At the conclusion of World War Two, Berlin was divided into quadrants, and occupied by allied forces. The eastern half was controlled by the Soviets, while western Berlin was divided between France, Great Britain, and the United States. These four powers formed the Allied Control Council, which was chaired by the Soviets. With the formation of the Council, the original goal was to rebuild Berlin, and re-unify Germany.

With differing views on how to achieve this, relations between east and west became strained. In a final bid to maintain power in East Berlin, the Soviets erected a blockade to effectively stop transport of supplies and provisions into West Berlin.

As the only supply route to West Berlin came from the east, the Soviets believed they had left the allies no choice, but to leave Berlin altogether.

The western allies had resolved to remain in Berlin, and were forced to consider their options. At the forefront, was the idea of storming the barricades to re-open the lanes of supply traffic. This would be viewed as an act of war and, possibly, the beginning of World War III.

In an act of pure ingenuity, the allies decided to begin a small scale operation to supply their troops from the air. The Berlin Airlift was born, and quickly grew to unprecedented proportions, supplying not just troops, but two and a half million Berliners with thousands of tons of food and coal every day. Dubbed "Operation Vittles", it is still hailed as the largest aerial supply effort in history.

In the early going, a young American pilot, by the name of Lt. Gail Halvorsen, wandered near the perimeter fencing of Tempelhof Airfield, in Berlin. He was trying to get some photos of the aircraft that were landing nearly every 90 seconds. He had no idea that he was about to make history.

By chance, he met a group of children who had also gathered to watch the huge C-54 aircraft coming and going. They asked him if he had any gum, or candy. He had only a couple pieces of gum in his pocket, and offered it freely. He told them that was all he had, but if they came back the next day, he would drop more from his plane as he approached the field, to land.

The children were concerned that, with so many planes coming and going, they wouldn't know which one was his. Lt. Halvorsen promised that he would "wiggle" his wings, so that they would know it was him.

The following day, having completed a mission, he was returning to Tempelhof. As he approached, he saw the children gathered at the fence. As promised, he wiggled his wings, and dropped gum and candy which were attached to small parachutes, made from handkerchiefs. He was past them and onto the runway before the goodies hit the ground. He had no idea whether or not they had gotten them, until he was out of his plane. He turned and saw the children gleefully waving the white hankies at him. Thus was born "Onkel Wackelflugel" (Uncle Wiggly Wings). Aka the Berlin Candy Bomber.

This effort was quickly noticed, and picked up by the media. As his notoriety grew, so did the crowd of children at the airfield. Lt. Halvorsen was soon asking his fellow pilots to donate their candy rations to his cause, which now had a name. Other pilots gladly donated their gum and candy to "Operation Little Vittles." Soon, letters began arriving addressed simply to "Uncle Wiggly Wings", asking for more care packages for the children of Berlin.

While on leave in the States, he was asked by a reporter what he needed to continue his humanitarian effort, and as a joke, he replied "Boxcars full of candy." When he returned to Berlin, he received a care package of his own, in the form of three thousand pounds of gum and chocolate! Soon he was getting mail from all over, much of which contained more candy, and handkerchief parachutes. His fellow pilots were aiding his efforts by manufacturing parachutes, and dropping "Little Vittles" packages of their own. His operation grew to encompass all of Berlin, and lasted until the airlift ended, with the removal of Soviet blockades in 1949.

Lt. Halvorsen (later to become Col. Halvorsen) was seen by many, as a symbol of German-American relations. He has received awards in Germany, and gained celebrity status on German television, when he was reunited with the children (who had grown to adulthood), who had received his gifts.

More recently, the US Air Force named an award for outstanding air transportation support, the Col.Gail Halvorsen Award. Furthermore, they have immortalized his name, by naming their latest 25,000 pound capacity aircraft loading vehicle in his honor.