerlinAirliftservedas atest-bed ortraining ground to prepare an exhibitcommemorating the 100thanniversary for many innovations in aviation practice that cameinto gen ofthe birth ofPresidentHarryTruman. Clearly the aviation eral use afterwards.TheAirlifthelped to accelerate thedevel Frau Louise Schroeder pre Ernst Reuter succeeded highlight ofhis careerwas the triumph ofthe BerlinAirlift. opmentofcargo-handlingpractices and routines, emphasized cededErnstReuterasMayor Schroeder, arriving back in He it was who ultimately rebuffed Soviet coercion, stating theefficiencyoflargeaircraftandtheneedforpavedrunways, ofBerlin, and, in the winter Berlin in 1948 after self bluntlyin his directMissourian manner, "We stay in Berlin, andrevealedthefullpotentialofradarasasuperbnavigational of1947/48 laid thefounda enforced exile in Turkey, period."Andstayhedid. aid. Inthissense,theAirliftcanbesaidtohavegivenstrength tions ofa rationing system where he had found refUge In my research for the exhibitI discovered volumes on totheaxiomthatNecessityistheMotherofInvention. onanequitablebasis. fivmtheNazis. the diplomatic and political background to the conflict. The John Provan 6 Introduction Artist's Note Publisher's Note Acknowledgements This bookhas beenaslightmodificationofmynormalassign WhenJohn Provanapproached metoenquireaboutpublish Manyindividualsassistedin making this bookpossible. Gail menttoillustrateRonDavies'sairlinebooks.Thelistofrequired ing his book on The Berlin Airlift, I was intrigued. I knew Halvorsen was my inspiration for tackling the subject, with aircraftdrawingsthistimewas,asusual, oftransporttypes; but John as an indefatigableand meticulous researcher, who had his stories ofcountlessBerlinerswhorememberedhiscandy most of them were military versions ofthose types. Thus the alreadyproducedencyclopaedic tomes on the Zeppelins and drops.JamesSpatafora(knownasSpat)aRhein-MainBerlin choice of, for instance, U.S.A.F. and R.A.F. aircraft, together theirsheds. His approach led to ameeting, at which he pre Airlift veteran, supplied many stories and photographs. with theAmericanandBritishciviliancompanies,demandeda sented the results ofhis Berlin researches, together with an Countlessotherveteransortheirwivesprovidedphotographs differentlineofresearch.Tolocateauthenticcolorschemesofa album of photographs, many of which had been obtained and information. Thanks especially to Robert Ausdell, John small British charter operator that perhaps lasted only a few from formerAirliftparticipants. Banasick, Harvey Clark, Albert Lowe, Robert Pine, Don months,andwhoseaircraftmayormay nothave beenpainted, Hedidnotclaimthathisstory wouldcontainmuchthat Schoonover,Jim"Jake"Schuffert,andGloriaWenkforshar 50yearsago,inanycolorschemeatall,wasnoteasy. hadnotbeenwrittenaboutbefore; butithad neverbeen pre ing her slides, bringing much color into the story. Liv The U.S.A.F.'s hastily-assembledfleet ofmore than 300 sented in the Paladwr Press style, with Mike Machat's Atgeltinger, Norway, was very helpful and, Jack Bennett in Douglas C-54s included aircraft with many different paint immaculateaircraftprofiledrawings, norwithsufficientcar Berlin was always athand, as were Gerd and Gerdi Rausch, schemes.Wemadeaselectionthatseemedtoberepresentative tographic work to supplement the text. Many Airlift pho and Dr. Michael Wustrack, Frankfurt International Airport. u.s. andhaveillustratedfivedifferentones,aswellasthatofa tographshavebeenreproducedinmagazinesandreports;but Mr. Krause,FlughafenHamburg,alsoprovidedphotographs. NavyR5DvariantofthebasicDouglasDCAdesign.Similarly, manyofJohn'shadnot, especially the coloredones. Mrs. Lois Walker and Dr. Dan Harrington, U.S. Air Force the venerable Douglas C-47, military version of the famous Johnwastolerantofmyediting,asImodifiedhis narra Historians,RamsteinA.B.,providedawealthofinformation, DC-3, is shownin the markings ofboth the U.S.A.F. and the tive into the Paladwr Press style-and added a little of my greatly assistedin proofreading, and provided many sugges R.A.F., asamatchingpair;andoneinunusualmarkings. own,especiallyatthebeginning-formostAirliftbooksand tions. The Commanders, men, and women of Rhein-Main The drawings of the civilian carriers-non-scheduled monographsdo notdeal adequately with theevents thatled, A.B. were always very helpful, with special thanks to Dave operators such as Alaska or Seaboard & Western from the firsttotheBlockade,thento theAirliftitself. Jablonski, at the Public Affairs Office. The staff of the U.S., and Skyways, Silver City, or Flight Refuelling from As with previous Paladwr books, we have interwoven National Archives, Washington D.C., uncovered many for GreatBritain,helpto emphasizethattheBerlinAirliftreally text, drawings, maps, photographs, and