Roy Mather: Avro York pilot during the Berlin Airlift.

Roy Mather served as a Lancaster bomber pilot during the Second World War, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in May 1945. By 1948 he was flying the Avro York, a transport aircraft developed from the Lancaster, with 206 Squadron. Roy Mather made his first flight of the Berlin Airlift on 7 July 1948, from Wunstorf to Gatow. He made his 404th flight of the airlift on 18 August 1949, and this is believed to be the highest number of flights completed by an individual pilot during the operation. For his contribution to the Airlift, Mather was awarded the Air Force Cross in June 1949.

In April 1949 General William Tunner, USAF, in command of the airlift, initiated the ‘Easter Parade’. This was a maximum effort by all available British and US aircraft and crews, intended to fly the greatest possible tonnage into Berlin within a 24-hour period. During the Easter Parade Mather completed four flights to Berlin and back, each lasting two hours. The Easter Parade was a great success, flying 12,940 tons into the city. For Mather, the tempo of operations did not decrease, and he continued to make two flights a day into Berlin over the days that followed.