Berlin airlift Archives - First Flight Society

19 01, 2020

Colonel Gail S “Hal” Halvorsen

Inducted in 2019

70th Anniversary of the end of the Berlin Airlift

1920-2022

Colonel Gail Seymour “Hal” Halvorsen, best known as the “Berlin Candy Bomber” or “Uncle Wiggly Wings”, gained fame for dropping candy to German children during the Berlin Airlift from 1948 to 1949. Colonel Halvorsen joined the United States Army Air Corp in 1942 after Pearl Harbor and trained on fighters with the Royal Air Force in Oklahoma, earning both his RAF and Army Air Corp wings. After the war, he was stationed in Mobile, AL when word came in that the Soviet Union had blockaded West Berlin. Arriving in Germany in July, 1948, Lieutenant Halvorsen’s role in the 15-month Berlin Airlift, labeled “Operation Vittles” was to fly three trips a day, mostly in C-54’s, from Rhein Main […]

The 116th Wright Brothers Anniversary of Powered Flight and More.

ON DECEMBER 17, 2019 THE FIRST FLIGHT SOCIETY HONORS A 99-YEAR-OLD WWII VETERAN, THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BERLIN AIRLIFT AND THE 116TH ANNIVERSARY OF POWERED FLIGHT.

JOIN US AT WRIGHT BROTHERS NATIONAL MONUMENT IN KILL DEVIL HILLS, NC.

The First Flight Society annually honors those individuals and groups that have achieved significant “firsts” in aviation and includes them in our Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine exhibit at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. This year’s honorees are 99-year-old Colonel Gail Halvorsen, USAF (Ret) “the Candy Bomber” and the Berlin Airlift (June 27, 1948 to May 12, 1949) commemorating the 70th Anniversary of that historic event.

On the morning of December 17, 2019 we will honor the Berlin Airlift 70^th Anniversary with ceremonies on the Wright Brothers National Memorial grounds at Kitty Hawk, NC. The 116th Anniversary Celebration of the […]

Colonel Gail Halvorsen will be the 2019 Paul E Garber Shrine Honoree.

The 116^th Anniversary of Powered Flight Event on December 17, 2019 will induct Col. Gail Halvorsen, USAF (Ret), the “Candy Bomber”, as a representative of the crews that flew the mission, and the Berlin Airlift (June 27, 1948 to May 12, 1949) on this 70th Anniversary of the completion of the great humanitarian event into the Dr. Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine. The event will include having the Berlin Airlift Foundation C-54 and a C-47 on display to represent the “workhorses” of the airlift, and a flyover, all dependent on maintenance and weather. The event at the Wright Brothers National Memorial is free and open to the public. More details here as we solidify the program.