Operation Little Vittles: A Mini Story

When researching for my Teufelsberg post a couple of weeks ago I stumbled across a wonderful piece of history that could not go without being retold. Fair warning, this may be the sweetest story you will ever hear. So without further ado, here is the tale of Operation Little Vittles.

Gail Halvorsen was a US Officer, WWII command pilot, and all round good guy. Following a turbulent few years fighting, Gail finally settled down to an easy life, transporting goods and services across the Atlantic Ocean, only to find himself in the limelight once again in June 1948, at the start of the Berlin Blockade. 

To jog your memories, the Berlin Blockade was a year long lock-down of West Berlin by the USSR. The Soviet Union were not pleased with West Berlin behaviour and decided the best method of discipline would be to cut all transport links out of the city, isolating the West from all outside goods and services. Unfortunately for the USSR, this scheme failed to deliver, as the allies banded together and flew resources directly into West Berlin. As such, the blockade ended just 11 months after it had begun.

One of the pilots tasked with delivering these resources was Gail Halvorsen. An adventurous type, Gail used much of his down-time to explore the city of West Berlin. On one such occasion after touching down in Tempelhof, Gail came by a crowd of children gathered at the end of the runway.

"Hello, are you one of the pilots?!"
"I am indeed. The names Gail Halvorsen, nice to meet you".

Immediately Gail was bombarded with question from excited children;"what it is like to be a pilot?", "how do the planes work?", "how far have you flown?". To the children, Gail was a hero. Before leaving, Gail pulled from his pocket a couple of sticks of Wrigley's Doublemint Gum for the youngsters to share. Never were a group of kids so elated; they shared the two sticks between themselves, passing the wrapper around so each could smell it. 

"Well arent you a generous lot! I tell you what, next time I fly by I'll be sure to drop off more."

"But mister, how will we know it's you?"

"I'll wiggle my wings", Gail said, eyes twinkling.

True to his word, the very next day Gail flew over Berlin and wiggled his wings. He then achieved the stuff of childrens dreams. He made the sky rain chocolate. Gail released from his plane a handful of chocolate bars, each with a tiny handkerchief parachute attached, which drifted gracefully down into the outstretched arms of the runway children. The following days saw more and more children gathering to see the candy coloured miracle and before long Gail had built quite the fan base. Letters made their way to base op, addressed to "Uncle Wiggly Wings", "The Chocolate Uncle" and "The Chocolate Flier". William H. Tunner, a general officer in the US airforce at the time eventually caught wind of this sweet story.

"Genius!" he decleared. "We must expand at once." 

And so Operation "Little Vittles" was born. Further pilots were recruited to the mission and Operation Little Vittles grew overnight. Word eventually got back to the US media and children accorss the states began sending in their own candy to help, finally leading to contributions from a few major candy manufacturers. 

Gail Halvorsen had made a miracle. By the end of the Blockade twenty three tonnes of candy had been dropped on Berlin, in a mission unlike any other in history. 

Operation Little Vittles' had bought hope, lifted spirits, and made the struggling city a little bit sweeter. 

If you want to read a bit more on Operation Little Vittles there is a website dedicated to this story: http://wigglywings.weebly.com/.
Also Gail went on to have a little bit of a career in the film industry, so check ut his credits on IMDB.

That's all I have for you for now my friends, I hope you enjoyed this sweet installment. 

Happy Travelling,

Vicky