Bomber Witches: The Candy Bombers
The year is 1948, and despite the official defeat of the Neuroi in Karlsland, there are pockets of resistance throughout the country. Those remnants sacrificed their bodies to create a great chasm, cutting right through the heart of Berlin, and separating the city in half. Those of West Berlin prospered with aid from the Allies, while the war refugees entombed within East Berlin were condemned to shuffle through the bombed out ruins of their war-torn city. Any who tried to escape to West Berlin were ruthlessly mutilated by roaming Neuroi patrols around the citywide division. The characteristic Neuroi smoke bellowed constantly from the chasm, creating a dark wall that prevented Berlin from seeing their loved ones. Strangely, the Neuroi never advanced beyond the chasm into West Berlin, although they were capable of doing so, and were content to simply defend what they believed was their side of Berlin. Though the Allies had not given up on East Berlin, relief aid by way of land and water had been met with fierce resistance, as the convoys and barges were destroyed by Neuroi patrols. But as the Allies had learned from their experience in war, there is always a way…
Beginning in late June 1948, the Liberion Air Force had launched a massive joint campaign with the Royal Brittanian Air Force to bring relief aid by air, dropping it to the East Berliners by parachute. This act of humanitarian aid was commonly known as the 'Berlin Airlift,' but was referred to by Liberion and Brittania as 'Operation Vittles' and 'Operation Plainfare,' respectively. Every day, C-54 Skymaster and Avro York transport planes would thunder over the city, and the refugees would cheer as crates of rations and emergency supplies parachuted down to earth. One such praised captain and savior of the impoverished was known as Colonel Abigail Halverson, a twenty-seven year old pilot in Liberion's Air Transport Command. Gail, as she was called by her crew, was an angelic girl from Utah, who had joined the Air Force in 1942 and went on to transport duties in the South Atlantic. She was later ordered to Karlsland for the Berlin Airlift, due to her compassion for the Karlslanders, and her proven piloting skills in cumbersome transport craft. Gail was a rather shy, compassionate girl with long, straight and blonde hair with swept bangs, periwinkle eyes, and the traditional grey uniform and corresponding hat of the Air Transport Command (ATC).
It was a frigid day at Berlin's Tempelhof Airfield in Karlsland, in September of 1948. Colonel Halvorsen's boots crunched in the frozen blades of grass, as she walked away from her C-54 Skymaster and onto the field. Gail pulled out her rather crude monochromatic video camera, and began recording the hundreds of planes touching down at Tempelhof. Scanning the view around her, she noticed that the barbed wire fences around the airport were lined with children. Young and old, short and tall, their youthful faces were filled with curiosity and wonder. Gail walked closer, smiling at the boys and girls as they eagerly asked questions about the planes and whether the airlift would continue. As time passed, she eluded that she needed to be on her way, before one of the young kids spoke up. "When the weather gets so bad that you can't land, don't worry about us. We can get by on a little food, but if we lose our freedom, we may never get it back." With a warm heart, Gail had but one question in her mind. Children that resided around Allied air bases were known to ask servicemen for candy, regardless of their situation. Yet here were these impoverished and war-torn young ones, and they asked for nothing, saying that their freedom was far more paramount.
Suddenly she remembered something, and began pulling out the rations in her jacket pocket. The children craned their necks curiously, as she revealed a chocolate bar and a few sticks of chewing gum. As the young ones looked on, she began breaking the chocolate into smaller pieces, and handing it to the kids through the spaces in the wire fencing. The same was done for the chewing gum, and they split it into even smaller strips so that everyone could get a small piece. Even those who could not get a piece were merely content to sniff the wrappers of the sugary treats. Gail smiled, it warmed her heart that even in times like these, there could be some optimism. An idea began to form in her mind, then and there as she looked at the children, and they smiled at her. "My only regret…" She said, "Is that I have nothing more to give you. But give me some time, and I will have enough gum and chocolate for all of you." "But how will we know it is you?" A young boy inquired. Gail thought, and then responded that she would wiggle the wings of her C-54 Skymaster when she approached the drop site. The children giggled in delight, at the thought of the four engine cargo plane wiggling its wings like that.
