Biggest Logistical Flex Of All Time - Berlin Airlift 

Started a B channel for angry rants called “the fat files” go check it out -Also it was 92 million miles not thousand

Side note about the candy for the kids. A pilot received a note from one of the kids. That said he was smaller then the rest and not getting any candy. He drew the pilot a map to his house and on his next run he flew the route and dropped the candy at his house. Captian Ernest Evans deserves a story. Great video!!

1 Australian, 39 British, and 31 American cargo pilots died during the Berlin Airlift. May they rest in peace.

as a german i have to say that i didn't know about at least half of this. Yes we learned about the Berlin Airlift in school but knowing this extent, knowing that kids in the UK and USA were raising money for the children of the "big bad evil guys"... it honestly makes me tear up. Thank you for sharing this kind of knowledge because school refuses to

A story I had relayed to me, that I will probably butcher in retelling. In the 90s, a Russian naval ship broke down while on a training exercise and the US Navy towed her into the closest port. The US Navy invited the Russian officers aboard their destroyer and they exchanged gifts of wine and food. They also gave medical attention to several of the Russian sailors. While on the US destroyer, the US fleet was taking on fuel, taking on munitions, taking on mail, had mooreing lines to another ship to exchange personnel from a hospital ship, and was towing the Russian warship. While all this was going on, the aircraft carrier was launching and recovering aircraft for combat air patrol, and the enitrety of the enlisted seamen seemed to be in great spirits. In absolute awe of this display of logistics, the Russian admarial with his jaw agape muttered something to the effect of "My God... How fucking stupid we were to think we could have won the cold war"

Msgt Roy Benavidez deserves a video. Legendary Green Beret Texan that jumped into hell with just a med bag and a bowie knife. Was wounded 37 times but saved 8 men. His call sign Tango Mike Mike is now used as a moral boost when a Green Beret unit is in a desperate situation and let's them know help is on the way.

I love that not only did the Berlin Airlift show just how capable the West was, but also how incapable the Communists were and how little they cared compared to the West.

Somehow, the Soviets were surprised that the US was capable of doing great logistical feats, while they had been one of multiple nations receiving lend lease aid, the US was building up their own forces, fighting on two fronts, massively expanding naval operations and still had shit over to convert supply ships into icecream ships for the troops just a couple of years prior. Geez, it's almost like that was a large part of what helped the soviets and allies win WW2.😅

I'm a former Air Force Logistics, spent some of my service in Ohio and volunteered at the Air Force museum every year at the cold war wing. I consider the Berlin Airlift to be by far one of the greatest victories of all time and had been waiting for you to cover it. Not disappointed in the slightest!

"The American and RAF pilots are flying with the confidence of knowing that if one of these Soviets shoots them down that President Truman is going to bitch slap their entire country with the Sun." This line goes hard

I miss this type of America. When everything we did, was just to absolutely flex on the rest of the world.

The Airlift, in my opinion, was one of the most -- if not _the_ most -- heroic flexes in all of human history.

In high school I read a book of the first-hand accounts of survivors of the Atomic Bombs in Japan, and in the literal hours and days after the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the Japanese survivors (and one German pastor) saw American ships closing in and were TERRIFIED the Americans were coming to "finish them all off" and then were in utter shock when they saw medical teams and engineers leave the ships, repairing the city, trying to rescue trapped survivors, and patching up the wounded. My teacher remarked that, "We wanted to end the war, not destroy the country." Once Tokyo surrendered, we went in to save as many as we could. America sure as hell ain't perfect, but I have never heard of a victorious nation showing such support for their defeated enemy.

As a retired Marine Corps Logistician, I'm not ashamed to say I get a little choked up at the herculean effort to accomplish the Berlin Airlift. Those people were heroes.

Russian: Winter is coming American: So fucking what? Here's another thousand blue whales.

