Berlin Airlift begins

On June 24, 1948, Soviet forces sealed off West Berlin from the outside world. Stalin's gambit was straightforward: squeeze the Western-occupied sectors of the divided city into submission, force the Allies out, and hand all of Berlin to Soviet control. What he didn't anticipate was that the Americans and British would simply fly supplies over his blockade.

The logistics seemed impossible. West Berlin's 2.2 million residents needed roughly 5,000 tons of food, fuel, and supplies daily. The Allies had no heavy-lift aircraft designed for sustained cargo operations-the C-47 Skytrain, their workhorse, could carry only three tons. General Lucius D. Clay, the American military governor, and his British counterpart, General Sir Brian Robertson, authorized Operation Vittles (the U.S. name) and Operation Plainfare (the British designation) anyway. The first planes landed on June 26, 1948, less than 48 hours after the blockade began.

What followed was a feat of improvisation and stubborn logistics. The Allies eventually assembled 300 transport planes-later including the larger C-54 Skymaster, which could carry ten tons. Pilots flew round-the-clock rotation schedules, often in terrible weather. The airlift operated from three airports: Tempelhof and Gatow in Berlin itself, and Fassberg in West Germany. By spring 1949, American and British planes were delivering nearly 8,000 tons daily, exceeding the minimum threshold required to keep the city alive. The Soviets, watching their blockade defeated by the sky, quietly reopened the borders on May 12, 1949.

The airlift lasted 462 days and cost roughly $220 million-equivalent to $2.6 billion in 2024 dollars. 78 people died in aviation accidents during the operation, but not a single Berliner starved. For West Germany and West Berlin, the airlift transformed American intentions from occupier to guarantor. For the Soviet Union, it was a clear demonstration that military pressure alone couldn't dislodge the Western presence. The operation became the defining symbol of Cold War resolve and the opening chapter of Berlin's divided future.