Commemorative Site of Contemporary History

The Area of Camp King in Oberursel

Press Release

On 26 June 1948, the Berlin Airlift began.  For about one year, American and British aircraft provided the inhabitants of West Berlin with essential supplies.  The Soviet Army had blocked all connections by land.

The 65th anniversary was observed in a commemorative event at the Airlift Memorial in Frankfurt.

In this context, the executive board directors of the “Airlift Frankfurt-Berlin 1948-1949” Association visited Camp King in Oberursel to be informed about the work of U.S. intelligence services of that time.  The guest of honor at the tour and discussion was Col. Gail S. Halvorsen USAF (Ret.), one of the last surviving pilots of the Airlift.  It was on his initiative, and with the help of many of his comrades, that children awaiting the delivery of main mission supplies would also receive sweets as a sign of solidarity.  Small parachutes, onto which candies were attached, fell to the earth and into the hands of joyful children.  The name “Raisin Bomber” became a hallmark.

The meeting point was at the “Kinderhaus”, Jean-Sauer-Weg 2, at 11 o’clock.

Mr. Kopp, the Camp King historian, opened the event with a speech.

Col. Gail S. Halvorsen USAF (Ret.) in attendance.

Next was a short walk from the Kinderhaus to the Mountain Lodge, where attendees could walk around throughout the whole house with friendly permission by the new owner Mr Kuhn.

Col. Halvorsen  (Ret.) shared some stories with us.

Mr. Kopp and Col. Halvorsen (Ret.) at closing the event.

Lastly, he signed some documents and books. This was a real pleasure to meet him and listen to his stories from 1948/49.

For learning more about the airlift Berlin, you may want to visit and contribute to Berlin Airlift Association on Facebook.

Happy to report I was the very first one to like it. It first came onto Facebook on 11 June 2013.

In the next two posts, I will share several photos from the Mountain Lodge in its current state as well as the new plans for it.