Armageddon_ A Novel of Berlin - Leon Uris [245]
“By the way, sir. What am I?”
Stonebraker scratched his head. “Lieutenant Colonel, I think, vice chief of staff, or something.”
“Air Force or Army?”
“Air Force. We’re all Air Force. Even Buff Morgan and his country-club set.”
The situation was worse than Chip Hansen or the President realized. Stonebraker’s chief of staff told him bluntly that if C-54’s didn’t arrive, the whole mission would turn into a fiasco.
They were short on every kind of personnel: weathermen, crews, mechanics, engineers, radiomen, radarmen, office personnel, cooks, doctors, carpenters, drivers.
Housing, food, medical facilities were substandard. Rhein/Main, the key base outside Frankfurt, was at 150 per cent of capacity with more people pouring in each day. There were no beds and a food shortage loomed. Rhein/ Main had the worst living and working conditions of any American air base in the world. It was called, without affection, Rhein/Mud.
With lives left dangling all over the world in a peacetime mission, morale was bound to collapse.
Air Installation reported that the two American bases of Rhein/Main and Y 80/Wiesbaden were inadequate in length of runways, taxiways, hardstands, fueling facilities, loading and unloading facilities, hangar space, dump space, administration buildings, and all lighting; flood-lights, approach lights, hangar lights were below standard.
Communications told General Stonebraker that most existing equipment was obsolete. Beacons and ranges to and from Berlin could not control precision flying in the narrow corridors. There was no ground-controlled approach system to “talk down” pilots in bad weather.
Ground transportation had to have more and larger trucks and trailers, spare parts, garages, mechanics, drivers. Better roads and storage dumps were an urgent necessity. Rail lines and spur lines had to be built to bring in aviation fuel from the port enclave of Bremerhaven; rail lines were needed to bring in the Ruhr coal; loading and unloading of aircraft was erratic and awkward and cargoes were bulky, improperly packaged, improperly weighed, improperly tied down.
Colonel Matt Beck told Stonebraker in his report that crews were flying too many hours. Coal was a dangerous cargo, with explosion potential. The weather was the worst in Europe and the approaches to Berlin were treacherous, running over Russian airstrips, demanding steep angles of glide into the midst of a jammed city.
The two Berlin airports of Tempelhof and Gatow were only ninety seconds apart by air. More radar was urgently needed to keep control of everyone’s position. Unless ground-controlled approach was installed to maintain positive air discipline, mid-air collisions were possible.
The staff meteorologist, Lou Edmonds wrote: “If we were to list all airfields in the United States in descending order, the worst would be Pittsburgh. If we were to list Pittsburgh among the Central European cities, it would be the best.” He promised late-summer fogs, violent turbulence from thunderstorms, and in the winter, low icing levels and crosswinds.
The logistics and maintenance men added the final amens. The Gooney Birds were covered with dangerous grime from coal and flour cargoes that was wrecking delicate instruments and setting in corrosive action on cable systems. The numerous take-offs and landings with heavy loads placed unmerciful stress on engines, brakes, tires. There were no facilities for proper maintenance; the spare part situation was beyond mere desperation.... This was Hiram Stonebraker’s inheritance.
Clint returned from Berlin and gave the general further bad news.
“Both the Tempelhof and Gatow strips are breaking down. Just stand there a half hour and watch the Gooney Birds land and see the blue flames shoot off their tires. With C-54’s hitting the runway with triple the present loads, Swede figures the runways will be knocked out in a matter of a few weeks.”
Clint had drawn a list of urgent needs. A new runway at both Tempelhof and Gatow, and then the repair of existing ones. New aprons were needed for loading