Global Supply and Maintenance for the Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949
Abstract
Colonel Frank Howley, the tough, irrepressible commander of the American military garrison in Berlin, watched with wonder the first Douglas C-47 Skytrains land with food for the people of Berlin. "They wobbled into Tempelhof," he later wrote, Coming down clumsily through the bomb-shattered buildings around the ....... the most beautiful things I had ever seen. As the planes touched down, and bags of flour began to spill out of their bellies, I realized that this was the beginning of something wonderful-a way to crack the blockade. I went back to my office almost breathless with elation, like a man who has made a great discovery and cannot hide his joy.2 Colonel Howley had indeed witnessed something special. On 24 June 1948, the Soviet military had clamped a tight blockade on the land and water routes between the Western occupation zones of Germany and the Allied sectors in Berlin. Three air corridors also connected Berlin with the occupation zones. Taking advantage of these, Lieutenant General Curtis LeMay, Commander of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), had already begun flying supplies to the military garrisons in Berlin two days before the blockade.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 18, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA369479
Entities
People
- Roger G. Miller
Organizations
- Air Force Logistics Management Agency