Raisin bombers
Encyclopedia
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
, which brought in supplies to the western half of the city of Berlin during the Berlin Blockade
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied...
in 1949.
The name came from the fact that some pilots started voluntarily to throw sweets and candy (and, presumably, also raisins) on little parachutes out of the window to Berlin children lined up on the edges of the airfields watching the planes. These actions were first attributed to American pilot Gail Halvorsen
Gail Halvorsen
Colonel Gail Halvorsen is a retired career officer and command pilot in the United States Air Force known as the original Candy Bomber or the "Rosinenbomber" in Germany. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah...
and ordered expanded by Lt. General William H. Tunner
William H. Tunner
William Henry Tunner was a general officer in the United States Air Force and its predecessor, the United States Army Air Forces...
into Operation Little Vittles.
When this gesture became well known, it enjoyed considerable support with the US public. This support came in the form of large donations of candy from the confectionery industry while civilian volunteers made the parachutes for the delivery.
External links
- Berlin-Airlift Veterans Association
- "Why We Did What We Did" Personal accounts of the Raisin Bombers in the Berlin Airlift
- Rosinenbomber Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Museum in Bonn, Germany)
- Operation Plainfare British contribution to the Berlin Airlift