Why did the berlin airlift have to take place?

Question

Why did the berlin airlift have to take place?

Answer 1

road access to east germany was denied to road traffic and air was the only way....one of the most successful, well-planned and executed airlifts ever....

from a pilot's perspective anyway....constant movement of aircraft and 45 minute turnaround on the ground....if weather caused the aircraft to miss it's approch in east germany, it would fly back in line and make the ruturn trip and then go back to east germany, just to keep from muddling up the sequence of aircraft.....a brilliant move that kept aircraft constantly in the air and not getting turned and jockeyed around for another landing attempt if they missed the first one.

and, a little known fact as well, the were several pilots who took boxes of candy bars, put little napkin "parachutes" on them, and would drop them to waiting children as they approached the east german landing spot....

Answer 2

Yep, bossman. That's why they become known as the "raisin bombers" or "Rosinenbomber". I think memories of the allied bomb raids must have been fresh then among the German people, and then imagine a former enemy dropping sweets on small parachutes.

I don't know how much you've heard about the plans to close Tempelhof airport down. They want to do it for financial and security reasons. The airport nowadays is in the midst of the city, and won't allow for big planes to land; but it was the place where the "raisin bombers" used to unload, and the place nearby is called "Platz der Luftbrücke" ("airlift square", if you like). So a lot of Berliners signed a petition to keep the airport in service, at least for small planes, instead of closing it down.

There is one thing about those transports to Berlin that was told to me: There were TREES transported by airlift to Berlin. They were dug out in west Germany, transported by truck to a US base, and flewn over, so that they could plant them again. And there were tons of coal to heat in winter.

I don't think it was only for the reason to stop communism from taking over Germany. Maybe that was the political reason; but I just can't imagine that the pilots who did such a great job thought about that. I think they did it because they saw people suffering and wanted to help.

And after all, it worked out. Without west Berlin being part of Western Germany for all these years, there would have been no reunification. Without the reunification, there would have been no expansion of the EU and NATO to the east, be it good or bad. There are still a lot of problems to be solved, but I hope Europe can do it without another war.

Answer 3

The only access to Berlin was by air.....road access was denied. So, to keep Berlin citizens alive, all suplies and food was flown in.

Answer 4

here you can find all about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Bloc...

the airplanes where called "Rosinenbomber"