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Presented by American Airlines and written by Stanley Washburn, Jr. and shot by Agnew Fisher, AIRLIFT TO BERLIN presents the story of the Berlin Airlift of 1948. It was made before the resolution of the Berlin Blockade, and demonstrated the resolve of those involved in the Lift to see it succeed. Just prior to the Berlin Blockade, American Airlines had begun passenger service to Berlin, and so the airline was intimately involved in the lift and the evacuation of some civilians from the city. The film shows the movement of supplies from Rhein Mein into the besieged city by Douglas C-54 Skymasters. The British and Allies maintained their own corridor as part of the lift. Tempelhof Airport is seen at the 3:40 mark.
The film also shows unique vistas of the ruined city of Berlin, which at this time was still recovering from the devastation of the war, including the shell of the Reichstag at the 5:50 mark and the Brandenburg Gate at the 6:00 mark.
The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 - 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. The Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutsche mark from West Berlin.
In response, the Western Allies organized the Berlin airlift to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin, a difficult feat given the city's population. Aircrews from the United States Air Force, the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and the South African Air Force:338 flew over 200,000 flights in one year, providing to the West Berliners up to 8,893 tons of necessities each day, such as fuel and food. The Soviets did not disrupt the airlift for fear this might lead to open conflict.
By the spring of 1949, the airlift was clearly succeeding, and by April it was delivering more cargo than had previously been transported into the city by rail. On 12 May 1949, the USSR lifted the blockade of West Berlin. The Berlin Blockade served to highlight the competing ideological and economic visions for postwar Europe.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFi...