Arthur Massey Berry

Arthur Massey 'Matt' Berry was born on June 19, 1888, on a farm at March, Ontario, near Ottawa, where he was educated. At the outbreak of World War I he was commissioned in the 30th Wellington Rifles and proceeded overseas with the 153rd Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a Captain. In England he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, graduated as a pilot and returned to Canada as a flying instructor with the 189th Training Squadron at Deseronto, Ontario.

In 1919, after leaving the service, Berry received his Canadian Pilot's Certificate. He worked for the Soldier's Settlement Board in Ottawa for two years, and then turned to ranching near Rimbey, Alberta. In 1924 he returned to Ottawa to work in the brokerage business. After completing a pilot refresher course with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) at Camp Borden, Ontario, in 1928, he earned his Commercial Pilot's Licence and was hired by Northern Aerial Mineral Exploration Ltd. at Hudson, Ontario, under the supervision of H. 'Doc' Oaks. For the next five years he flew from company bases in northern Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta, into the Hudson Bay area, and throughout the Northwest Territories. He became the first pilot to land at Baker Lake, Northwest Territories. In 1929 he completed a Flying Instructor's course at Camp Borden, Ontario, and used these skills to upgrade the company's junior pilots.

In 1931, before joining Canadian Airways Ltd., he completed the first same day return flight between Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories, and Edmonton, Alberta.

Berry's first assignment with Canadian Airways was to ferry two Junkers aircraft from Montreal, Quebec, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, after which he flew charter work from the company base at Tashota, Ontario. In 1932 he joined Mackenzie Air Service at Edmonton until crash injuries caused a short retirement. After convalescence, he graduated with honours from a course at the RCAF school at Camp Borden in instrument flying and radio beam work. He then returned to flying with Canadian Airways at Edmonton.

Most pioneer pilots were forced down at one time or another due to bad weather or mechanical problems, or were called upon to rescue others. Berry well depicted the courage, determination and resourcefulness: needed to save lives in the harsh northern areas. During 1935 and 1936, Berry was involved in several dramatic difficult rescues.

In 1935, after an exhausting eleven-day aerial search of the Barren Lands for Canadian Airways pilot Con Farrell and engineer Frank Hartley whose aircraft had been forced down in a blizzard, he located the missing men and flew them to safety.

In September 1936, he rescued two members of the RCAF, Flight Lieutenant S Coleman and Leading Aircraftsman J. Fortey who were overdue on a photographic mission. The two men were lost for thirty days in the Barren Lands north of Great Slave Lake before Berry, experienced in Arctic flying, was called in. This was one of the largest and most publicized searchers in Canadian history. Matt Berry was awarded the Trans-Canada (McKee) Trophy for that year "in recognition of northern transportation flights which he made in Alberta and the Northwest Territories, which included several hazardous flights to the arctic Coast and some outstanding mercy flights.

In December of 1936 Berry captained one of the most difficult of all recorded northern rescue flights when he and engineer Rex Terpening flew to Hornaday River on the Arctic Ocean during a period of near total darkness. They battled gale force winds and blizzard conditions to locate the isolated Roman Catholic mission and rescue Bishop Falaize and his party. After completing another short but difficult flight to bring them food, he attempted the 350 mile (560 km) return to Aklavik, Northwest Territories, but encountered blizzard conditions which necessitated a ten-day wait before he could fly them to safety. The flight established a new record as the farthest north an aircraft had been flown during the winter. 

Although Berry was forced down many times, mostly due to weather conditions, he said he was never lost, and always did find his way back. Once when he was down in the northern wilderness with a broken ski on his aircraft, he improvised a radio from a battery, a starter coil, and other odds and ends so that he could attract attention.

In 1937 Berry retired from professional flying to become the Edmonton-based manager of Northern Transportation Ltd., operators of freighting vessels on the Mackenzie River. He held that position until World War II, when the Canadian Government requested that he service as second-in-command of No. 7 Air Observer's School at Portage La Prairie, Manitoba.

Berry's outstanding grasp of northern flying led the Untied States Government to seek his services in 1942 to oversee construction of airfield in the Northwest Territories and the building of the Canol Pipeline. This pipeline was built to bring crude oil from Norman Wells to the refinery at Whitehorse to supply petroleum products for the Alaska Highway and North West Staging Route.

At war's end, Berry founded Territories Air Services Ltd. at Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, and purchased Yellowknife Airways Ltd. He disposed of his interests in both companies to Associated Airways Ltd., in 1951, and concentrated his efforts on various mining ventures in northern Canada until his retirement in 1969 due to ill health. He died in Edmonton on May 12, 1970.

Matt Berry's name is associated with a large residential area in northwest Edmonton. Pilot Sound has six separate neighbourhoods in Edmonton named for well-known local pilots who made history flying in the North. These are Brintnell (for Wilfred Leigh Brintnell), Hollick-Kenyon (for Herbert Hollick-Kenyon), Matt Berry, and McConachie (for Grant McConachie). These four pilots have been inducted as Members of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. Two other neighbourhoods in Pilot Sound are named Cy Becker and Gorman (for George Gorman).

Arthur Massey 'Matt' Berry was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974 at a ceremony held in Edmonton, Alberta.