The  ATA is remembered as an organization that ferried aircraft around Great Britain, but in accordance with its broad mandate to 'do whatever it could' to help the war effort, it also became engaged in transporting freight. This particular activity started rather late in the war, but became increasingly important after the Normandy invasion.     The ATA's first freight flights were internal and designed to carry urgently needed spare parts from the central stores in White Waltham to the various Ferry Pools around the country as necessary. This cargo carrying service operated on a strict, daily schedule and it was a 'point of honour' to the pilots to take off almost regardless of the weather. With the D-Day invasion, however, the ATA found itself reverting to its initial role of doing 'whatever is necessary' and as the Allied Armed Forces penetrated ever deeper into the European Continent, the logistical system was under ever greater strain. By September 1...

  No discussion of the aircraft of the Berlin Airlift would be complete without the Sunderland Flying Boats. The Sunderland's overall contribution to the Airlift was modest. They were introduced on 5 July and withdrawn on 15 December 1948. Yet they made a unique contribution and the won the hearts of the Berliners.   The Sunderland was developed in response to a 1933 British Air Ministry specification for a long-range reconnaissance and patrol seaplane. The aircraft manufacturer Short Brothers was working at the same time on a civilian long-range flying boat to serve transoceanic passenger traffic. It came up with two similar but not identical designs. The civilian aircraft became known as the Empire and the military version was the Sunderland. The Empire was successfully tested in June 1936 and a year later the prototype of the Sunderland was ready for trials. By March 1938, the design with modest modifications had proved itself to be extraordinarily successful. It was remark...