The Candy Bomber Can

THE OVERLOOK

By Tom Clavin

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          Some aficionados of 20th-century history will be glad to know that earlier this year Col. Gail Halvorsen survived a case of Covid-19. And that if he keeps plugging along, later this year he will turn 101.

          Who is he? First, let me point out that it was 72 years ago this month that the Berlin Blockade was ended. Second, it ended because of the effectiveness of the Berlin Airlift, and that is where Col. Halvorsen – also known as the “Candy Bomber” – comes into the story.

          In June 1948, during the multinational occupation of post-war Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western allies’ railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. The dispute was over what kind of currency would be used in West Germany. In reaction, the allies began the Berlin Airlift to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin. American and British air forces flew over 200,000 sorties in one year, including fuel and food. The original plan had been to lift 3,475 tons of supplies daily, but by the spring of 1949, the peak daily delivery totaled 12,941 tons.

Having initially concluded there was no way the airlift could work, its continued success became an increasing embarrassment for the Soviets. On May 12, 1949, the USSR lifted the blockade of West Berlin, although for a time the Americans and British continued to supply the city by air as they were worried that the Soviets would renege. In total, the U.S. Air Force had delivered 1,783,573 tons and the RAF 541,937 tons of supplies on 278,228 flights to Berlin. In addition, air crews from other countries assisted the RAF during the blockade. The C-47s and C-54s together flew over 92,000,000 miles in the process, almost the distance from Earth to the sun. At the height of the operation, one plane reached West Berlin every 30 seconds.

Then-Lieutenant Halvorsen's role in the Berlin Airlift was to fly one of many C-54 cargo planes. He had an interest in photography and on his days off he often went sightseeing in Berlin and shot film on his personal handheld movie camera. One day in July 1948, he was filming plane takeoffs and landings at Tempelhof, the main landing site for the airlift. While there, he saw about 30 children lined up behind one of the barbed-wire fences. He went to meet them and as he spoke to them Halvorsen reached into his pocket and took out two sticks of gum. The kids broke them into little pieces and shared them; the ones who did not get any sniffed the wrappers.

Halvorsen regretted not having more to give them. He told them that the following day he would have enough gum for all of them, and he would drop it out of his plane. One child asked, "How will we know it is your plane?" The pilot responded that he would wiggle his wings, something he had done for his parents when he first got his pilot's license in 1941.

That night, Halvorsen, his copilot, and his engineer pooled their candy rations for the next day's drop. The accumulated supply was heavy, so in order to ensure the children were not hurt by the falling candy, Halvorsen made three parachutes out of handkerchiefs and tied them to the rations. In the morning when Halvorsen and his crew made regular supply drops, they also dropped three boxes of candy attached to handkerchiefs. They made these drops once a week for three weeks. Each week, the group of children waiting at the Tempelhof airport fence grew significantly.

When word reached the airlift commander, Lieutenant General William Tunner, he ordered the project expanded. Operation "Little Vittles" began officially on September 22. Support for this effort to provide the children of Berlin with chocolate and gum grew quickly, first among Halvorsen's friends, then to the whole squadron. As news of Operation “Little Vittles” reached the United States, children and candymakers from all over the country began contributing. By November 1948, Halvorsen could no longer keep up with the amount of candy and handkerchiefs being sent from across America. A college student, Mary Connors, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, offered to take charge of the now national project and worked with the National Confectioners Association to prepare the candy and tie the handkerchiefs.

With the groundswell of support, “Little Vittles” pilots, of which Halvorsen was now one of many, were dropping candy every other day. Children all over Berlin had sweets and more and more artwork was getting sent back with kind letters attached to them. The American crews became known as the Rosinenbomber or “Raisin Bombers,” while Halvorsen himself became known by many nicknames to the children of Berlin, including his original moniker of "Uncle Wiggly Wings" as well as "The Chocolate Uncle," "The Gum Drop Kid," and "The Chocolate Flier.”

Operation "Little Vittles" was in effect to May 13, 1949. When Halvorsen had rotated home that January, he passed on leadership of the operation to one of his friends, Captain Lawrence Caskey. Upon his return home, Halvorsen met with several individuals who were key in making Operation "Little Vittles" a success. One he met with was Dorothy Groeger, a homebound woman who nonetheless enlisted the help of all of her friends and acquaintances to sew handkerchiefs and donate funds. He also met the schoolchildren and the "Little Vittles" Committee of Chicopee, Massachusetts who were responsible for preparing over 18 tons of candy and gum from across the country and shipping it to Germany. In total, it is estimated that Operation "Little Vittles" was responsible for dropping over 23 tons of candy from over 250,000 parachutes.

Halvorsen's work with Operation "Little Vittles" not only won him international acclaim but resulted in several marriage proposals from women. He turned them down because he hoped that the girl he left home in Garland, Utah, would still have feelings for him. He had met Alta Jolley in 1942 at Utah State Agricultural College. As it turned out, Gail Halvorsen and Alta Jolley were married in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 16, 1949. The couple had five children, all of whom were raised in various parts of the United States and Germany as Halvorsen fulfilled his military assignments. After Colonel Halvorsen's retirement from the U.S. Air Force in 1974, the couple moved to Provo, Utah, where he served as the Assistant Dean of Student Life at Brigham Young University. He and his wife were active in the Mormon Church including serving as missionaries in London and, ironically, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

When Alta Halvorsen died in January 1999, the couple had 24 grandchildren. Five years later, Halvorsen married again, this time to his high school sweetheart (!), Lorraine Pace. The couple currently resides on their farm in Utah and spend winters in Arizona. Even a bout of Covid-19 could not stop the Candy Bomber.

Tom Clavin is the bestselling author/co-author of 18 books, including his latest collaboration with Bob Drury, “Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America’s First Frontier,” published last month by St. Martin’s Press and residing on national bestseller lists. Please go to your local bookstore or to Bookshop.org, Amazon.com, or BN.com to purchase a copy.