The Bridge to Tomorrow Series includes several historical characters. One of these was the US Military Governor at the time of the Berlin Crisis, General Lucius D. Clay. Although Clay was a highly decorated General, he never fought in combat. He arrived in Germany with no liking for the Germans, yet he became a hero to the Germans. And although the Berlin Airlift was a British idea and the RAF flew the first sorties, he was the man whose support enabled the Airlift to succeed:
General Lucius D. Clay
Lucius Clay was the son of a U.S. Senator from Georgia. Born in 1898, he was just a fraction too young to fight in WWI, graduating from West Point in 1918. An engineer, he was heavily involved in major engineering projects during the interwar years, particularly dams and -- strikingly -- airfields. By March 1942, Clay was the youngest brigadier general in the U.S. army, and had taken charge of military procurement. "For three long years, Clay kept millions of soldiers supplied with everything they needed." [1] He had a reputation as a "workaholic" who substituted two packs of cigarettes and two dozen cups of coffee for lunch.
When the war ended, Clay remained Eisenhower's deputy as the later transitioned into the role of Military Governor of the American zone of occupation. As such, he was from the start Eisenhower's representative on the Allied Control Council (ACC), which met in Berlin. Clay arrived in Germany without speaking any German and without any particular knowledge of German culture or history. He saw the Germans as "the enemy" while he firmly believed that he would be able to work with the Soviets -- just as the U.S. and Britain had worked with them during the war.
Yet Clay was also an engineer and logician with an understanding of economics. It took him almost no time at all to realize that if Germany was ever to become self-sufficient again it would have to be allowed to restore its industrial capacity and to export industrial goods and finished products. The alternative was for Germany to become permanently dependent on U.S. handouts -- or for the population to literally starve to death. Clay may not have liked Germans, but he didn't like the idea of American being permanently responsible for Germany either. He was instrumental in getting American policy changed from one of turning Germany into an agricultural country (the so-called Morganthau plan) to a policy of economic reconstruction. Clay was increasingly involved in the process of creating a new German government and advocating for both Marshall Plan and its extension to Germany. Dramatically, he told the U.S. Congress that the U.S. flag should not fly over territory where children are starving.
Meanwhile, Clay had become disillusioned with the Soviets and their leadership. He no longer expected cooperation and reluctantly recognized that Soviet objectives in Germany were contrary to U.S. and British aims. Clay was intensely frustrated by Washington's slowness in acknowledging the problem with the Soviet Union. When the crisis came in the form of a blockade, Clay was already slated for replacement. His initial response, to advocate an armed convoy to solve the "technical difficulties" that had closed the access routes to Berlin triggered alarm -- both in Washington and London. He flatly denied that the city could be supplied from the air in a press conference on the first day of the blockade. But once he had listened to Air Commodore Waite and received Reuter's assurances that the Berliners could take the hardship, he gave orders to start an airlift without awaiting permission from Washington. Furthermore, once he had committed himself to the Airlift, he became one of its most dogged supporters. Twice he flew to Washington to advocate for it and press for more resources. Fortunately for history, President Truman sided with Clay rather than the Pentagon and State Department.
Below an excerpt from Cold War featuring General Clay. Emily Priestman, representing Air Ambulance International, has requested an meeting with him and come to U.S. Military HQ in Berlin. She is accompanied by Air Commodore Waite, the British Air Attache to the Allied Control Council.
Men busy as uniformed bees hurried here and there. Telephones rang. Typewriters clacked. The heels of polished shoes pounded on the gleaming granite of the well-washed floor. Emily felt utterly out of place. In the military governor’s anteroom, the [American] lieutenant indicated they should take seats alongside a dozen other supplicants awaiting an audience with the most powerful man in Germany. The lieutenant then disappeared into the inner office.
As Emily sat down, she felt the others assessing her surreptitiously. Men, particularly military men, were apt to categorize women by what they wore. Emily was grateful that the RAF clothing allowance enabled her to outfit herself in stylish, quality, tailored clothes. These suggested she was too much of a lady to be dismissed as either a floozy or a mousy housewife, without looking overly manly. The latter would have pigeon-holed her as a troublesome do-gooder.
The door to the inner office opened and General Clay appeared. Emily rose to her feet and advanced to shake his outstretched hand. She could not remember ever seeing the American military governor without dark circles under his eyes, yet he still managed to look more exhausted than usual. That didn’t stop him from smiling and announcing in a soft, Southern drawl, “A pleasure to see you again, Mrs Priestman. Do come in. Air Commodore Waite.” He returned the latter’s salute and then held out his hand, drawing the Air Commodore inside his office as he closed the door behind them.
Clay indicated they should sit at a coffee table and took a place at the head. He did not offer them coffee or tea, an indication that he expected their visit to be short. He had given them priority over that gaggle of officers in the outer office, but he expected them to keep their part of the bargain and confine the visit to a concise minimum.
[Waite opened with] “Mrs Priestman and I have come to find out what plans the United States has for evacuating civilians with medical emergencies during this siege.”
