FReeper Canteen ~ The Berlin Airlift ~ Part 3: Operation Little Vittles ~ 11 December 2023

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[Kathy in Alaska]

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The Berlin Airlift
Part 3:  Operation Little Vittles
All info and photos from this website.

Link to Part 1
Link to Part 2

           

"DER SCHOKOLADEN FLIEGER"
 

OPERATION LITTLE VITTLES
 

40K JPEG	General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force is shown presenting the 1948 Cheney Award to 1st Lieutenant Gail S. Halvorsen, USAF, former Berlin Airlift pilot and originator of Operation Little Vittles while his wife, second from left, looks on.
U.S. Air Force Photograph Negative Number A-35720 AC National Air and Space Archives Videodisc Number 3B-38771

One of the most poignant stories of the Berlin Airlift was that of one 1^st Lt. Gail S. Halvorsen.  Halvorsen was somewhat of an ammeter moviemaker, and on July 17, he decided that on one of his off days, he would hitch a ride as a passenger on a C-54 and visit the City he was saving.  Once at Tempelhof, Halvorsen walked to the end of the runway to film some aircraft landings when he noticed a group of children near the fence watching the planes, too.  He went over to them.  They asked questions about the aircraft, the cargo, how fast it was going and things like that.  During this conversation he noticed that these children, unlike others he had encountered in Europe as a Ferry command Pilot during the War, did not ask him for any candy or gum, like others always had.  This struck him funny, and he knew that they were too proud to beg for such things.  Some having been born during wartime had not even heard of treats like that.  He made a fateful decision at that moment which was to become one of the symbols of the airlift.  He reached into his pocket and found that he had only two sticks of Wrigley's Doublemint Gum.  He remarked that if they did not fight over it, he would drop some candy to them if they were there the next day.  They agreed, took the sticks of gum and divided it amongst themselves, some happy to get only a piece of the wrapper.  Before he left them, a child asked him how they would know it was him flying over.  He replied, "I'll wiggle my wings." 
True to his word, the very next day, on approach to Berlin, he rocked the airplane and dropped some chocolate bars attached to a handkerchief parachute to the children waiting below.  Every day, the number of children would increase and he made several more drops.  Soon there was a stack of mail in Base Ops addressed to "Uncle Wiggly Wings', "The Chocolate Uncle" and "The Chocolate Flier". 
Halvorsen didn't tell anyone about what he was doing for fear he'd get in trouble.  Then, he was called into his commander and asked what he was doing.  He replied 'Flying, Sir."  His commander asked again, and received the same response.  He then pulled out a newspaper with a picture of Halvorsen's plane and tiny parachutes trailing behind.  Apparently, a newspaper reporter narrowly escaped being hit on the head with a chocolate bar.  His commander wasn't happy about it, but General Tunner though it was just the kind of gesture that the operation needed.  It was dubbed "Operation Little Vittles".  It continued, and many C-54 pilots participated.  Candy and parachutes were assembled and sent from Chicopee Falls, MA to assist in the gesture.  In the end, over three tons of candy was dropped over Berlin, some even in the Soviet sector.  For this simple kindhearted gesture, Halvorsen became the most recognized pilot of the Berlin Airlift. 

THE EASTER PARADE
 

By April 1949, airlift operations were going rather smoothly, and General Tunner wanted to break up the monotony.  He liked the idea of a big event that would show the capabilities of his command, as well as give everyone a big morale boost.  He wanted to set a record.  In order to do that, much planning was necessary, and it was decided that on Easter Sunday, the only cargo was to be coal.  In fact general Tunner wanted to shatter all previous tonnage records set so far.  Secretly, coal was stockpiled for the event.  Maintenance schedules were altered so that the maximum number of planes was available.  Everyone put in extra effort for this special event.  From 12:00PM April 15, to 12:00PM April 16, 1949, crews worked overtime to deliver more tonnage than had ever been delivered in a 24 hour period.  When it was over, 12,941 tons of coal had been delivered as a result of 1,383 flights without a single accident.  As a matter of fact, as a result, the daily tonnage also increased from 6,729 tons a day before the Easter Parade, to 8,893 tons per day, an unexpected benefit.  This was the straw that broke the camel's back. 

THE END OF THE BLOCKADE
 

On May 12, 1949, the Soviets capitulated.  The blockade was over.  It was decided to continue supplying Berlin by air in addition to the land routes in order to build up a sufficient supply of goods.  The Airlift officially ended on Sept. 30, 1949, fifteen months after its meager beginnings in June of '48.  In total, the US delivered 1,783,572.7 tons, while 541,936.9 tons were delivered by the British totaling 2.3 Million tons from 277, 569 total flights to Berlin.  C-47's and C-54's alone traveled over 92 million miles in order to do so.  These were astounding figures, considering that in the beginning it seemed impossible to even try.  Nevertheless, even the greatest operation is not without risk.  A total of 101 fatalities were recorded as a result of the operation, including 31 Americans, mostly due to crashes. 

