Online Talk: The Berlin Blockade and Air Lift, 1948 – 1949

Join us on Zoom for a new Online Talk and discover the amazing feat of achievement that was the Berlin Airlift during the blockade of the city by the Soviets!

This talk will be presented by Aldon Ferguson and is available to join FREE through funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Berlin was a divided city after World War Two with the Soviets occupying the east side of the city and the Allies (British, American and French) the west side. Whilst the Allies wished for a unified city, the Soviets certainly did not. They considered a capitalist city over 100 miles inside East Germany would be a threat to their control.

On June 24, 1948, the Soviet authorities announced that the Autobahn, the highway connecting west Germany to Berlin, would be closed indefinitely “for repairs.” And the Berlin Blockade started.

The Allies responded with the biggest air lift ever seen in history operating to three Berlin airports and onto lakes in seaplanes; they managed to supply the city with all its needs for over a year. It only just succeeded, but it did, and this is the story of how it happened.

By Aldon Ferguson

Joining the Talk

The talk will be held online on Zoom at 11am on Friday 5th February. Limited places are available.

Book your free ticket online here. One ticket per Zoom screen is required.

The Zoom joining details (ID & password) will be emailed to you shortly before the start of the talk. Please log on at 10.50am, ready for a prompt start at 11am.

During the talk, you will see and hear the speaker, but you will not be heard or seen on screen yourself. There will be the opportunity to ask questions via the Q&A function.

About the Cold War Talks Series

Bentley Priory Museum is delighted to be running a series of online talks exploring the Cold War, to complement our current project, Bentley Priory Bunker: Defending Britain from Nazi and Nuclear Threat.

These special talks are free to all, thanks to the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund. If you enjoy the talk and would like to support the Museum with a donation, any amount great or small is hugely appreciated!

DONATE HERE

A team of volunteers have been recruited to work on the project which aims to record and share the memories of RAF, ROC and WAAF personnel who worked in the Top Secret Bunker at RAF Bentley Priory, focusing on the key historical periods of the Battle of Britain in 1940 and the Cold War from 1945 to 1991.

A temporary exhibition is running at the Museum on open days throughout 2021, and a permanent exhibition is being created – we look forward to sharing it with you soon!

Our ongoing podcast series brings to life the experiences of those who worked in the Bunker during WWII and the Cold War through fascinating oral history interviews. Please listen to the podcasts via our website here: Bunker Podcasts