ベルリン封鎖時の「菓子爆撃手」死去、１０１歳

【ベルリンＡＦＰ＝時事】１９４８～４９年のソビエト連邦によるベルリン封鎖の際、子どもたちに菓子を投下する作戦を考案した元米軍パイロット、ゲイル・ハルボーセン氏が１６日、死去した。１０１歳。（写真は元米軍パイロットのゲイル・ハルボーセン氏）
　東西冷戦時代の歴史をテーマにしたベルリンの連合国博物館が１７日、ＡＦＰに明らかにしたところによると、米ユタ州の病院で家族に見守られて息を引き取った。
　ハルボーセン氏は米軍パイロットとして初めて、チョコレートやチューインガムなどの菓子を投下。封鎖下のベルリンで一躍有名になった。「キャンディーボマー（菓子爆撃手）」と呼ばれたほか、菓子をパラシュートで投下する合図に機体を揺らしたことから「ゆらゆら翼のおじさん」の愛称でも親しまれた。
　２００９年のＡＦＰのインタビューでは「昼夜を問わずいてつく日も雪の日も飛んだが、パラシュートを見上げる子どもたちの顔を見るのが喜びだった」と語っていた。
　西側連合国による作戦は「ベルリン大空輸」と呼ばれ、計２７万７０００回を超える飛行によって２００万トン以上の生活物資がベルリン市民に届けられた。米英独のパイロットや地上勤務者のうち少なくとも７８人が飛行中や地上での事故で命を落とした。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/02/18-12:24）

Gail Halvorsen, the former US pilot who thought up the idea of dropping tiny improvised parachutes loaded with sweets for children into Berlin during the Soviet blockade, has died at the age of 101.
The Allied Museum dedicated to Cold War history in Berlin's former American sector confirmed media reports of Halvorsen's death on Wednesday.
Gail Halvorsen died in Utah in a hospital, surrounded by his family, a museum spokeswoman told AFP on Thursday.
A lifelong ambassador for German-American friendship, Halvorsen became famous in the embattled city as the first American pilot to drop bundles of chocolate and chewing gum from his plane to local youngsters waiting below.
Fans nicknamed him the candy bomber and Uncle Wiggly Wings for the way he manoeuvred his plane so the children, still traumatised by the war, would know to look out for incoming treats.
He inspired many imitators in the ranks of the airforce.
Even though I flew day and night, ice and snow... I was happy because of the look on the faces of the children when they would see parachutes coming out of the sky, he told AFP in 2009.
They would just go crazy.
Halvorsen rose to the rank of colonel and eventually ended up commander of the Tempelhof airfield, the staging ground for the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift.
Pilots flew supplies to West Berlin's 2.5 million people, still reeling from the Second World War.
- 'A father-figure' -
Operating almost non-stop and through a harsh German winter, the airlift brought in more than two million tonnes of supplies on more than 277,000 flights, mainly into Tempelhof.
At least 78 US, British and German pilots and ground crew lost their lives in accidents in the air and on the ground, as the Allies delivered fuel and food to prevent Berlin's population from starving.
Officially known as Operation Vittles, it was the first major salvo of the Cold War.
Mercedes Wild recalled in 2019 how she as a seven-year-old girl had protested that the constant drone of airlift planes disturbed her chickens at a time when eggs were a valuable commodity.
Halvorsen wrote back, enclosing sticks of chewing gum and a lollipop with his letter.
His gesture sparked a long-lasting friendship between Halvorsen, Wild and their families which mirrored the post-war ties between their countries.
It wasn't the sweets that impressed me, it was the letter, she told AFP.
I grew up fatherless, like a lot of (German) children at that time, so knowing that someone outside of Berlin was thinking of me gave me hope.
Wild called the tall, lanky pilot with the broad grin a father-figure and the best ambassador we could have for German-American friendship.
Halvorsen said the same year on one of his many visits to the German capital, even well into his 90s, how impressed he was with Berliners' hunger for freedom.
The heroes were the Germans -- the parents and children on the ground, the airforce veteran said, calling them the stalwarts of the confrontation with the Soviet Union.