 BERLIN BLOCKADE:
Berlin Blockade, The (1948-1949), ban on land traffic between
West Berlin and West Germany imposed by the Soviet occupation authorities. In
1945 the German capital Berlin was divided into four sectors and the rest of
the country into four zones, each separate zone occupied by Britain, France,
the Soviet Union, and the United States. Berlin was completely surrounded by
the Soviet zone, known as East Germany.
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is one of Berlin's
most famous landmarks. The original church, built in the late 19th century, was
almost completely destroyed during World War II. In 1961 a new church was
completed around the remains of the old one; the new structure features a
hexagon-shaped bell tower and honeycomb patterns of stained glass. |
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Royal Air Force Regiment
SERVICE CLUB
"Proud of
our Corps". "Proud of our Association".
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A Tale from an Old Soldier:
I had served in
the Army during the war, came out & had a taste of "civvy life". Also had
met a nice young lady called Myra. Tried working in civvy street but could not
settle down, so I applied to the Air Ministry for a position in the R A F
Regiment. After being away so long during the war Myra was not really thrilled
at the idea but after discussing it she agreed that a short-term commission of
six years she could accept.
On the plus side of things was the fact
that should we decide to get married there were married quarters plus marriage
allowance, which would boost the income. The other side of things was that I
could return to working for Woolworth's in Southampton, this would take years
to save up enough monies for us to get married.
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| I eventually received instructions to report to Catterick,
where I would undergo a conversion course of six weeks & was granted the
rank of Pilot Officer. With this I had twenty-three months seniority, which
meant that if I kept my "nose clean" I would be promoted to Flying Officer
after one month. I duly finished the conversion course & received my F. O.
rank & was posted to 2nd TAF, to join 56(R) sqdn at RAF Wunstorf, this was
October 1948. |
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| The Berlin Airlift had just commenced & in view
of the political situation at the time the airfields had to be defended. The
role of the R A F Regiment was then airfield defence. I was completely
shattered; I was going away on detachment for three months, separated from my
beloved Myra. I flew to Wunstorf heavy hearted & threw myself into the
routine, writing to Myra every day & in turn receiving letters from her
daily. The station was extremely active, an aeroplane took off every three
minutes for Berlin and one landed empty also every three minutes, this during
the period of propeller aircraft so try to imagine the noise of the roar of
engines, either running up prior to take off or clearing once landed! I
remember that when I eventually returned to the U.K. it was so quiet it was a
long time before I could get off to sleep at night! |
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Those old enough to remember, will know that the
Berlin Airlift was a mammoth exercise, commenced when the Russians attempted to
starve the beleaguered Berlin. The Allies immediately arranged to fly in all
essential supplies of food & coal. British aircraft using Gatow airfield,
the Americans, Templehof. It followed that an exercise of this proportion
required careful planning & timing in view of the fact that there was just
a narrow air corridor which allies were allowed to use. Any aircraft straying
beyond were liable to be shot down by the Russians. Wunstorf was a very lively
station & of course the officers mess dining room was available twenty-four
hours of the day. Most of the personnel feeding & sleeping when they could.
At the times I was able to eat, it was in the company of many of the wartime
aircrews, some having had very distinguished careers. One such individual was
Air Vice Marshall Don Bennett, one time C O of the famous "Pathfinder" Group,
now operating as a civilian pilot, operating one of his own Tudor 5's & who
I had the pleasure of chatting to on several occasions.
Then came the
day, my C O advised me that I was to accompany him on one of the trips in an
Anson, to have a look at the defensive system at RAF Gatow in Berlin. I just
said a silent prayer hoping the pilot would keep within the bounds of the
corridor, I had no desire to be shot down by a Russian in "peacetime", having
successfully survived the war!! However all went well & we returned without
incident, but it was a memorable sight to see the Russian checkpoints around
the perimeter of Gatow airfield, the guards fully armed & looking
distinctly unfriendly! By now it was seemingly apparent why the duty detachment
was for a six-month period only. The stress caused by constant activities &
noise would eventually cause problems, if duty was extended further. I, for one
was very happy to get home to England again. |
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HAL WARREN
AIR LIFT BERLIN 48 |
HAL WARREN
Catterick Sep 1948. |
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