Berlin Airlift
Annotated Project Charts

The charts below are compilations of data from a variety of sources as shown.
 The Milcom military and dependent populations in West Germany were the largest of all overseas American Milcom locations throughout the Cold war period. Only those in Japan were second in size. This suggests that the impact of the Milcoms on West Germany culture, society, and economics was significant. Image Source: John Lemza.
Notes for Chart 1 (above), Military and Dependent Populations, 1945-1990:
1. Data collected from Heritage Foundation, Center of Military History, Office of the Secretary of Defense-Defense Manpower Center (OSD-DMDC), the U.S. Census Bureau, and Stars and Stripes newspaper (European Edition).
2. The statistical increase of "Military Overseas" for the years 1965-1970 reflects the large deployment of unaccompanied service personnel to Southeast Asia. The drop in "Dependents Overseas" during that period reflects those corresponding families remaining in CONUS (Continental United States).
 From 1945 to 1949 the west German population subsisted on caloric allocations that were on the average signifcantly below those of the British and American occupiers. This contributed to tensions between the Milcoms and the local populace through increased feelings of exceptionalism and segmentation. Image Source: John Lemza.
Notes for Chart 2 (above), Average Daily Caloric Allocation, October 1945-November 1949:
1. Data collected from various sources including the New York Times, Stars and Stripes newspaper (European edition), Detlef Junker, ed., The United States and Germany in the Era of the Cold War, 1945-1990: A Handbook, Volume I: 1945-1968, and Richard Reeves, Daring young Men: The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift, June 1948-1949.
2. Legend entry "Berlin" refers to the period of the Berlin Blockade, June 1948-May 1949, and applies only to Germans residents of that city.
 The daily allocation for Germans in mid-1948 was approximately 1800 calories. The items shown on the table equal that amount. Absent were staples such as lard and meat. Image Source: Wiki Commons.
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