Bridge in The Sky, the Berlin Airlift by F.Donovan: 1970 1st Ed. HB + Press Cuttings

BRIDGE IN THE SKY
The Story of the Berlin Airlift

FRANK DONOVAN

ROBERT HALE & Co.
1970

In June 1948 the Russians closed down all rail, barge, and road traffic into Berlin and isolated the city. Coal supplies were cut off and electrical service was forced to function on an intermittent basis. Medicines and other staple items became difficult or impossible to obtain.

Suddenly the people of West Berlin were faced with the threat of starvation. The Allies, surprised by the blockade, were expected to knuckle under to Russian demands, since the only access to the city was by air.

The Russians, however, reckoned without the determination and ingenuity of the Americans and British, who began to fly fuel, food clothing, and medical supplies into Berlin.

At first, the shipments were small, and Berliners had to pull in their belts and go without many necessities. But the Americans and British stepped up the pace of the airlift until a record shipment of 12,941 tons and 1,398 flights was achieved on Easter Sunday, 1949. This amounted to an average of one round trip to Berlin every minute. And thereafter shipments never fell below 9,000 each day.

That unusual Easter Parade made it clear to the Russians that Berlin could be maintained on a normal basis without the use of ground transportation.

Beginning with a brief history of the political situation in Berlin from 1945 to 1948, Bridge in the Sky not only gives a dramatic account of the amazing feat of logistics that kept a beleaguered city of 2,000,000 people fed and clothed for 1 5 months through air transportation alone, but also provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of Berliners during the bleak months of the Russian blockade. It is a story that is unique, compelling, sometimes funny, and always filled with human interest.