When WW2 ended and my country was overtook by the soviets, my grandad was 14 years old at that time. While he was still alive, he used to tell me stories about how the soviets marching through our land as "saviors" and "liberators" were 100 times worse than the Germans, marching there 3 years earlier as so called "occupators". Everything our country had keeping its economy stable was drained from the USSR. Rose oil and tobacco alone were worth more than $5 billion... in 1947. That's $71 Billion in todays money. That is just from 2 products from the national reserve in less than 3 years. Btw the rose oil was sold to France a month later at quadruple the price. All of the reparations we had to pay to Greece and Yugoslavia over the period of 8 years, worth $70 million, were HALF of what the USSR was taking for their "liberation" service EVERY SINGLE YEAR. He spent the majority of his life living under soviet regime and hated every single piece of that rotten ideology. My other grandad was the same age and he was a colonel in our army. In 1968 he was just rising through the ranks and was sent to then Czechoslovakia alongside 10 000 other men from our army to support the "voluntary change of power" that was taking place there. When they got there they saw people wearing jeans and nice jackets, walking around all fancy looking. He asked them what were they celebrating, if there was some major national holiday and they responded that this is just how they dress and walk around everyday. This is to the bright contrast of the people here walking around with what they could've made themselves or have someone stich them something together. There were some clothing factories, but of course most of the products instantly left the borders towards Moscow. This was 23 years after WW2 and people here were still queuing with coupons for stuff like bread, flour, milk and some meat. That's when my grandad got his views turned 180 degrees and understood that communism is a system that exploits everyone for the benefits of the few and their ideology isn't to improve, but to prevent others from improving and keep everyone as miserable as them. So yeah - fuck communism is about as clear as i can put it.

Served in West Berlin a few years before the Wall came down. The airllift story was central to what we were taught our country would do to support the city. We knew if World War III happened, there may have not been a huge amount our brigade could do but like the airlift pilots, we were going to give it 110%. Happy 248th Birthday, America. Am so glad to have done a tiny amount to keep Berlin free.

As a German I must say "Then the Soviets got all pissy and built a wall through Germany(...)" sounds like the best summary of the entire european cold war

Gail Halvorsen was actually reprimanded by his command until the press got ahold of it. He kept on doing it until the press got wind of it. He would wiggle his wings to indicate a candy drop from all the other planes flying into berlin. He died last year and was still doing candy drops in his 90's at air shows. Fucking cool guy.

This is a legitimate heartwarming story about people just being good to each other after such a dark time in history. So beautiful, why didn't I learn this in school

British and American Kids raising Money was something I didn't know. But I did shed some tears when I heard it. I wasn't there of course, but hearing that so many people helped really warms my heart. Danke.

Russia: **closes all the land routes into berlin** America: "You know that the airport is on our side of the wall, right?"

the entire operation is honestly one of the most beautiful acts of humanity we have ever done

I was a loadmaster on the C-141B during Desert Shield/Storm. They told us then that we carried as much cargo to the Middle East as the entire Berlin Airlift in one week. Hats off though in those old planes back then the cold, they did a fantastic job. I am surprised they did not airdrop back then would have saved a ton of on-the-ground turnarounds.

Dude, Gail Halvorsen was a badass, he got the idea to drop candy after he was standing around the border and saw a group of kids standing by the fence asking for food. All he had was a box of gum, he gave it to them and they all divided it up amongst themselves and the ones that didn’t get any where content to just sniff the candy wrappers. One of those German kids grew up and moved to my tiny town in the US, and every Christmas he would fly the Spirit of Freedom down and do a candy drop for the local kids and he would give a talk at the school. He flew until he passed, and never stopped dropping candy, fucking awesome

Soviet logic: Wait for winter and if winter doesn’t fix it we’re fucked

My great uncle (grandmother's oldest brother) Col. Victor Sandacz was a B-17 pilot during the war, then held the record for fastest run during the Berlin Airlift. He continued flying, was the first man to log 1000 flying hours in a B-52, participated in Operation Chrome Dome, and by the time he retired, was second in command of an airbase outside of Arlington, Tx.

My grandfather was part of Operation: Manna from Heaven during WW2, the precursor to the idea of the Berlin Airlift. The commemorative medallion he got in the '70s meant more to him than his Bronze Star or Distinguished Flying cross he earned over Germany. The amount of amazing things the Army Corps did during that time frame never ceases to amaze me.