Clay took a moment to digest that, and then his eyes flickered in Emily’s direction. At last, he leaned back in his chair and smiled slightly as he replied, “I’m going to be candid with you: I don’t think we’ve thought that far ahead.” His eyes settled on Emily.
Seizing the silent invitation offered, Emily opened with her prepared remarks. “General, in the last months I have visited nearly forty hospitals in the Western Sectors of Berlin and what I saw shocked me deeply. You may think that I was naïve. I certainly don’t have your vast experience, and I’m sure you have seen many sobering sights beyond my imagination. Yet, nothing can change the fact that the hospitals in this city are in a dreadful state. Nearly all of them sustained damage during the war either from our bombs or Soviet artillery or both. None have been properly rebuilt since. All are run down. I was particularly struck by how dark they are. They lack sufficient glazing for widows and have only inadequate, artificial light — and that was before the Blockade started and electricity rationing came into effect. They are overcrowded and understaffed. They do not have enough clean sheets or pillows for every bed.” She paused, Clay was listening to her, but he did not seem moved.
Emily continued. “The most distressing thing I learnt was that due to an acute shortage of surgeons, surgical equipment, and anaesthetics, Berlin hospitals have long been unable to conduct certain kinds of surgery. They can do no heart or brain surgery, for example, nor can they operate for stomach and other forms of cancer.”
Clay nodded but said nothing. Emily had no choice but to forge ahead. “The situation, as you can imagine, has been aggravated by the Blockade. The hospitals can no longer be assured of either power or diesel for their generators. Patients on life support systems could be lost due to sudden or sustained power outages. The most vulnerable of patients, are at risk.” Emily hesitated and then with a glance at Waite asked, “General, do you want the American flag to fly over a city where the hospitals have become helpless? Where the sick are dying for want of proper medical treatment?”
Clay cleared his throat and announced, “No. The evacuation of seriously ill hospital patients makes sense. We shouldn’t be flying food or fuel in for people who need medical treatment that can’t be provided. I’m a touch confused, however, Mrs Priestman, because as I remember it, you work for an air ambulance company. Aren’t you already actively engaged in flying the most severe cases out of Berlin?”
“General, Air Ambulance International has been forced to shut down its operations.”
Clay looked startled. “Why?”
“Do you know the cost of a gallon of aviation fuel, General?”
“Not off the top of my head, but aviation fuel for this airlift is costing the American taxpayer upwards of half a million dollars every day.”
“I can’t afford to fill a Wellington from my kitchen kitty, General, and nor can Mr Goldman, and nor can the Berlin City government because aviation fuel can only be purchased with hard currency.”
Clay did not bat an eye and nothing in his expression betrayed what he was thinking. Emily had no choice but to continue, “Air Ambulance International could shuttle as many as 18 seriously ill patients out of Berlin each day — but only if the aircraft is in tip-top condition, which requires meticulous maintenance and the rapid replacement of defective equipment. Furthermore, it can only fly three flights a day if it has two fully qualified pilots on board. It must also have oxygen and life-support systems for the patients. And, as I indicated before, aviation fuel. If we are to help with the evacuation of those who need medical treatment, we have to receive sufficient compensation for our services to cover our expenses and our staff.”
“And General Robertson has turned you down?” Clay asked, his eyes boring into her.
“No, sir,” Emily squirmed. “We decided not to ask him.”
“Why was that?” Clay wanted to know.
Emily hesitated and then did something she rarely did, she flirted. With a smile, she admitted, “Well, General, my husband thought you would be more receptive to an appeal from a lady than General Robertson.”
Clay smiled faintly at that and nodded ambiguously. He appeared to be thinking things over, and Emily decided it was wiser not to push him any further, although she glanced at Waite, who winked encouragement.
After several tense seconds in which no one spoke or moved, the American general nodded and got to his feet. He pushed a buzzer on his desk and the lieutenant who had escorted them immediately popped in. Clay told his aide to fetch a major something-or-other and then returned to the coffee table and sat down again. “I’ve asked an officer of my staff to join us. I want you to go with him to his office to work out the details.”
“Meaning the United States will cover the costs of medical evacuations in the air ambulance?”
“If they are reasonable and verifiable, yes. This isn’t a blank cheque, Mrs Priestman, but fundamentally —” There was a knock on the door, and Clay called “Come in.” A major with thick, dark-rimmed glasses saluted, and Clay beckoned him to join them.
“Cohen, Mrs Priestman and Air Commodore Waite have come about emergency medical evacuations for German civilians. I’d like you to work out the details with them and be sure a line item is added to our next budget request covering anticipated costs.”
“Yes, sir!”
Clay turned to Emily and shook her hand with a wan smile. “A pleasure as always, Mrs Priestman. You have an uncanny knack for surprising me anew each time I encounter you. Please give my regards and compliments to your husband.”
General Clay is a character in "Cold Peace"
Berlin is under siege. More than two million civilians must be supplied by air -- or surrender to Stalin's oppression.
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’s 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. Buy now!
Based 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 — and how close the Berlin Airlift came to failing.
Winning a war with milk, coal and candy!
