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1945 - 1947 | 1948 - 1990
1948 |
March 20: At an ACC gathering in Berlin, the Soviet representative demands to know what happened at a secret London meeting of the Western powers. America, France and Great Britain had been planning a new West German state to be composed of the territory in their zones.
April 5: A Soviet fighter collides with a British airplane in one of the Allied air corridors, leading to crashes that kill people on both aircraft. April 10: The Soviets drop their inspection demands but continue periodic harassment of road and rail traffic. June 11: For two days, the Soviets block railroad access from the Western zones to Berlin. Five days later, they quit a Kommandatura meeting. June 18: The Western powers announce plans for a new deutschmark to replace the former German currency which had become worthless. Russia refuses to go along and announces its own currency introduction four days later.
July 1: The Soviets officially quit the Kommandatura. July 7: The first coal shipment arrives at Gatow airport in the British sector; it and Tempelhof are the only two airports in West Berlin. July 9: The first fatal crash of the airlift claims three lives in West Germany. July 12: Construction begins on a new runway at Tempelhof.
July 20: Clay flies to Washington to meet with Truman.
July 25: A C-47 crashes into an apartment in Berlin; two people die.
August 4: The British begin using civilian aircraft in the airlift.
August 12: The U.S. Air Force and the Royal Air Force conduct 707 flights into Berlin and deliver 4,742 tons of supplies, the first time the airlift has exceeded the 4,500 daily threshold deemed necessary to keep Berlin alive.
August 24: Four Americans are killed in a midair collision.
August 31: Talks in Berlin among the four military governors fail to resolve the situation. September 6: Berlin officials flee City Hall, which is in the Soviet sector, under attack from a communist mob.
September 18: The U.S.A.F. hits a new daily record, delivering nearly 7,000 tons of supplies to Berlin. September 19: The RAF suffers its first five fatalities of the airlift.
October 4: The United Nations Security Council takes up the issue of the blockade. October 14: The British and American airlifts are combined under a single operational headquarters, with Tunner in charge. October 18: Three Americans die in the first C-54 crash; 10,000 former pilots, flight engineers, and radio operators are recalled to active duty. October 21: After meeting with Clay, Truman orders more aircraft to join the airlift. October 26: The Soviet Union rejects the Security Council resolution to end blockade.
November 30: The Soviets set up their own Berlin city government. December 5: Reuter is again elected mayor of West Berlin. December 16: French engineers destroy the transmitting towers for a communist-run radio station near Tegel.
December 24: Bob Hope conducts a Christmas tour of airlift bases, performing for American soldiers in Berlin. December 31: 100,000 flights have been completed since the airlift began. |
1949 |
January: The first American airlift participants begin rotating back to their home bases. The British begin evacuating Berlin children in planes that have unloaded their cargo.
January 31: More than 170,000 tons of supplies have been airlifted this month, a new record. More than 20 airlift personnel have also died in January.
February 18: One million tons of supplies have now arrived in Berlin. February 26: A daily delivery record is set: more than 8,000 tons arriving in 902 flights. March 21: Malik informs Jessup that the blockade can be ended soon. March 31: A new monthly record of nearly 200,000 tons is set.
April 16: Tunner's "Easter Parade" operation breaks a 24-hour-delivery record, bringing nearly 13,000 tons of supplies to Berlin.
April 25: The Russian news agency TASS reports a willingness by the Soviets to lift the blockade. The next day, the U.S. State Department says the "way appears clear" for the blockade to end. May 4: Delegates from the original four Allied powers announce an agreement to end the blockade in eight days. Clay, whose retirement has been announced by Truman on the 3rd, is saluted by 11,000 U.S. soldiers and dozens of airplanes. Once home, he will receive a ticker-tape parade in New York, address Congress, and get a medal from Truman.
May 23: The Federal Republic of Germany is established in the country's Western zones. June 26: The first anniversary of the airlift sees planes continuing to pour into Berlin to ensure an adequate stockpiling of supplies in the city. July 24: Berlin now has nearly three months of food reserves.