2:38 that is actually quite a beautiful way to look at it. What I also find beautiful about the airlift, apart from the whole thing essentially (I am half German, and I used to spend a lot of time in Berlin during my childhood, learning about the cities history), is that during the whole ordeal, the German people and allied forces worked together to make it work. People who were fighting to the death mere years before were now working hand in hand to supply the freezing and starving population. The whole thing is an absolutely beautiful display of love and humanity.

My grandfather is the current president of the Berlin Airlift Veterans Association, unfortunately so many of the veterans are now gone or too frail to travel but this year is the 75th anniversary and they must not be forgotten. Thank you fat electrician for doing this video!

While we're talking about airlifts, we should also mention the American version that ran concurrent to Berlin: Operation Haylift during the winter of 48/49 in the western US. In the first few weeks of 1949, a major blizzard hit the majority of the American West. Road and rail routes were blocked as snow built up, leaving communities, ranchers, and copious herds of livestock stranded without supplies. The national guard, regular army, and countless private contractors were brought in to clear snow and get to hay stacks. Loose hay is baled and hauled to air bases, where it is loaded into C-82 cargo planes and flown to stranded livestock. While many head still perished, this action saved incredible amounts of cattle and sheep. So not only were we so well trained and equipped that we could literally fly in the face of communism, but at the same time provide the same service we gave the Germans to American livestock. If that doesn't highlight the incredible ability of the US military in peacetime, I don't know what does!

And thats just one reason why we love you guys, greetings from germany.. :)

When you drive on the A5 (Bundesautobahn 5), coming from the Frankfurt Airport, driving south, you can still see the airbridge memorial with 2 planes. There's also one in Berlin

Growing up in berlin i remember hearing my grandmother telling me the story of the luftbruecke (german for air-bridge) and how she was always excited to see the little parachutes with the candy bars fall from the sky as a child. Even 4 decades later she teared up at the end and said she couldn't believe there are ppl in America and great Britain that cared about whether or not a little berlin girl starved to death. Now it made me tear up to see ppl still care about what happened all those years ago Thank you chubby electron guy

I met Col. Halverson once. His plane is a flying museum and gets maintenance at our local airport. He came to town once and recreated a candy bomb run for a bunch of school kids. He was an incredibly humble and genuinely approachable guy.

So let me get this straight: in a time of struggle and strife in a Soviet-surrounded city, one of our boys decided to deliver payloads of candy to the children? BY WASHINGTON'S WIG, THEY HAD BETTER GIVEN THAT MAN A MEDAL! Jokes aside, this was one of the most amazing story of how humanitarian our operations can be.

What makes this story even better is knowing that they just got done killing and destroying each other in war, but coming together and pulling this off is truly beautiful.I know the Berlin Airlift is touched on in history, but we should learn a lot more about this. What an amazing accomplishment. This would be difficult to pull off today, let alone 80 years ago. W for humanity 🇺🇲 🇬🇧 🇩🇪

I’m Half German and Half American. And this is my favorite story in US history. My German moms loves it equally as much. Why ? Cause Berlin had no tactical purpose . 0 . Miles behind enemy lines it only had propoganda value and even there those could have been dealt with by simply evacuating civilians and then supplying the soldiers with food till the blockade broke . But the US did none of those things . Instead we sacrificed men, and airplanes to keep Berlin alive and to keep its people fed . Berlin stands today as a prosperous capital of a United Germany because the US was willing to sacrifice its own to make it happen. If you ask me it is the greatest triumph of the US millitary. Also I cannot understate how massive of a propoganda win this was for the US. It was the Berlin airlift that turned the US and England from an occupying enemy into friends. The fact that even today europe is still friendly with the US is a testament to success of the doctrine which created the Berlin airlift. Kindness creates friends l.

The Candy Bomber guy passed away just last year in our town. He would do local news interviews and was super involved in the community literally until he died. Mr. Halvorsen was truly an incredible man.

As he’s describing them dropping candy, I’m just imagining a Soviet commander watching from a distance and getting extremely angry at the sight, just to have his assistant scoot up to him eating a Hershey bar.

