The British and the Berlin Airlift

Join Dr Doris Müller-Toovey for a talk to mark the 75th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift.

In December 1946, the Royal Air Force station newspaper, 'Air Line', published a report about a new radar-based approach guidance system called Ground-Controlled Approach (GCA).

At the time, it seemed little more than a potentially useful technical advancement. But two years later, after the Soviet Union had blockaded all land and water access routes to West Berlin, this revolutionary new technology would prove vital to the Western Allies’ attempts to air-lift supplies to the German capital.

Seventy-five years on from the Berlin airlift, the Museum of Military History at Airfield Gatow in Berlin is revisiting the history of these events in a new special exhibition, Blockaded Victors - Divided Berlin.

In this fascinating talk, Dr Doris Müller-Toovey will explore one of the major themes of the exhibition: the vital role of the British and their Berlin airfield at Gatow to the ultimate success of the airlift.

She will also discuss the role of new technologies, the experience of evacuees, the significance of the Royal Air Force, and the work of loaders that included British Army personnel.