Ration Requirements

Life in post-war Germany was difficult and Berliners depended on British and American Airmen to supply life’s necessities during the blockade. However, the nature of military air transport placed certain restrictions on Berliners’ diets. The Western Allies needed to deliver a minimum daily caloric intake to each citizen. However, these foodstuffs needed to be packaged in bulk quantities that minimized cargo weight and in a volume that maximized the number of people fed per ton delivered. Much of the food was dehydrated and lacked variety, but by the airlift’s end, the Combined Airlift Task Force delivered 2,325,651 (short) tons of food to Berlin.