The Berlin Airlift is one of my favorite stories from history, sometimes it can even bring a tear to my eye

You're doing more for American History than our education system has done in a few decades. Thank you.

"They always talk about 'seizing the means of production.' What they never bother to tell you is that _people_ are also a part of that means of production and that they will seize you, too." That is an _amazing_ quote

It's weird that you never saw the inverse, you never saw the Soviets airlifting food and supplies into West Germany. All they did was punish and scold them.

You should do a video on Léo Major. He was a Canadian sniper during ww2 and the Korean war. He took over a whole town by himself and captured 93 waffen ss in one night because they killed his friend. Then in the Korean war he led 20 of his men to defend a hil from Chinese forces for 3 days and even called artilery strikes many times on his location. To make it even better he did all of this with one eye cause the other was blown away from a grenade and quote he "only needs one eye to aim his rifle".

My grandfather was a rail gunner on a dauntless for the Corps in Ww2, got out and hated civilian life so he re-enlisted into the USAF as a Loadmaster and was a part of the Berlin airlift.

To put it in perspective, they teach all the new Airmen in BMT about the Berlin Airlift. And to this day, its seen as one of the Air Force's most successful operations to date. As an Air Force veteran, I think it's cool people get to see another side of our service.

this almost made me cry. i love hearing stories about people working together in the face of adversity

I knew Gail Halverson in his last years and talked with him regularly, the man was a saint and a personal hero of mine. He would get in a helicopter every Halloween and drop Hersey bars.

Do you know what, despite all the transatlantic rivalry and name calling, i absolutely love it when the US and UK fist bump and say to each other "good job, dude"

“Babe why do you take so long in the bathroom?”-My GF “I’m learning history from a electrician from Iowa”-Me

This story was really cool to hear. My dad who was born in 1944, was deployed to Germany while the Berlin wall was being built. He was in Bamburg

My dad visited Berlin in the 80's on a school trip, the east german economy was so bad, when you crossed from west Berlin to east Berlin, they made you exchange a certain ammount of money into east german marks, "so you could spend in their country" and then on your way back in to west Berlin you couldn't exchange them back because they were worth nothing. The west german 1 mark coin was made like a normal quarter or half dollar you'd see in America, copper and nickel sandwich. The east german 1 mark coin looked identical except it was stamped on an aluminum blank so it was super light and flimsy like some kind of token

East german resident here: first of all. thank you for this amazing video about this event. It cemented the friendship many germans feel towards the former western allies ( well except france because.. their are french :P ). A little addition to the vid: at first the former luftwaffe technicians didnt even have a german manual for repairing 20 different types of aircraft. they just did what they could and sent the plane back up. later they got manuals for them and well... those planes left the airfield in top condition after being serviced by men who a few years prior were their enemies. and to the point of the Candy bombers: in germany they had a nickname as well: Rosinenbomber meaning raisin bombers. and that little clip you showed of playing kids. yeah.. german kids were playing fucking airlift :)

Halvorson was also known as "Uncle Wiggly Wings" as he would rock his aircraft gently to signal to the children which plane was his in the beginning before operation Little vittles was officially started. When you become a cherished figure that brought joy and happiness to a generation of children during one of the darkest points in their lives you've done something right.

My dad was in on this as a flight engineer on C-54's in the Air Force. I helped finish them off on the Nimitz (1976/77) as a Radar Tech on Marine Phantoms. Reagan took it from there 😁

This needs to be a movie. There would be plenty of action. It would be an epic war movie, and not a single shot would be fired. The "chocolate bombs" would be cinematic gold.

There is actually an Airlift Memorial (Luftbrückendenkmal) in Berlin for this. The German term for this undertaking is "Luftbrücke" meaning airbridge and the German term for the candybombers was "Rosinenbomber", which translates into raisin bombers. Another both informative and entertaining video. Bravo! Cheers from Germany.

Hey there Fat Electrician, Man Im almost 67 years old and I get the biggest kick outta your untold history vids. I am a blue collar history buff and you hit a lot of topics that I have read and studied. The most important thing is you call it the way you understand it. And I haven't found anything wrong yet. Just wanted to wish you anf your family great and safe holidays. Keep up!!!! Oh I have your decals on all my vehicles and my wife had me put the Quack bang on her 4 runner. Enjoying my new coffee mug also. Keep us laughing. the world needs more of that. You otta run for president, you got our vote. Thanks, willie Dog!

