Berlin marks airlift anniversary

A DC-3 aircraft flies overhead as members of the US air force stand to attention during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Berlin airlift memorial, nicknamed Hungerkralle (Hunger Claw), outside Tempelhof airport Photograph: John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images

US veterans Dale Whipple, left, and Traute Gier, arrive at a ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Berlin airlift. During the cold war the western allies provided 278,228 airlift missions to deliver 2.3m tonnes of supplies for the 2.5 million residents of west Berlin Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP

A memorial to the Berlin airlift is reflected in the baton of the bandleader of the Royal Air Force College Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

Members of the German armed forces stand guard next to a wreath laid on behalf of the German government at the Berlin airlift memorial Photograph: John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images

US veterans Earl Moore, left, Gail Halvorsen, centre, and German defence minister Franz Josef Jungk, right, catch up during the festivities Photograph: Rainer Jensen /EPA

25 June 1948: C-47 transport aircraft of the US air force on the tarmac of Berlin's Tempelhof airport Photograph: AFP

9 July 1948: Young people stand on a bomb-damaged building near Tempelhof airport as a US cargo plane flies overhead after delivering coal supplies Photograph: Henry Burroughs/AP

A group of children cheer a US cargo plane as it flies over west Berlin in 1948 Photograph: Bettman /Corbis

Milk is unloaded from US C-47 transport planes on to waiting trucks during the Berlin airlift Photograph: Corbis

Children perched on the fence of Tempelhof airport watch US planes bring in supplies to circumvent the Russian blockade in 1948 Photograph: AP

21 September 1948: A remembrance stamp for the Berlin airlift, which was issued at all post offices in the western sectors of Berlin Photograph: Keystone /Getty

4 October 1948: A C-54 Skymaster on its approach to Tempelhof airport passes over the spot where one US airman, Lieutenant Gail Halvorsen, dropped sweets in handkerchief parachutes to children on each of his trips Photograph: AP

November 1948, Honnington, UK: Ground crew load giant wheels for York transports into a Douglas DC-3 Dakota plane as part of a military support operation to maintain British aircraft taking part in the Berlin airlift Photograph: Hulton-Deutsch/Corbis

May 1949: Berlin residents watch planes landing Photograph: Bettman /Corbis

26 June 1998: A stamp presented by the US postal service in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Berlin airlift. This was the first time a US stamp was issued in a foreign country Photograph: U.S Postal Service /AP