{"id":1562,"date":"2024-12-23T18:56:11","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T18:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/?p=1562"},"modified":"2024-12-23T18:57:12","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T18:57:12","slug":"historical-characters-in-cold-war-air-commodore-waite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/historical-characters-in-cold-war-air-commodore-waite\/","title":{"rendered":"Historical Characters in “Cold War” – Air Commodore Waite"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Understanding ourselves by understanding the past\n\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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This blog is dedicated to discussing the Crusader Kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus. Dr. Schrader holds a PhD in History from the University of Hamburg. For more information visit:

For readers tired of clich\u00e9s and cartoons, award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader offers nuanced insight into historical events and figures based on sound research and an understanding of human nature. Her complex and engaging characters bring history back to life as a means to better understand ourselves.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Historical Characters in “Cold War” – Air Commodore Waite<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The\u00a0Bridge to Tomorrow\u00a0<\/i>Series includes several historical characters. One of these is a man too often forgotten.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

On\u00a0the day the Russians started the blockade of the Western Sectors of Berlin, a reporter asked the American Military Governor in Germany General Lucius D. Clay whether the city could be supplied entirely from the air. Clay replied: “Absolutely not.” Yet the airlift was launched the next day with Clay’s full support. His change of heart can be traced back to one man, a forgotten hero if there ever was one: Air Commodore Reginald Waite.<\/p>

Waite’s contribution to the Berlin Airlift was decisive. Prior to his intervention, the Allies were divided over whether to withdraw their garrisons from Berlin or try to fight their way down the autobahn. Waite’s calculations showing that an airlift could sufficiently replenish Berlin’s stockpiles of necessary goods to buy the Allies time to negotiate were decisive in creating consensus for the launch of an airlif — yet there are history books about the Berlin Blockade that do not even mention his name. This is largely due to the fact that Waite was the consummate staff officer — a thinker, a planner, a man in the background rather than a charismatic leader.<\/p>

Nevertheless,\u00a0Waite was said to “bubble with enthusiasm and imagination.”\u00a0 Another observer claimed that “ideas were always flowing from him.” The Daily Telegraph journalist Edwin Tetlow described watching Waite work, saying:\u00a0“His head was bowed over a tiny pocket book, and he was making drawings and calculations with the stub of a pencil.” [Source: Giles Milton,\u00a0Checkmate in Berlin<\/i>, Henry Holt, 2021, 255-256.] For a more comprehensive biography see:\u00a0Forgotten Heroes of the Airlift: Air Commodore Waite<\/a><\/p>

To do tribute to his contribution, I included Waite as a secondary character in the\u00a0Bridge to Tomorrow<\/em>\u00a0trilogy. In fact, he features in the opening scene, immediately after the Prologue.<\/p>

\u201cCreative chaos!\u201d Wing Commander Robert \u201cRobin\u201d Priestman snapped when he caught sight of the front page of the\u00a0Times<\/em>. \u201cI concede that we need to be creative,\u201d he remarked dryly, \u201cbut chaos can end in disaster!\u201d<\/p>

Air Commodore Reginald \u201cRex\u201d Waite laughed. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing wrong with a little chaos at the beginning of anything new, Robin.\u201d Waite\u2019s mild, intelligent face was garnished with a small moustache, and his greying hair was already receding. He was the British Air Attach\u00e9 to the Allied Control Council (ACC). Although the ACC had always been cumbersome and never effective, since the Soviet Military Governor Marshal Sokolovsky had walked out on 20 March 1948, it was also brain dead. No more joint directives could be issued.<\/p>

Despite that, the subordinate organs of the ACC \u2014 the various committees, directorates, departments, and centres for the implementation of policy \u2014 continued to function using the guidelines and directives established before the collapse of Four Power government. In consequence, the elegant and palatial former courthouse in the heart of Berlin that housed the ACC still hummed with activity. Since the start of the Airlift, no office was busier than the Berlin Air Safety Centre or BASC. Although air traffic control for take-offs and landings lay in the hands of the respective airfields, in a windowless room on the first floor of the ACC, representatives of all four occupying powers maintained an overview of approaching and departing air traffic.<\/p>

Priestman as Station Commander at the only airfield in the British Sector, RAF Gatow, had come to speak with the Senior Flying Control Officer at the BASC before dropping by Waite\u2019s office.<\/p>

Waite picked up the newspaper left on his desk by an aide and scanned the article. He shook his head with bemusement and remarked as he handed it to Priestman, \u201cI question the wisdom of allowing the press access to our facilities in these circumstances.\u201d<\/p>

Priestman snorted his agreement, his eyes still scanning the article.<\/p>

Waite remarked, \u201cThe speech you gave to personnel yesterday evening was spot on, by the way. It was clever to compare this to war.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cI wasn\u2019t trying to be clever,\u201d Priestman countered. \u201cI feel that this is a kind of war \u2014 a war of nerves, intelligence and ingenuity.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cAnd creativity,\u201d Waite noted with a wink as he tapped the newspaper article, but then he grew serious. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t help, however, that both Transport Command and British Air Forces of Occupation appointed officers with identical orders to take charge of the airlift. They sorted that out by giving BAFO control of the airfields but left Transport Command in command of the squadrons flying the Airlift. Overlapping responsibilities of that sort are a recipe for disaster. We can be sure the bureaucratic battle continues behind the scenes while we try to muddle through.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cMuddling through is all very well, but how I am supposed to complete a concrete runway without any concrete or construction equipment!\u201d Priestman couldn\u2019t keep the exasperation out of his voice.<\/p>

