The Berlin Airlift, a remarkable operation that saved West Berlin from Soviet strangulation, finally came to an end. For 15 months, the Western Allies had been airlifting food, fuel, and supplies to the besieged city, defying the Soviet Union's blockade. Over 277,000 flights had been made, delivering over 2 million tons of cargo, and the people of West Berlin had been sustained against all odds. This monumental feat of logistics and courage had thwarted the Soviet attempt to starve the city into submission, and the end of the airlift marked a major victory for the West in the early Cold War.