On June 24, 1948, all rail, road, and water access to the Western sectors of Berlin was cut. The Soviet Union had made its decision: two million civilians in the Western zones — 100 miles inside Soviet-controlled East Germany — would be starved into submission, or the Western Allies would abandon Berlin entirely. Neither happened.

The Strategic Context

Berlin had been divided into four occupation zones following Germany's defeat in 1945. The immediate trigger for the Soviet blockade was the Western Allies' introduction of the Deutschmark currency in their German zones. The Soviet Union used its geographic leverage to attempt to force the Western powers out. The calculation was that they would not risk war over a city that was militarily indefensible.

Operation Vittles

General Lucius Clay, the American military governor in Germany, proposed supplying Berlin entirely by air. President Truman approved the airlift on June 26, two days after the blockade began. West Berlin needed an estimated 4,500 tons of supplies per day. No airlift had ever attempted anything close to this sustained capacity.

The Western Allies had three airports serving West Berlin: Tempelhof (American sector), Gatow (British sector), and Tegel, constructed from scratch in the French sector and operational by November 1948. Aircraft flew in continuous 24-hour rotations, landing every three to four minutes at Tempelhof, unloaded in under an hour, and returned empty to supply bases in West Germany.

The Easter Parade

On April 16, 1949 — Easter Sunday — the Western Allies staged a maximum-effort demonstration: 1,398 flights delivering 12,940 tons of supplies in a single 24-hour period. The Soviet Union, facing the reality that the blockade was not working, lifted it on May 12, 1949.

The Final Numbers

Over 324 days, the Western Allies flew 278,228 sorties and delivered approximately 2.3 million tons of supplies. Seventy-eight aircrew and ground personnel died, the majority in accidents. The Berlin Airlift demonstrated that the Soviet Union would not risk direct military confrontation with the United States over Berlin. The Western Allies never flew a combat mission to break the blockade. They outworked the problem — 278,228 times.