War is always about willpower and logistics. I was a logistician for the Army for 14 years. We're pretty good at that shit

General Tunner's logistics system is the grandfather for modern aviation flow control including standard arrival and departure procedures. That's how great his idea was.

German here. My Parents grew up in Berlin during the Airlift. Thanks for everything !

Imagine starting and loosing a war, only to have the dust wiped off of you by the victor and stood back up on your feet, and handed a candy bar, i love it

That’s the last time I procrastinate watching a new TFE video. This was a gem. Dogging on communism, exceptional non-profit humanitarian efforts, history lessons and America being part of the solution in the most badass way possible. A tier-one quality Christmas present! Cheers to you, sir!

Just found The Fat Electrician. Immediately watched this piece about the Berlin Airlift. Enjoyed it immensely. Like, really really enjoyed it. Well researched, well delivered. A couple of witty asides thrown in for light relief. And I learnt some new stuff. Thank you.

My great Uncle flew with the USAF as a.... yeah... Loadmaster.. with the Berlin airlift. he was in charge of making sure each plane had the right set of cargo to ensure proper delivery runs. this plane gets water, this plane gets coal, this plane gets food, this plane gets a little bit of everything. he told my dad that his crews were so good at sorting the cargo to be loaded that he effectively wasn't needed on the runways or the warehouses anymore. so he would hop into a couple of the planes to fly to Berlin and help organize the cargo as it was being unloaded and distributed.

I’m glad you mentioned the candy bomber. Colonel Halvorsen lived about 20 miles from me and I got the chance to meet him a couple of times. Very kind-hearted gentleman. Tremonton, Utah has a large mural on the side of a building downtown recognizing his accomplishments.

My Dad (Naval Intel) told me all this stuff as I grew up. THANK YOU for educating a new generation about the times when we did it right! [*I’m* not crying; *you’re* crying!]

I greatly enjoy all your videos. My two sons told me about your channel and showed me the "Proportional" video, I was hooked ever since. I am a 59 yr. old disabled volunteer firefighter. I was a vol. firefighter for 10+ years, then became the president of our volunteer department, then retired due to health issues. I love my God, my family and my country; In that order. When the first one tells me to do something it trumps the rest. When the second one tells me to do something I have to listen after I have a mild heart attack. :) But I will always will be there for the last one. For some odd reason I relate to everything you have posted so far. Please keep up the great work you are doing. As we are living in the poorest county in TN and I am now on disability I cannot help with money but you will always have my prayers and thanks for all that you do. Please keep on keeping on. Tony R. Duncan, Perry County, TN.

Don’t forget the US Navy was flying too, my grandfather flew 141 successful missions in the Berlin Airlift for the USN.

My undergrad is in History. Focus was on Medieval/ Renaissance Europe. You are the best U S. History Prof I've ever had.

“President Truman is going to bitch slap their entire country with the sun” 😂😂😂😂😂😂, how is nobody quoting this?

The Berlin airlift is easily one of my favorite parts of military history and history in general

Please do a video on Francis Marion aka the Swamp Fox. He’s arguably the father of modern guerrilla warfare. The Rangers still use some of his tactics today IIRC. Guy is quite interesting and a military genius. Anyone who doesn’t know about him I highly suggest looking into him.

Should give Michael Thornton a consideration for a vid. He was a seal in Vietnam who, after a botched mission, swam carrying his injured senior officer and an injured south Vietnamese soldier for 3 hours in open water until he was rescued. He's the most decorated navy seal in it's history.

One of the greatest storytellers of our time!! I look forward to these. I even take a beak so I can have something to binge watch at work!!

In 2007, I attended a USAF NCO Leadership course at McGuire AFB, NJ. The "Candy Bomber" was a guest speaker at one point during the course, and he had all of us riveted. One of the nicest people you could have ever met, too.