The end of the blockade was unexpected; however, as bigger plans were made and bigger planes were set to replace the existing fleet of C-54's.  The USAF had already used a C-74 "Globemaster" and one Boeing YC-97A "Stratofreighter" in the airlift, testing the feasibility of heavy-lift transports and their use in a continued operation.  The Douglas C-124 "Globemaster II" was coming and the plan was to use C-97's and 124's to continue the operation without as many flights.  Fortunately, that was not necessary. 

Boeing C-97 "Stratofreighter" owned by the Foundation         Fairchild C-82 "Packet"                          Douglas C-74 "Globemaster"       

 

...continued and concluded next week....

 

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission!

[radu]

LOL! I like that guy! Definitely into the season. Brings a little cheer to a dull job and cheer to everyone who sees his plow.

There was a little more rain in the gauge when I woke up today. I got a grand total of 2 inches out of this round. YAY!

Not much fun to be out today though. Cold and windy. brrrrrrrr

[radu]

Unfortunately, yes. More snow is closing in. With luck it’ll be more light, fluffy snow.
You do NOT need it! I can’t believe how much snow you’ve gotten already and it isn’t winter yet.

It’s hard to tell from the angle but in your pic, it looks like he got mighty close to the curb this time. I hope that’s the case.

[ExTexasRedhead]

The Private Who Took Out Nearly 60 Enemy Soldiers in the Vosges Mountains! - WWII

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jq3CKZ9vUJA

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mayor, and thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

Hope you and Mrs Mayor have all your ducks in a row for the new week.

I’m working on my ducks.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mooch....happy #4 night of Hanukkah!

Hope you are enjoying good weather as well.

How about a cookie?

[luvie]

The story of this humanitarian effort
by our troops never gets old!

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Kathy in Alaska]

2 inches total means soaking in well, right? More coming?

[radu]

Howdy, luvie.

I hope it wasn’t too uncomfortable this morning when you headed out to church.

I ended up having to get out this afternoon and can’t say I enjoyed it. The wind was painful.

[radu]

I’d say a lot of it soaked in though there was some runoff.
It would rain lightly, then pour for a minute, repeat, repeat. No more rain in the forecast for this week at this point so I’m glad we got this rain.

Did you go out to shovel your path yet? I see it’s starting to snow at Lake Hood. :-(

[Songcraft]

Great thread, Kathy.

That picture you posted of the plow with lights brings to mind this song --- "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas"

I also wanted to check and see if you saw this thread here tonight:   "Putin Ally Hints at Russian Plot to Reclaim Alaska"

(You might have to get that plow guy to push them back out!)      :-)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, luvie...a story to always be remembered, for sure.

[luvie]

Hey there, radu!

It was pretty chilly at 28, but there wasn’t any wind so it was managable. Unlike your situation. That wind must have biting! Sorry you had to get out in it. Did you get any more rain today?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Great link with great stories of our brave military.

Thanks!

[radu]

Oof!! That’s mighty cold for down there! That’s what our low is supposed to be tonight. I imagine your kitties haven’t ventured from their warm spots very much.

Yeah, the wind was most unpleasant here. It was ok as long as I was in the car but when I had to get out, it hurt. At least it won’t be windy tomorrow but I still hope I can stay in. We’ll be in the mid to upper 50s the rest of the week and that’s fine.

I did get a little more rain after midnight and ended up with 2 inches total. That’s good since there’s no more rain forecast for the week.

[SunkenCiv]

[Kathy in Alaska]

Just came back in...I shoveled it out, and it is starting to snow very gently. And I got the front porch steps shoveled off, the same ones I shoveled off last night.

Maybe tomorrow I will go out and put ice melt on the one ice patch mid-way that is annoying me every time I shovel out the patch. The plow did get a couple feet closer. And with the snow, it will be easier to get in front of the mailbox. There is some place to put my feet NOT on ice. I still would like to clear the ice another foot out.

[luvie]

Well, they did when it finally warmed up this afternoon. They know where the warm spots are and are willing to use them.

Wow! 2 inches. That’s the most you’ve had in a long time. Everything must seem so nice and clean after that nice rain. I’m sure ready for some more. I don’t want our lawn to start out next spring looking as sad as it did this year!

[Kathy in Alaska]

LOL! Thanks, Songcraft, for a PERFECT song for the plow guy.

There was another plow following him as they moved the snow from the outside of the cul-de-sac to the pile in the middle, but he didn’t have lights. One year they tried to push the snow to the outside like they do on straight stretches of the street. BUT...that didn’t last long because if they make the turning radius smaller, emergency vehicles, school buses, etc, cannot make the turn in one try to go back up the street.

Not the first time this has come up about Russia thinking to take back Alaska. I’ll check the link in a bit. Periodically the news tells us that the jets we heard from Elmendorf, just north of me, were headed out to make sure the Russians stay way out. Testing, testing, testing! And Fairbanks has Eielson Air Force Base. It’s nice hearing those jets...the sound of freedom!