BERLIN AIRLIFT
AUTHOR: KEVIN KERWAN
LICENSE TYPE:
FOOD
The Berlin Blockade prevented the Western Allies from delivering the necessary food to the citizens
of Berlin. There last chance to save the city from Soviet control was to go to the air, in the form of
the Berlin Airlift.
BERLINERS IN NEED OF AID
2.1 MILLION
TOTAL AMOUNT DELIVERED IN TONS
2.3 BILLION
DAILY FOOD DEMAND IN TONS
1534
DAILY COAL DEMAND IN TONS
2500
RECORD ONE DAY TONNAGE
13
DAILY FOOD RATION
TOTAL AMOUNT OF CANDY
SALT 2.5%
CHEESE 0.5%
DEHYDRATED VEGETABLES 9%
FRESH YEAST 0.5%
WHOLE MILK 0.5%
POWDERED MILK 1%
COFFEE 1%
SUGAR 12%
FLOUR & WHEAT 42%
DEHYDRATED POTATOES 12%
CEREAL 8%
MEAT & FISH 7%
FAT 4%
3
BERLIN AIRLIFT
AUTHOR: KEVIN KERWAN
LICENSE TYPE:
FLIGHT
DAYS OF AIRLIFT
Regarded as the greatest humanitarian aviation event in history, the Western Allies were responsible for providing support to the city of Berlin during the entirety of the Berlin Blockade. The
operation required cooperation between the Americans, British, and Germans. Three 20-mile wide
air corridors provided the necessary routes in and out of the city.
461
# OF AIRCRAFTS USED
692
TOTAL FLIGHTS
277,569
PLANE CAPACITIES
(TONS)
AIRMILES TRAVELLED
C-47 SKYTRAIN
3.5
92 MILLION
C-54 SKYMASTER
10
TOTAL COST
C-74 GLOBEMASTER
25
$4.9 BILLION
C-54 STRATOFREIGHTER
28
CRASHES
25
KEY PLAYERS
GENERAL LUCAS CLAY
LT. GENERAL WILLIAM H. TUNNEL
FATALITIES
101
SEPTEMBER
AUGUST
JULY
JUNE
MAY
APRIL
MARCH
FEBRUARY
JANUARY
DECEMBER
NOVEMBER
OCTOBER
SEPTEMBER
AUGUST
JULY
JUNE
BERLIN AIRLIFT
AUTHOR: KEVIN KERWAN
LICENSE TYPE:
THE CORRIDORS
GERMANY
BERLIN TEMPELHOF
Fassberg
ERNST SAGEBIEL
BERLIN, GERMANY
1941
AIRPORT
Brunswick
After the end of World War II,
Germany was divided into four
sectors, controlled by the United
States, Great Britain, France, and
the Soviet Union.
Frankfort
After the end of the second World
War, Berlin was left as two halves,
the eastern half occupied by the
Soviets, while the western half
was left to the Western allies, the
French, British, and Americans.
Situated in the American zone
is the Tempelhof airport, which
became the center of the United
States’ Airlift operation.
Wiesbaden
BERLIN
Tempelhof
Gatow
BERLIN AIRLIFT
AUTHOR: KEVIN KERWAN
LICENSE TYPE:
ARCH. CONTENT
BERLIN TEMPELHOF
ERNST SAGEBIEL
BERLIN, GERMANY
1941
AIRPORT
3 min.
500 feet
5000 feet
15 min.
Frankfurt
Berlin
After the arrival of Lt. General William H. Tunner, the airlift operation was optimized. Planes were ordeded to take off three minutes apart, and to fly at
five different levels, about five hundred feet apart. During a clear day, pilots could see the planes above and below them. With this new flight structure,
planes were arriving at Tempelhof at a rate of one plane a minute. If a plane failed to land safely, they were to return to their home base, rather than
overcrowd the airspace around the airport, thus creating a greater chance of collison.
In an effort to avoid future collisons, Lt. General William H. Tunner redesigned the airlift so that all three of the allied air routes were utilized. Two of the
routes provided a way into the city, while the other provided a route out.
Alert Line
Scales
Coal Ramp
Maintenance
Truck Pool
Ready Line - trucks are
lined up, ready to replace
those
Warehouse
Once on the ground, the unloading of planes took no more than a
few minutes. Planes fly in every
minute, were lined up outside of
the hangars, and quickly unloaded
into trucks. Once unloaded, the
trucks would transport the goods
to a number of different locations.
While on the ground, flight crews
were given food and coffee. Planes
would not be on the ground longer
than thirty minutes.