\u201cI thought the Corps of Royal Engineers was helping out?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIndeed, Lt. Colonel Russel is doing his best, but he has neither crushers to pulverise the stone nor a steamroller large and strong enough to compress and level a surface fit for a fully loaded Dakota \u2014 never mind a York. Steamrollers don\u2019t fit in the belly of any aircraft the RAF has.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cCould the Americans manage it in one of their Globemasters?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019ve already looked into that. The problem there is that Globemasters can\u2019t land on PSP runways, and until I have a steamroller, I cannot build a concrete runway \u2014 and neither can the Americans.\u201d<\/p>

Waite nodded. \u201cI understand. I\u2019ll let you know if I think of anything useful. Was there anything else?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cGatow doesn\u2019t just need a concrete runway, it needs taxiways, hardstandings, and lighting to enable it to work 24 hours a day, but my main concern at the moment is Air Traffic Control. We\u2019re pouring aircraft down the three air corridors as fast as we can. They all end up in Berlin air space, milling about until someone downstairs,\u201d (meaning the Berlin Air Safety Centre) \u201csends them to either Gatow or Tempelhof, depending on what comes free first. This means that USAF aircraft from Frankfurt sent to Gatow and RAF aircraft sent to Tempelhof are crossing paths haphazardly. It\u2019s bad enough in clear weather, but in case you hadn\u2019t noticed Berlin seems to be shrouded in cloud half the time. Sooner or later there is going to be a mid-air collision, and when that happens, we\u2019re not only going to have body parts falling out of the sky, we\u2019re also going to have dead civilians on the ground. And did I mention the weather report is for pouring rain tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>

Waite nodded seriously. \u201cYou\u2019re right, Robin. ATC is an accident waiting to happen and the Sunderlands coming in on Monday won\u2019t make it any easier. Did you have any thoughts as to what we could do to make it better?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s not my area of expertise, but I would have thought more regulated traffic flow would help. I tried to raise the topic with Group Captain Bagshot, but he told me to stop interfering in\u00a0his<\/em>\u00a0Airlift.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cHm.\u201d Waite nodded and conceded, \u201cBagshot can be a bit wet. I\u2019m not sure BAFO made a wise choice in appointing him to overall command.\u201d While said sympathetically, both officers knew that there was nothing either of them could do to change the appointment.<\/p>

\u201cThe Senior Flying Control Officer suggested that I go to a fully ground-controlled approach at Gatow,\u201d Priestman continued, \u201c\u2014 regardless of weather.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cCould you?\u201d Waite asked.<\/p>

Priestman drew a deep breath. \u201cPilots hate GCA.\u201d<\/p>

That did not answer the question, so Waite waited while the station commander subdued the pilot within and admitted, \u201cIf I had enough controllers, yes. Visibility is too poor too often, and too many pilots are being thrown onto this airlift without familiarity with either corridors or conditions in Berlin. The Senior FCO told me that continuous use of a GCA approach at Gatow would enable the BASC to hand Gatow-bound aircraft over sooner and focus on Tempelhof.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cSounds good to me.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m going to give it a try, but\u2026.\u201d His voice faded, and Waite looked over alertly. Priestman met his eyes. \u201cOff the record, Rex. Do you still think we can do this?\u201d<\/p>

\u201cKeep a city of two million people supplied entirely by air?\u201d<\/p>

Priestman nodded, keeping his gaze fixed on Waite.<\/p>

\u201cLet me put it this way. His Majesty\u2019s Government has committed itself without reservation and the RAF has a blank cheque for whatever it needs to get the job done. In just over one week, we will have deployed every transport aircraft we have, but unless the United States is willing to make an equal commitment and deploy their entire cargo fleet as well, no. We cannot win this war alone any more than we did the last one.”<\/p>

Waite is a character in all Three books of the “Bridge to Tomorrow” Trilogy<\/p>

Berlin is under siege. More than two million civilians must be supplied by air — or surrender to Stalin’s oppression.<\/p>

USAF Captain J.B. Baronowsky and RAF Flight Lieutenant Kit Moran once risked their lives to drop high explosives on Berlin. They are about to deliver milk, flour and children\u2019s shoes instead. Meanwhile, two women pilots are flying an air ambulance that carries malnourished and abandoned children to freedom in the West. Until General Winter deploys on the side of Russia.\u00a0Buy now!<\/a><\/p>

\u00a0Based on historical events, award-winning and best-selling novelist Helena P. Schrader delivers an insightful, exciting and moving tale about how former enemies became friends in the face of Russian aggression \u2014 and how close the Berlin Airlift came to failing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0Watch a Video Teaser Here!<\/a><\/p>

\u00a0Winning a war with milk, coal and candy!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Understanding ourselves by understanding the past This blog is dedicated to discussing the Crusader Kingdoms of Jerusalem and Cyprus. Dr. Schrader holds a PhD in History from the University of Hamburg. For more information visit: For readers tired of clich\u00e9s and cartoons, award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader offers nuanced insight into historical events and figures […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-schraders-historical-fiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1562"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1575,"href":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1562\/revisions\/1575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo-websitedesigns.com\/helena\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}