Gail heard her co-pilot Tricia calling her over to the mess hall, and turned to acknowledge her auburn haired partner, who was pulling her ponytail out from under the ATC hat. As Gail, Tricia, and their wavy, brunette haired flight engineer Rita sat around the table, Gail spoke up. "Hey girls, I know it sounds strange, but I want to do something nice for the children of East Berlin." "Really? And just what did you have in mind?" Rita the flight engineer asked eagerly. "Well, I've been talking to some of the other flight crews about it, and we're pooling our candy rations together. Tomorrow, we're going to drop the candy from our planes as we pass over the city, sending goodwill and sugary treats to the children below." Gail said triumphantly. "You can't just drop it." Patricia the copilot frowned. "Those chocolate bars are dense, they could hurt someone falling from a transport." "Well, we could take our silk handkerchiefs and make mini parachutes for the candy." Rita suggested. "Candy parachutes? You must be joking." Patricia chuckled. "Why not? It's worth a shot, and I'm sure others will support us." Gail smiled. "Oh, what the heck. These kids have been through a lot, let's cheer 'em up." Patricia smiled.
That night the three girls returned to their C-54, where they found their loadmaster and mechanic Evelyn waiting. The dark haired girl had her curly mess tied up with a red and white polka dotted kerchief, as she jerked a thumb towards the plane. "C'mon girls, let's get back to Brittania for the next wave." The girls climbed into their plane, began preflight checks, and waved to the Tempelhof controller as they took off into the morning sky. Once on the ground in Brittania, Gail began talking to other flight crews, asking them if they would help with the little operation. By the end of the day, Gail and her flight crew had gathered almost twenty pounds of chocolate and chewing gum, with enough kerchief parachutes for each of them. As their plane was loaded up with flour and medical supplies by the ground crew, Evelyn managed to fit the pallet of candy into the plane along with the relief aid. She thought back to an earlier conversation with Col. Halverson. "Just how are we going to drop all of this candy off without approval? It's not on the cargo manifest, after all." Evelyn asked in despair. "Don't worry." Gail responded. "We'll attach the parachutes to each bar of chocolate and package of gum, and we'll drop them out the flare chutes in the cargo hold." Evelyn knew all too well that the flare chutes were used to drop bundles of tin foil, a method used to confuse early missile tracking systems. But now they were going to use it for dropping candy? "I've always known Gail to be a compassionate person, but honestly we could get court martialed for smuggling and redistributing government rations…" Evelyn said to herself, but shrugged and continued loading up.
In the dark of night they took off once more for Tempelhof, and by the time they had reached the outskirts of Berlin, it was already daybreak. Gail began their approach into East Berlin, and was calculating their glide slope just as she spotted a small group of people near the fence. A smile crept across her face, as she radioed Evelyn on the intercom and began wiggling the wings of the airplane, gently banking back and forth. "Hey Eve, we're almost there. I'm sending Tricia back there to help you drop the candy now." "No sweat. I've just spent the whole ride making candy parachutes, just so you know." Evelyn said jovially. As they were on final for landing and the flaps were extended, Tricia and Evelyn began dropping candy parachutes, one at a time, out of the flare chutes and down to the children of East Berlin. Hundreds of tiny silk parachutes floated down to earth, carrying sugary treasures for the near thirty children waiting by the fence. The small cloud of goodwill descended upon East Berlin, just as the C-54 flew over the fence and touched down at Tempelhof. The children scrambled to collect their gifts, cheering gleefully as they picked up the parachutes and ran back to their bombed out homes and small families.
This secret operation carried on once every week, and grew in density and frequency as more and more servicemen learned of Halverson's mission. Letters from East Berliners began reaching Gail and her crew, addressed to "The Candy Bomber," "The Chocolate Bomber," and "Auntie Wiggly Wings." In the months to come, candy shipments began arriving at Tempelhof's Base Operations in growing frequency, all addressed to 'Auntie Wiggly Wings.' Word had reached the giants of the candy factories back in Liberion, who felt compassion for Berlin, as crates loaded with chocolate began landing by the hundreds. The operation had become bigger than anything Gail and her crewmates had ever imagined, and it all began with a chocolate bar and two sticks of gum. Soon they learned that a housewife in the states by the name of Dory had taken it upon herself to sew handkerchiefs, and raise donations along with her friends. The goodwill was really spreading around.
