Upon turning 18, Betty Hutton decided to join the air force and began her military career in the RAF Balloon Command, working in both London and Manchester. When the air force started to reduce the use of barrage balloons – at the same time deciding it wasn’t a role fit for a woman after all, much to the serving women’s chagrin – Betty opted to become an aircraft mechanic. After successfully completing her training Betty began working on the Whitley aircrafts, but as an assistant she wasn’t allowed to do any of the critical mechanical work herself. Determined to progress her role, she undertook further training and passed out as a Fitter 2A, holding sole responsibility for carrying out mechanical work on the Wellington aircraft, which she found frightening but exhilarating. Betty’s story of course contains personal accounts of loss and sadness that serve as stark reminders of the heartbreak and devastation of war, but it’s abundantly clear to see – despite the great modesty with which she shares her memories – the significant contribution her hard work and commitment made to the war effort.

Garry Garretts shares his extraordinary thirty-year journey serving with the RAF. Even before he was old enough to enlist, Garry had already been afflicted by the scourge of war, following the explosion of an incendiary bomb which left nineteen fragments snagged in his legs during the Blitz. Once conscripted, he chose to fly for the RAF, favouring flying over the idea of walking or sea travel! His training would send him all over the globe where he was given the honour of flying many aircrafts from the Tiger Moth, Dakota and the Vulcan. However, despite the many opportunities he was given for travelling and flying, he wouldn't see active service until the end of the war, as part of the Dakota squadron aboard the Wellington OTU. As a result, Garry felt dissatisfied with his experience during WWII. He would find more satisfaction in a post-war world where he would rise through the ranks, becoming a Flight Officer and  sent to transport supplies for the Berlin Airlift. He describes the difficult and concentrated process of flying during this period and the preliminary requirements for transporting certain supplies, whether they be flour, alcohol or machinery used to help restore electricity to a recovering Berlin. He shares knowledge relating to the growing tensions between the Russians and Americans which would eventually lead into the Cold War. Towards the end of his time in the Airlift, he recalls the British Air Mail Society wanting to commemorate the lives of young soldiers who risked their lives in the Airlift to feed starving Germans. Garry's story captures the redemption of those who were only able to make significant contributions in a post-war world, offers insight into the political circumstances that were developing between countries and reveals the bravery of those who put their lives at risk to help feed the people of a country that they once saw as an enemy.

John wanted to fly since the age of ten, when, on the top deck of an open trolley bus he saw a Rapide biplane land at Croydon aerodrome. He joined the RAF during WW2 and later served as a signals engineer on the Avro York. Unknown to the crew his aircraft was used as a ‘guinea pig’ test of GCA (Ground Controlled Approach). GCA was a procedure where ground control guides the aircraft in during bad visibility and was widely used during the Berlin Airlift. This enabled aircraft to land every two to three minutes, even during the severe winter weather. During the Airlift John flew 356 trips and only one of these was aborted. One time he flew with a pilot who was so drunk that he was unable to carry out the pre-flight visual inspection but flew correctly once they were airborne. After a crash at Wunstorf which killed the crew, John served as one of the pallbearers at the funeral. He was in his early twenties and never thought about dying, believing that fate played a large part in matters of life and death. On the 60^th anniversary of the Airlift the Berlin Airlift Association went to Templehof airfield in Berlin for a memorial service. Here he was thanked by the elderly and the very young, an experience he found moving. At the time of the Airlift he thought he was only doing his duty but later he became aware of its importance of it to Berliners.