Berlin Airlift Commemorative Plate

On 24 June 1948 Soviet forces in the Eastern Zone of Germany stopped all rail and road traffic between the British, United States and French Zones of Berlin and the corresponding Allied Zones in western Germany. The only way for the Allies to maintain a supply and communication route into the closed off zones was via the air.

RAF supply flights began to Gatow airfield in the British zone of Berlin and continued on a near daily basis until the blockade was lifted on 12 May 1949. By the end of the Airlift, 394,509 tons (400,821 tonnes) of foodstuffs, coal and supplies had been carried into Berlin by 689 military and civil aircraft – 441 US Air Force, 147 RAF and 101 British civil. This locally-produced plate commemorates the RAF's contribution, and was given to an RAF participant by grateful Berliners in 1949.