The Berlin Airlift

This week marks the end of the Berlin Airlift. Allied air forces flew supplies into the starving people as the Soviets enforced a land blockade.Pilots came from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.A total of 101 fatalities were recorded as a result of the operation, including 40 Britons and 31 Americans

I did quite of bit of training with US military in the Frankfurt area, and was always interested when we passed the Airlift memorial at the airport....



... with memorial aircraft, and the arch representing the start of the "Luftbrucke" [air bridge]

On a trip to Berlin I deliberately booked to fly into Tempelhof, the old wartime airport, and the main destination during the airlift. I took this photo of the other end of the Luftbrucke memorial....



Tempelhof is no longer a working airport.
For anyone interested in WW-2/Cold War history I would recommend a visit to Berlin

This is the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park....



... popularly known as "The Tomb of the Unknown Rapist"

Today marks thirty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. That was the start of the liberation of millions of people who had been under the Soviet yoke since WW-2, when the horrors of the Nazis was replaced by the equally muderous Soviet ideology.




I have visited Berlin several times, and love the history of what Adam Hall termed a "sometime Hell on Earth" Hopefully the horrors of the past will never be repeated.