Another aspect arose frequently in accounts of the airlift – the non-participation of the French. On 24 April 1948, the US Ambassador to France, Jefferson Caffery, delivered the French position – they did not agree with the resolve to defend Berlin at all costs. Flying old, slow Ju-52 transports, the French flew in supplies sufficient to provision only their garrison.

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Many visions come to mind when considering the Berlin Airlift – Allied transport aircraft with Soviet fighter "escorts"; German children look up in awe at arriving aircraft, and sometimes being rewarded with candy; the hurried unloading and turn-around of airlift aircraft; the tragic crashes of some aircraft, whether from poor weather conditions, aircrew fatigue, mechanical failure or otherwise; the menacing presence of the Red Army around the city. etc. Every person who contributed to the Berlin Airlift is a hero – the children and adults of Berlin, the pilots, navigators and radio operators, the air traffic controllers and ground crew, the administrative workers and supply troops, the MPs and others. Mr. Gere’s tour-de-force accounting of the Berlin Airlift and Blockade is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the immediate post war years, the roots of the Cold War and the level of animosity between the Soviets and the West.

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