The Berlin Air Lift stands as one of the darkest moments in the history of the Cold War, but one pilot stands out from the crowd: Uncle Wiggly Wings, AKA “The Candy Bomber.”
Lt. Gail Halvorsen from Provo, Utah, thrilled children with candy air-dropped from his plane. But for the thousands of children in that besieged city, he was one of those brave American pilots who kept the supplies of food flowing during the blockade.
Following the end of World War II, Germany was divided among the Allies. The Soviet Union controlled the eastern half and the western half was divided between the United States, Great Britain, and France. But in 1948, after three years of post-war occupation, the Russians grew tired of sharing Berlin and blocked access to the city. That cut off its two million residents from food and supplies. The intent: Starve the city and the West into submission.
The United States responded by sending in pilots to help fly food into Berlin in what became known as the Berlin Airlift. From June 1948 to September 1949, American, French and British planes airlifted 2.3 million tons of food, coal, medicine and other supplies to the beleaguered city. At its peak, planes landed every 90 seconds.
One of those pilots who volunteered was Halvorsen. One day while standing at the runway’s edge, he saw a group of boys and girls behind the barbed wire fence who were watching the planes take off and land. He struck up a conversation with them and the hungry children asked him if he had any candy or gum.
Halvorsen took two sticks of gum he had in his pocket and broke them into four pieces, handing them out to the children, which they then divided up amongst themselves. Seeing their excitement, he promised to drop more gum and candy on his next flight. When asked how they would know which plane was his, Halvorsen told them he would “wiggle his wings.”
True to his word, on his next mission Halvorsen bought all the candy he could find, wiggled his plane’s wings, and dropped sweets out of his C-54 to the children below using small parachutes made from handkerchiefs. Over the next few weeks, Halvorsen repeated his candy drops and soon letters addressed to “Der Schokoladenflieger” (The Chocolate Pilot) and “Onkel Wackelflugel” (Uncle Wiggly Wings) began to arrive from children requesting candy drops in other parts of the city.
Realizing the psychological boost Halvorsen’s efforts were having on the Berliner’s morale, the military soon lent its full support and “Operation Little Vittles” was born. Fellow airmen volunteered to help and thousands of pounds of candy donated by the American Confections Association and school children in America began to be dropped on all parts of Berlin. By January of 1949 Halvorsen had dropped more than 23 tons of candy from 250,000 parachutes on the city.
The Soviets threw in the towel and lifted the blockade in May 1949. The air lift had not only saved the city, but also brought joy and lifted the spirits of Berliners thanks in part to the efforts of the Candy Bombers and “Uncle Wiggly Wings” and his simple act of kindness.