Onkel Wackelflügel and the Candy Bombers

The Berlin Airlift ended sixty years ago this month.  Not many of the pilots are still alive to participate in commemorative events. But perhaps the most celebrated pilot, Gail Halverson - known to the children of Berlin as "Uncle Wiggly Wings" - is still active at the age of 89.  Halverson began dropping candy on his approach to Tempelhof Airport, and he would "wiggle" the wings on his C-47 as an identifying signal to the children.  Elisabeth Binder has a nice tribute to Halversen and the Candy Bombers in Der Tagesspiegel:

Die erste Ladung, die Halvorsen nach Berlin brachte, bestand aus 20 000 Pfund Mehl. „Die Deutschen schauten uns an, als wären wir Engel vom Himmel.“ Für Gail Halverson, aktives Mitglied der Mormonen-Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der letzten Tage, ist Dankbarkeit die Kraft, die aus Feinden Freunde macht und das scheinbar Unmögliche möglich werden lässt. Seine erste Begegnung mit Berliner Kindern fand am Stacheldrahtzaun statt, der den Flughafen Tempelhof umgab. „Die Freiheit war ihnen wichtiger als alles andere", erinnert er sich. „Geben Sie uns bitte nicht auf“, baten sie. Keines der Kinder bettelte um Schokolade, auch das hat damals großen Eindruck auf den jungen Piloten gemacht. (The first load that Halvorsen brought to Berlin consisted of 20,000 lbs. of flour. “The Germans looked at us as if we were angels from heaven.” For Gail Halvorsen, an active member of the Mormon Church, gratitude has the power to make enemies into friends, to make what seems impossible possible. His first encounter with German children took place at the barbed wire fence that surrounded Tempelhof Airport. “Freedom was more important to them than anything,” he recalled. “Don’t give up on us,” they implored. None of the children begged for chocolate, and that made a huge impression on the young pilot.)

Read my complete translation of the piece The Angels Came in Airplanes at Watching America.

You can listen to an interview with Gail Halverson here.

Comments

[servetus]

It's a heartwarming story, but learn the truth about the significance of the the Candy Bombers here: Paul Steege, _Black Market, Cold War: Everyday Life in Berlin, 1946-1949_ (Cambridge UP, 2007).

[David]

Thanks. Have just requested through my local university library and will post a review.

BTW, what is your field?

[servetus]

history.