October 7: The Soviets respond to the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany by announcing their own German Democratic Republic in the East. |
1950 |
October 1: The new West Berlin constitution comes into effect, defining the city as part of the Federal Republic of Germany. |
1951 |
January 18: Reuter is reelected mayor of West Berlin. |
1953 |
September 29: Reuter dies. |
1954 |
October: NATO guarantees the defense of West Berlin. |
1961 |
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1962 |
May: Clay returns to Berlin and makes his final appearance there before a crowd of 750,000. |
1963 |
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1978 |
April 16: Clay dies. By his West Point grave, a memorial from the people of Berlin reads: "Wir danken dem Bewahrer unserer Freiheit," in English, We thank the defender of our freedom. |
1989 |
November 9: After enormous public demonstrations, the Berlin Wall comes down. |
1990 |
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1945 - 1947 | 1948 - 1990
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March 31: The Soviets demand inspection of all Western military trains going to and from Berlin. Clay refuses to comply and halts train shipments, starting a mini-airlift to re-supply the roughly 6,000 Western troops in Berlin that lasts 10 days.
June 23: The Western deutschmark appears in Berlin. Just before midnight, the Soviets cut power to West Berlin and then 
June 24: All rail, road, and water access from the Western zones to Berlin is halted. The next day, the Soviets declare they will not send any supplies to West Berlin, which has only enough food for 36 days and coal for 45 days. In response, the Western Allies impose a counter-blockade on Soviet areas.
June 26: The Berlin airlift begins with 32 flights by American C-47 aircraft in West Germany to the Tempelhof airport in Berlin. Eighty tons of provisions are delivered that first day. The American attempt to supply Berlin's 2.5 million people is dubbed "Operation Vittles," while the British effort becomes known as "Operation Plainfare."
July 17: Construction is completed on a concrete runway at Gatow. Airlift pilot 
July 23: Major General 
July 27: The Soviets threaten to fly into the three Allied air corridors.
August 2: Western representatives meet with Stalin in Moscow to discuss the blockade.
August 5: Work begins on a new Berlin airport, Tegel, in the French sector. At its height the site will employ some 18,000 German workers.
August 13: On the airlift's 50th day, dubbed "Black Friday," a series of close calls near Tempelhof lead Tunner to alter flight patterns and request civilian air traffic controllers from the U.S.
August 26: U.S. planes have now delivered 100,000 tons of supplies.
September 9: Hundreds of thousands of Berliners protest this event at the Reichstag. Addressing the Western Allies, Reuter declares, "You cannot abandon this city and its people."
September 30: American C-47s are phased out of the airlift, replaced by better capacity C-54s.
November 5: After destroying a Soviet radio tower obstructing the flight path, Tegel in the French sector opens for business; the 300,000th ton is flown into Berlin.
November 18: An RAF plane crashes into the Russian zone; four crew members die.
December 20: "Operation Santa Claus" brings Christmas gifts to 10,000 Berlin children.
January 24: The 250,000th ton of coal arrives at Tegel.
February 15: America's U.N. delegate, Philip Jessup, begins talks with his Soviet counterpart, Jacob Malik.
April 4: The U.S. and Western European governments sign the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington. This treaty, which goes into effect in August, establishes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and commits its members to mutual defense in the event of a Soviet attack.
April 21: The airlift enters its 300th day; supplies coming in by plane now equal those that previously arrived by rail, and the airlift appears capable of continuing indefinitely.
May 12: At one minute after midnight, the Soviets lift their barricades and restore access from West Germany to Berlin. A British convoy immediately drives through, and the first train from the West reaches Berlin at 5:32 that morning. Later that day an enormous crowd celebrates the end of the blockade by Berlin's City Hall and pays tribute to Clay.
September 30: The 276,926th and final flight of the airlift arrives in Berlin. Nearly 700 aircraft have logged over 124 million miles and delivered roughly 2.3 million tons of supplies. Sixty-five lives have been lost.
August: The Soviets and German Democratic Republic block movement by East Berliners into the West and begin construction of a Berlin Wall dividing the two parts of the city.
June 26: During a visit to the city, President
October 3: East and West Germany are reunified.