But word was spreading much quicker than Col. Halverson anticipated. One morning, as they were preparing another candy drop, Gail was asked to report to the Airlift Commander's office. She found herself standing before General William H. Tunner, and his stern expression was stone cold. Before Gail could explain, he broke the silence. "Colonel Abigail Halverson." He crossed his arms, reading a typed report from Base Operations. "You have been accused of smuggling government rations, unscheduled drops outside of Tempelhof, and unregulated, unauthorized use of Airlift Transport Command property." Gail hung her head in shame, and began to explain herself, before General Tunner stopped her. "…and I couldn't be more proud of you. If it weren't for letters like these…" He paused, pulling out a drawer full of letters and dumping them over his desk. "You might be in the detention center right now. Personally, I think it's a good idea, and other generals have agreed with me. We believe that the morale of East Berlin will reach untold heights by the end of the year, if this activity is allowed to continue. You have the support of ATC, the candy companies, and the Liberion people behind you." Gail stood there with her mouth gaping, unable to respond to General Tunner. "Well, what are you standing around for? Get out there and spread some cheer, 'Auntie Wiggly Wings.'" Tunner said jokingly, a smile cracking the stone cold expression of his face.
Halverson raced out onto the field as fast as her legs could carry her, smiling ear to ear as she approached the plane. "You seem a bit too happy for someone who just spoke with General Tunner." Tricia smirked. "He… He approves. We have the support of ATC and the rest of Liberion to continue." Gail smiled weakly, gasping for breath. "'Operation Little Vittles' is now an official part of the airlift." The girls cheered and group hugged, as another C-54 roared overhead. The 'Candy Bombers' even attracted the attention of the famed twenty-two year old Colonel Roberta Morgan, who was supposed to be enjoying her vacation from flying, but couldn't resist another opportunity to spread hope in the world. Roberta explained her enthusiasm to General Tunner by phone, and on the night of December 24th, 1948, she met with Halverson and her crew on in airstrip in southern Brittania. "Col. Morgan. It's a pleasure to meet you." Gail said with gratitude. "The pleasure is mine, Col. Halverson. What you're doing here, it's a great and noble cause, and I want to be a part of it. There is nothing greater than being a symbol of hope in a dark time." "But why now? You're supposed to be done flying with the Air Force…" Gail said worriedly. "Maybe I can't fly with my bomber units as well as before, but that doesn't affect my ability to fly a transport." Roberta grinned.
So on that morning, December 25th, 1948, Roberta, Gail, and a few other planes from the ATC began flying toward Berlin with almost eighteen tons of chocolate and chewing gum in their cargo holds. Roberta wasn't accustomed to flying a dedicated transport yet, and had taken a C-97 Stratofreighter as her choice of plane, a B-29 Superfortress modified for cargo. The C-54's and C-97 churned through the snowy air, on their way to spread goodwill and Christmas cheer to the East Berliners. As they approached Tempelhof and extended flaps, thousands of silk parachutes descended upon the families of East Berlin, spreading joy and hope to the burdened Karlslanders. People ran through the streets, jumping up and down, trying to catch the sugary treasures from the heavens. The adults were also touched by the generosity of the Liberions, and waved happily to the transports, as they wiggled their wings overhead.
When they landed at Tempelhof, a crowd of servicemen and reporters gathered around Halverson and Morgan, to take pictures of "The Candy Bombers." The story made it into the newspapers back home, of how a chocolate bar and two sticks of gum lead to eighteen tons of candy being dispensed from the heavens. Gail didn't know it at the time, but her simple act of goodwill would further strengthen the resolve of Berlin and the Karlslanders, ending the division of their beloved city. For Gail and her crew, there could be no sweeter ending to Christmas Day, 1948. The Airlift would continue until May of 1949, inspiring freedom and hope for the people of East Berlin.