The water-borne airlift comes to a halt

As the Havel river froze, the British water-borne airlift came to a halt. The military and civilian flying boats, that had been in operation for five months, stopped their flights permanently. Until then, each flight operation had followed the same pattern, complementing the deliveries via Gatow Airfield. Depending on the wind direction, the civilian Hythe and RAF Sunderland aircraft landed on designated sections of the Havel between Schwanenwerder and the Großer Wannsee (Greater Wannsee lake). After landing, the flying boats were unloaded with the assistance of German civilian boats and cutters. Goods such as canned meat and salt were brought ashore and prepared for onward transport. In this way, a total of 5,661 tonnes of cargo were delivered to West Berlin by the end of the Airlift. On the return flights, 1,269 adults and 1,113 children were also airlifted from the besieged city of Berlin.