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Description
When the Berlin Blockade began in late June 1948, one B-29 squadron of Strategic Air Command's (SAC's) 301st Bombardment Group, based at Salina Air Force Base, Kansas, was on rotational training at Furstenfeld-bruck, the German air base near Munich. As the friction intensified between the United States and Soviet Union, Lt. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, Commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) felt that the presence of more B-29s on the European continent--even though they weren't configured to carry atomic bombs--might cause the Soviets to think twice before taking any further precipitous action.
In April 1948, the Soviets had stopped all trains from departing Berlin for western Germany. In response, U.S. Army Gen. Lucius D. Clay, U.S. Military Governor for Germany, informed the Soviets that Allied military aircraft would fly in and out of the city. General LeMay, desiring a greater show of strength, requested the Pentagon permit him to position B-29s either on continental Europe or in Britain. The response was positive and quick. The two squadrons of the 301st that remained at Salinas AFB were immediately put on alert and then deployed to western Germany in early July. At the same time, the 28th Bomb Group, based at Rapid City, South Dakota, and the 307th Bomb Group, based at MacDill AFB, Tampa, Florida, went on alert and ordered to deploy within 12 and 3 hours, respectively after receiving notice. The rest of SAC went on 24-hour alert. Later in the month the 28th and 307th each consisting of 30 B-29 aircraft and crews deployed to England.... |
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