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"Operation Vittles"
The U.S. Air Force's codename for the Berlin Airlift was "Operation Vittles." In addition to food, more than 2.3 million pounds of coal were delivered to keep Berlin residents warm. That's equal to the weight of more than 143 school buses!
Improved air traffic control techniques, particularly GCA, were critical to the success of the Berlin Airlift in 1948-49. For almost a year, a continuous relay of military and civilian transports landed in the Soviet-blockaded East German city every three minutes around the clock and in all weather, and kept the city's 2 million people fed. |