Berlin Airlift
...any was on the rise to economic stability. Shops were beginning to open; the German deutschmark replaced the East Germany currency (reichsmark); and other significant changes were happening to restore Germany. However, this is not what Stalin planned to do with his designated occupation zone. His intention was not to rebuild Germany but to keep it weakened. Although Stalin had made a promise to the Allies free access to the soviet’s zone in Berlin, this promise would not last for long time because it would directly go against his intentions of weakening the nation. On the morning of June 25, 1948 something surprising happened. The transport division of the Soviet military division stopped fright traffic because of “technical difficulties.” Soon enough the western allies would realize what exactly were those technical difficulties. Stalin broke his promise of free access to the allies in their sector of Berlin by kicking French, British, and American authorities out of East Berlin. The Soviet began building a blockade the next day on the 26th of June 1948 by blocking all land, river, and rail traffic. The Soviet’s objective was not clear to its western allies. Their intention was to leave East Berlin without food, fuel and the necessities to live. The Americans and the rest of the western allies were now in a position where transporting goods was only a possibility through the air. General Lucius Clay called upon Lieutenant Curtis E. LeMay and asked him if an airlift of the necessary supplies could be transported to its needed destination. As unorthodox this may have sounded, LeMay replied confidently, “Sir, the Air Force can deliver anything.” The next problem at hand for LeMay was to fulfill the needs of two million inhabitants solely by airlift. The normal amounts of supplies needed were about 13,500 tons a day. How could they possibly manage to send that much? This was only one of the many questions that surrounded Lucius Clay’s idea of an airlift. Nevertheless, the Air Force went to work with the British’s assistance. What LeMay had to work with was initially C-47 that could only hold about three tons each. Luckily, C-54, which were four engine planes that could carry up to ten tons were being sent to them from all around the world. They worked around the clock and managed to get around one hundred and fifty planed loaded a day that still was not enough to meet the requirement. As the summer passed by, the Berlin civilians living on the soviet side were getting just enough to survive. Things just got more and more hectic. The system was devised that if a plane missed its landing target, it would have to return back home because there were planes behind it waiting to land. If it were to turn around, it would ruin the order of the others arrivals. Mother nature did not cooperate as well. The winter of 1948 were filled with record-breaking numbers. Problems such as the plan’s wings freezing came up. However, Sergeant Paul G. LeBeau came up with an idea so that the plane’s parts would not freeze. He proposed that instead of mounting the engine in the back, they put the engine in the front so the hot fumes would melt the ice. Cold Weather was not the only problem pilots faced during the airlift. Fog and rain were others. On Friday August 13, also known as “Black Friday”, it poured in Berlin. A C-54 missed the runway causing the plane to burst into flames. The western allies were facing more enemies then just the soviets. They h...