3 July

On This Day, 1992: On 3 July 1992 RAF Hercules of the Lyneham Wing began Operation Cheshire, the sustained humanitarian airlift into…

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The Berlin Airlift and the Air Bridge That Held Berlin

Podcast 3 July 2026

Welcome to The RAF Chronicle Podcast. In this episode, we examine the Berlin Airlift.

This is one of the clearest examples of the RAF at the centre of a major geopolitical confrontation without fighting a conventional battle. Through Operation Plainfare, the service helped sustain an entire city by air and demonstrated the strategic reach of air transport in the early Cold War.

This episode matters because the Berlin Airlift opens onto wider questions about how the RAF developed, operated and defined its place in British air power history.

In this episode:

  • Why Berlin became a flashpoint after the Second World War
  • How the airlift was organised and sustained
  • The RAF’s role in Operation Plainfare
  • What the airlift revealed about air power in the Cold War

Listen if you’re interested in:

  • Royal Air Force history
  • British military history
  • Air power and strategy
  • Aviation history
  • The wider context behind famous RAF stories

Explore more from The RAF Chronicle: For more on the history of the Royal Air Force, visit therafchronicle.co.uk to read the latest articles and explore the archive.

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