tabulations into a gottenphotos.HelgaMellmann,fromBerlin,savedcountless was anAllied teameffort. Allconcerned parties contributed cohesivewhole;andatthesametimearrangedthematerialin photosfrom destruction whenTempelhofA.B. closeddown. inany waypossibleto meettheemergency. suchawaythatthetwo-pagespreadscanbeperusedindivid Mrs. Helga Pf6rter,Archivistfor the BEWAG Co. in Berlin In the case ofthe British types, these were, as often as ually as self-contained episodes or commentaries, in what was very helpful. Georg Wolf, Glasofen and Andreas not, post-warconversionsofthefamous LancasterandHali may be termed "book-bites." These can be selected at Schleifer, Frankfurt, assisted with photographic reproduc fax bombers; while the salt-carrying Sunderland was a random;yet,atthesametime,thechronologyoftheAirliftis tions. Alex Herz provided much helpful information about reminder that the Berlin Airlift was also served by a few preserved.Thus thereadercan pick up the bookfor ashort R.A.F. Schleswigland. Captain Gr6tte, Lufttransport flying boats as well as landplanes. And although, from my termread; ortakeitas awhole. geschwader62,HarryHolmes,andMr. Vorholtassistedwith point ofview as an artist, they often appear clumsy, the old PaladwrPresshastriedtoemphasizethattheBerlinAir photosfrom R.A.F.Wunstorf,andAlfred Fries withmaterial bombers did thejob. Quite surprisingly, the ill-fated Tudor, liftwasacombinedAlliedeffort. Unfortunately, somepubli from Hamburg. Thanks also to Barry Countryman. Nick regarded as an ugly duckling bymany, was agreatload-car cations have presented the Airlift story simply as an Forder supplied information about Operation Plainfare and rier, especiallyofoiland gasoline. Andonceofftheground, American accomplishment; others have done the opposite. R.A.F. aircraft. A number of organizations were very sup itdoes notlooktoobadeither. TheU.S.carriedmostofthecoal,andtheflour, andthepota portiveinthisbook:LutzCaspersfromtheAmericanFriends Indeed,for thedustjacket, aBritishindependentopera toes, accounting for the majority of the tonnage; but the Service Committee (the Quakers), Neustedt; Howard Hatch tor(i.e.,notoneofthestatecorporations)waschosen,sothat British carried the liquid fuel, the salt, the fish, and mostof from the Church ofJesus Christ ofLatter Day Saints; Mrs. EagleAviation'sRedEaglecouldaddtothecoverawelcome the returning passengers. While there was competition, this Inge Latherfrom CARE Deutschland; and Pedro Soto from flash of color, reflecting what it must have done when in was of friendly rivalry, all directed at a common cause, a CAREUSA. action: to brightenup whatwasusuallyadrab airfieldscene, supremehumanitarianenterprise. My wife, Helga, deserves special thanks for her kind populatedbydrab all-metalaircraft. RatherliketheLindberghbook, this isadeparturefrom understandingandassistinginmyresearchandproofreading. Customarily in these books, I make a comment on our routine subject material, customarily ofa single airline. Special thanks to Ron Davies, Sam Smith, Simine Short, "Machat'sLaw," to the effectthat no two individual aircraft But Paladwr thought that the Berlin Airlift deserved special John Wegg, and Bob van der Linden, and Guy Halford ofasingletypeinanairlinefleetareeverpaintedexactlythe treatment, includingadouble-gate-fold map toshow thatthe McLeodwhocarefullycorrected,andshapedthismanuscript same. In the case ofthe Berlin Airlift, this comment would Airlift began as far west as California. And there are some for publication. Without such support and much more, this seemtobesuperfluous,ifonly becauseofthe nose-art. little-knownMachatspecialstodelighttheeye. projectcould nothavebeen realized.Thankyou all. MikeMachat REG. Davies John Provan 7 The War Ends Demobilization The SecondWorldWarleftmuch ofEuropeinruin and ashes. Sixlong years offighting had costthelivesofmillions. Polarizedemotions, distrust, andinsecurity werewidespreadamong all thepeoples ofEurope. Aftertheendofthewar, theUnitedStates,GreatBritain,andtheBritishCommonwealth beganthe massivetaskofdemobilizationintocivilianlifeofsome 8million soldiers, sailors and airmen. Hundreds of thousands ofjeeps, trucks, and tanks were scrapped or sold. The samefate awaited the hugefleet ofaircraftthatoncecoveredtheskies. Mostofthebombers were scrapped and many cargo aircraft sold, often very inexpensively, to hastily-organized charterairlines orto privateowners. Suchavailability ofaircraftand trained pilotshelped in the rapid expansion ofcivil aviation in the United States, while the U.S. Army Air Forces shrankto asmallfraction oftheirformer size. In GreatBritain, old bombers wereconverted forpassengerorcargouse.Theywereoperatedbythethreestatecorporationsandalsobythe independentnon-scheduledairlines. Demoralization On the