What I love about the Berlin airlift was the fact that they had seaplanes landing on the lakes to increase the amount of cargo they could fly in.

Honestly. It's stories like this that make me wish our country's leadership still had this sort of respectability and overall skill.

In April 1945 you guys did more or less the same thing for us in the Netherlands with "operation mana and "operation chowhound". Always Rembered, always Grateful

My favorite part of the story is where the former German military showed up on the second day and volunteered to do anything to help the situation And I mean everybody from the military, there were pilots who were put on the unloading assembly line, regular army soldiers doing the same thing when our guys found out that some of the guys were in aircraft maintenance they immediately sent them to the maintenance hangers in Germany, everyone pitched in it was a beautiful sight

Had the pleasure of meeting Col. Halvorsen before he passed. He was my hero, and just so happened to live in the same senior living facility as my grandparents. I cannot stress enough how kind and tender of a man he was. One of those folks that could just by smiling at you, turn the worst day for the better. A true heart of gold, and I daresay a saint. If I can be even a quarter what Col. Halvorsen was, I'll die happy. God rest his soul.

I had the honor to have met and be acquainted with Gail Halverson (The Candy Bomber) back in my time living in Arizona. I’ve never met anyone with that big of a heart. His love for his country and his fellow man is apparent. You meet him once and you will feel like you’ve known him forever.

2.3 million TONS. That's like 70 THOUSAND Sherman tanks. During the whole of WWII we built 50,000 Sherman tanks.

Even a modern 747 cargo plane can only carry about 250 tons. And they require a 2-mile runway. And even with the established lanes, flying planes of that era in such crowded skies was a huge skill of its own. These folks were badasses.

I lived in Germany for a short time when I was a kid as my dad was stationed there with the RAF and since then I have always felt a special connection with Germany and damn, did this being tears to my eyes. God bless all involved in this amazing effort. When America, Britain and the Germans come together, we.can do anything. 🇬🇧🇩🇪🇺🇸

June 16 2024, a Western Airlines DC-3 dropped Jelly Bellies over Wiesbaden in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the end of the Berlin Airlift

The Berlin airlift was a year long campaign. Six C-5s could’ve done it in one day. Incredible.

Logistics personnel can make military operations easy or damned near impossible. The tonnage of supplies that were delivered is so impressive. That was a heart warming story, thanks for sharing.

This one was heart warming, good job Chubby Electron Guy!

Still greatfull to the western powers that they helped out my ancestors even after this horrible war that just had happened. My grandma used to talk about all the airplanes flying over them and hearing on the radio that they dropped supplies into berlin. Much love from Germany

I wish the politicians of U.S would watch this channel help them remember what America is about.

I don’t know what to say but we the people of Berlin are so lucky that that happened I still have one of those parachutes with the original candy it was passed by me from my grandfather This is the greatest humanitarian mission ever love your vids

I'm crying at how touching this 15-month long humanitarian support was, and laughing at , once again, your comedic quips and delivery! I absolutely love your videos. I so can't wait to hear about the Berlin Wall next week!

My dad was a truck driver for the NZ post office amd often when I was alittle fella I would hop into the truck with him to pick up the mail from Christchurch Airport, which includes a US airbase for their Antarctic expeditions. I loved catching sight of the newer version of the Globemaster III and the Galaxy. Monster planes to my 8 year eyes!!!

I'd heard of the Berlin airlift but I'd never heard any details of it. Even in high school, when we spent an entire term in history on WW2, the Berlin airlift wasn't covered, because it was after the war. Thanks for posting this, and going into such detail. You do some very cool videos Mr Nick.

Man stories like this really get me going. I love hearing about the heros of war, guns, planes, tanks, and other really cool stories. That said, hearing about so many people volunteering and coming together to help people in need, not because they're forced but because it's the right thing to do, makes my heart swell. This shit is amazing and shows the heart of a volunteer.

I still love that rather than use a metric unit of measurement, FE gives the weight in pounds, and aquatic life.

The loading and unloading is more impressive than landing and taking off. All the background crap required is mind blowing.

Gail Halverson was an incredible human being. God rest his soul. Thanks for covering this, TFE!