Keep Buggering On- S1E4: Uncle Wiggly Wings: The Air Force Lieutenant Who Bombed Berlin With Candy
First Lt. Gail Halvorsen and Operation Little Vittles — Tempelhof Airport, Berlin, July 1948
In June 1948, the Soviet Union cut off all road, rail, and canal access to West Berlin, attempting to starve the Western Allies out of the city. The U.S. and Britain responded with the Berlin Airlift, flying food, coal, and supplies into the city around the clock. First Lt. Gail Halvorsen, a 27-year-old transport pilot from Utah, was one of hundreds of American airmen assigned to the operation. On a day off in July 1948, Halvorsen walked to the barbed-wire fence at the edge of Tempelhof Airport, where a group of German children had gathered to watch the planes land. Unlike other children he had met who begged for candy, these kids asked him technical questions about the aircraft and said they wanted nothing — they understood the flights were what stood between the city and starvation. Moved, Halvorsen found two sticks of gum in his pocket, broke them into pieces, and passed them through the fence. He promised the children he'd drop more from his plane the next day, and told them they'd know his aircraft because he would wiggle its wings on approach. He kept the promise, tying candy bars to tiny parachutes made from handkerchiefs. Word spread through West Berlin, and children began writing letters to "Uncle Wiggly Wings" and "The Chocolate Flyer," some including hand-drawn maps to their homes. When Halvorsen's unauthorized drops reached his chain of command, he expected a reprimand; instead, Gen. William Tunner turned it into an official program, Operation Little Vittles, and American schoolchildren and candy makers began donating supplies. By the time the airlift ended in September 1949, pilots had dropped more than 250,000 parachutes and 23 tons of candy over Berlin — a gesture built from two sticks of gum.
Sources
● Wikipedia, "Gail Halvorsen" (service record, nicknames, dates)
● Hersheyland, "The Berlin Candy Bomber" (Operation Little Vittles account)
● Veterans Breakfast Club, "Remembering the Candy Bomber"
● PBS American Experience, "The Berlin Airlift: Gail Halvorsen"