civilian front, the ravages of war took a heavy toll. AEurope that had, by the late 1930s, enjoyed high standards ofliving, thanks to efficientagriculture and vigorous manu facturing and commerce, was now in desperate straits. Even in formerly prosperous indus trial areas, ordinarypeoplelived, almosthand-to-mouth, atleastin themonths immediately afterthe warendedinthelatespringof1945.Everyday wasspentin searchoffood andthe other necessities of life, and in the big cities especially, the bomb damage was such that Naziaggression, especiallythebombingofBritain, ledtodevastating retaliation. The wholecitywasa clearing the rubble was a major undertaking, even before any thought ofrebuilding could massofruinsin1945, andthispicture, takenin1947, lookingtowardstheBrandenburgGate, empha begin. Interestingly,muchoftherubble was putto gooduse-as thehard-corebasefornew sizesthatthedamagetothecitywasmeasurednotonlyinrubblebutintheabsenceofnormaltrafficon runways atthe airfields. theoftendesertedstreets. (Schoonover) TransportinFrankfurtwasalmostatastandstill, exceptforthe There waslittletobuyintheshops, andoftenthere werenoshops. Thecivilianpopulationlived, atleastfortwoorthreeyears, under resilientstreetcarsandAlliedarmyvehicles. (ThesepicturescourtesyU.S. ArmySignalCorps) strictcontrolofalmostallwalksoflife. 8 The Soviet Empire ATriumphant Power When the RedArmy soldier planted the hammer-and-sickle THE CORDON SANITAIRE flag on thetop ofthe Reichstag, thenominal seatofgovern ment ofa defeated Germany, the symbolism was more far 1947 reachingthanthatofamilitaryvictory. Fromanationthat,in 1940,stilllaggedbehindcapitalistcountriesindemonstrable achievement,ithad,byenormouseffortandsacrifice,poured allitsstrengthintothe war, withsucheffectthatitovercame Soviet Zone themightoftheGermanarmedforces onlandandintheair, to emergein 1945 as aworldpower, militarilyon aparwith of Germany the United States, and capable ofspreading the influence of communismthroughouttheworld. Bitter Memories Indeed, there were indications of such a spread of political dogma, as the countries surrounding the Soviet Union were obliged to toe the communist line, with Soviet occupation troopsto ensurethatthey didso.Whilesuchdominance was mainlyexpansionistic,itwaspartlyinself-defence.Through outhistory,Russiahadexperiencedthreatsorinvasionsfrom the west. The Teutonic Knights in the 13th, Poland and Lithuaniain the 14th, andSwedenin the 18thcenturies,had allinvadedRussiafromthewest.Napoleonreachedthegates China of Moscow in 1812; Imperialist Germany might well have Persia done so, butfor the Treaty ofBrestLitovskin 1918; and in 1941, Hitler's panzer divisions were almost within sight of REGD (Iran the Kremlin's spires. In the last case, the murder, rape, pil lage, and destruction that accompanied the Blitzkrieg inva sion-an estimated 20million Russians werekilled-leftan • East Bloc Other communist Potenti~l/y almostirreparableand indeliblemarkinRussianminds. states or communist (poland,Czechoslovakia, or neutral territories Cordon Sanitaire Hungary,Romanra Bulgaria) I While many post-war months were to pass before the 'Iron Curtain' was drawn across the centerofEurope, to divide it into the capitalist west and the communist east, the Soviet InEasternEurope,alltheneighboringcountrieswereto Too Close for Comfort? Union was apprehensive of the intentions of the western have communist governments, and could have been forced With its Zone of Occupation of Germany including Berlin, powers, even though such fears were unfounded. The sense into their adoption by the military, ifnecessary. Finlandwas JosefStalin was no doubt particularly sensitive to any signs of self-preservation took the form of ensuring that all the not a military threat, and the three Baltic states had been ofintrusionfromthecapitalistwest.MorethanhalfofBerlin countries on its frontiers were allied, friendly, or at the very annexed. In theAsiatic FarEast, MongoliaandNorth Korea consisted of the American, British, and French Zones of least, non-aggressiveand unlikely toposeathreat. were effectively puppet states, though nominally indepen Occupation (seepage 11).The northernfringe ofBerlinwas By 1949, thering ofbufferstateswouldbealmostcom dent, and China was about to become communist. In the abare30milesfrom the Polishfrontier, so thatthecapitalist plete, to establish a cordon sanitaire of protective territory south, Iran and Afghanistan were neutral, and Turkey was enclave,intheeyesoftheRussians, seemedto beanuncom alongallthepotentiallyvulnerablefrontierzonesoftheUnion leaning towards the West. The Soviet Union was constantly fortable irritant. ofSovietSocialistRepublics (U.S.S.R.). alertto anypotentialthreatto its borders. 9
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