Arthur Massey Berry
Encyclopedia
Arthur Massey "Matt" Berry (June 19, 1888 – May 12, 1970) was a pioneering Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 bush pilot.

Early years

Born on a farm in March, Ontario, near Ottawa, on June 19, 1888, Arthur Massey (Matt) Berry entered the First World War as a Captain with the 153rd Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force
Canadian Expeditionary Force
The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War. Units of the C.E.F. were divided into field formation in France, where they were organized first into separate divisions and later joined together into a single...

. In that role, he was given British pilot certification by the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

 in England before returning to Deseronto, Ontario
Deseronto, Ontario
Deseronto is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, in Hastings County, located on the shore of the Bay of Quinte. The town had a population of 1,824 in the Canada 2006 Census.The town was named for Capt...

 as a flight instructor for the 189th Training Squadron. In 1919, as a civilian, he was certified as a pilot in Canada. For a number of years thereafter, he pursued other interests before gaining a commercial pilots license in 1928.

Piloting career

Berry's first work was with the Northern Aerial Mineral Exploration Ltd. at Hudson, Ontario, where he became the first pilot to land at Baker Lake, Northwest Territories. In 1929, he took a course in flight instruction. In 1931, he became the first pilot to fly back and forth between Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories and Edmonton, Alberta in the same day. In 1931, Berry joined Canadian Airways Limited (CAL), though his early history of the company was unstable due to lay-offs in 1932. Berry briefly joined Mackenzie Air Services, but after being injured in a crash sought further education from a RCAF course at Camp Borden in instrument flying and radio beam work before returning to CAL. During his service to CAL, he piloted several notable rescue flights. In 1935, he found and flew to safety missing CAL pilot Con Farrel and engineer F. Hartley, who had been stranded for eleven days in the Barren Lands after a blizzard downed their aircraft. In 1936, he rescued Flight Lieutenant S. Coleman and Leading Aircraftsman J. Fortey of the RCAF from the Barren Lands north of Great Slave Lake, for which rescue he won the McKee Trophy. Later that same year, he captained a record-breaking mission with engineer Rex Terpening to rescue rescue Bishop Falaise and his party who were stranded by blizzard at the Roman Catholic mission at Hornaday River
Hornaday River
Hornaday River is a waterway located above the Arctic Circle on the mainland of Northern Canada....

 on the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...

. In spite of darkness and storm conditions, Berry and Terpening located the group and made another flight to bring them food. Thereafter, after being grounded for ten days, Berry and Terpening flew the group to safety. No aircraft had ever flown so far north during the winter before.

Post-piloting years

In 1938, Berry left CAL and professional flying, taking a position as manager of Northern Transportation Ltd.
Northern Transportation Company Limited
Northern Transportation Company Limited is a marine transportation company in the Canadian and American Arctic owned by Norterra, a holding company jointly owned by the Inuvialuit of the Northwest Territories and the Inuit of Nunavut...

 at Edmonton. He returned to flight instruction during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, standing as second-in-command
Second-in-command
The Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army...

 in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
Portage la Prairie, Manitoba
-Transportation:Portage la Prairie railway station is served by Via Rail with both The Canadian and Winnipeg – Churchill trains calling at the station....

's No. 7 Air Observer's School. In 1942, he was brought in by the United States government to oversee construction of airfields in the Northwest Territories and in the building of the CANOL Project
Canol Road
The Canol Road was part of a project to build a pipeline and a road from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories to Whitehorse, Yukon during World War II. The pipeline no longer exists, but the long Yukon portion of the road is maintained by the Yukon Government during summer months...

, a pipeline construction project. Subsequently, he became involved with Max Ward in Yellowknife Airways Ltd., founding himself Territories Air Services Ltd. at Fort Smith. He remained involved with both companies for a short period of time, beginning in 1951 to focus on northern Canadian mining ventures. After failing health forced him to retire in 1969, he died at Edmonton, Alberta on May 12, 1970.

External links

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