Following the defeat of Germany in the Second World War, that nation was occupied by Great Britain, the United States, France and the Soviet Union. Each power occupied a different section of the nation. Berlin, Germany's capital, was within the Soviet sector, but was likewise split up into four occupation zones.
On 24 June 1948, the Soviets closed off the roads to Berlin This was seen as the other powers as attempting to assert control over the entire city. They responded with Operation Vittles, a major operation under the command of General Curtis Lemay, to supply the city. This short subject offers the background of the situation and discusses the response.
It offers itself as a dry recitation of the facts, a series of newsreel clips with a narrator explaining what each image means: the power stations that do not run because of lack of fuel; the people standing in line for milk; the burning crashed supply plane that did make a clean landing. The use of newsreel images offers film of a lower quality, arguing a sense of reality. The real art, such as it is, lies in the editing together of the images to tell a cogent story.
