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Associated Press

A US military pilot known as the “Candy Bomber” for his candy airdrops during the Berlin Airlift after World War II ended has died.
Gail S. Halvorsen was 101 when he died on Wednesday following a brief illness in his home state of Utah, surrounded by most of his children, James Stewart, the director of the Gail S. Halvorsen Aviation Education Foundation, said on Thursday.
Halvorsen was beloved and venerated in Berlin, which he last visited in 2019 when the city celebrated the 70th anniversary of the day the Soviets lifted their post-War World II blockade cutting off supplies to West Berlin with a big party at the former Tempelhof airport in the German capital.
“Halvorsen’s deeply human act has never been forgotten,” Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey said in a statement.

Rest in peace Colonel Gail Halvorsen, Berlin's Candy Bomber.

During the Berlin Airlift, Halvorsen dropped candy from his plane for the children. Soon, it became a massive Air Force operation, giving hope to millions.

I celebrate your 101 years of life and friendship. pic.twitter.com/dzii5Rf127
— Emily Haber (@GermanAmbUSA) February 17, 2022

Halvorsen was born in Salt Lake City but grew up on farms before getting his pilot’s licence.
After the United States entered the second world war following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he trained as a fighter pilot and served as a transport pilot in the South Atlantic during World War II before flying food and other supplies to West Berlin as part of the airlift.
According to his account on the foundation’s website, Halvorsen had mixed feelings about the mission to help the United States’ former enemy after losing friends during the war.
But his attitude changed, and his new mission was launched, after meeting a group of children behind a fence at Tempelhof airport.
Oldest US WWII veteran dies aged 112
He offered them the two pieces of gum that he had, broken in half, and was touched to see those who got the gum sharing pieces of the wrapper with the other children, who smelled the paper. He promised to drop enough for all of them the following day as he flew, wiggling the wings of his plane as he flew over the airport, Halvorsen recalled.
He started doing so regularly, using his own candy ration, with handkerchiefs as parachutes to carry them to the ground. Soon other pilots and crews joined in what would be dubbed “Operation Little Vittles”.
After an Associated Press story appeared under the headline “Lollipop Bomber Flies Over Berlin”, a wave of candy and handkerchief donations, followed.
The airlift began on June 26, 1948, in an ambitious plan to feed and supply West Berlin after the Soviets – one of the four occupying powers of a divided Berlin after World War II – blockaded the city in an attempt to squeeze the US, Britain and France out of the enclave within Soviet-occupied eastern Germany.

Allied pilots flew 278,000 flights to Berlin, carrying about 2 million tonnes of food, coal, medicine and other supplies.
Finally, on May 12, 1949, the Soviets realised the blockade was futile and lifted their barricades. The airlift continued for several more months, however, as a precaution in case the Soviets changed their minds.
Memories in Germany of American soldiers handing out candy, chewing gum or fresh oranges are still omnipresent – especially for the older generation born during or right after the war.
Many fondly remember eating their first candy and fresh fruit during an era when people in bombed-out cities were starving or selling their family heirlooms on the black market for small amounts of flour, butter or oil just so they could get by.
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Halvorsen’s efforts to reach out to the people of Berlin helped send a message that they were not forgotten and would not be abandoned, Stewart said.
Despite his initial ambivalence about the airlift, Halvorsen, who grew up poor during the Great Depression, recognised a bit of himself in the children behind the fence and made a connection with them, he said.
“A simple person to person act of kindness can really change the world,” Stewart said.


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History

‘Candy Bomber’ who dropped sweets during Berlin Airlift dies at 101

“Candy Bomber” pilot Gail Halvorsen gives thumbs up in front of an old US military aircraft in Frankfurt, Germany in November 2016. Photo: AP

Former US pilot Gail Halvorsen receives flowers from a girl during a ceremony at the Tempelhofer Feld, a former airfield in Berlin, in May 2019. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong country park could be site of crashed US warplane from World War II, international researchers ‘strongly believe’

Volunteer Stephen Alexander (left) and his team help recover an item from the wreckage in Tai Tam Country Park. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

A piece of wreckage is measured at Tai Tam Country Park. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Paul Niel examines part of the fuselage from the crash site in Tai Tam Country Park. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

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Brigadier Michael Calvert (left), commander of the 77th Chindit Brigade, directing operations in Mogaung, Burma, during the war against Japan in 1944. Photo: PA Images via Getty Images

Brigadier “Mad Mike” Calvert, (third from left, with walking stick) at Cassino Lines, Hong Kong in 1991. Photo: courtesy of Lt Col Nigel Collett

Captain Michael Calvert in 1939. Photo: from ‘Mad Mike: A Life of Brigadier Michael Calvert’

A tunnel at Shing Mun Redoubt built before the second world war by British soldiers, overseen by the then Captain Calvert, as part of a defensive line against invasion. It later became known as Gin Drinker’s Line.  Photo: Dickson Lee

Last Korean war criminal to serve in Japan’s World War II army dies, without securing apology or compensation from Tokyo

Lee Hak-rae, who has died aged 96, was the last surviving Korean war criminal from World War II. He joined the Japanese army at the age of 17 and was sent to guard POWs in Thailand. Photo: Reuters

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US military pilot Gail S. Halvorsen’s deliveries during a post-WWII Soviet blockade made him a beloved figure in the German city
He brought hope to children by dropping off his own candy ration, with handkerchiefs as parachutes, inspiring other pilots and crews to join in



US military pilot Gail S. Halvorsen’s deliveries during a post-WWII Soviet blockade made him a beloved figure in the German city.


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