Rank:

Navigator I

Unit:

No. 30 Squadron, Royal Air Force

Awarded on:

December 10th, 1948

Awarded for:

Operation Vittles

"Navigator I Sowersby is a member of No.30 Squadron and is a Transport Commander “A” category holder. He has been engaged on the Berlin air lift since the commencement of the operation and has now completed over 100 sorties. He is one of the select band of Dakota crews who initiated the air lift into Berlin from Wunstoff at the end of June 1948. He has flown continuously since that date on this operation with his squadron and has operated with it from Fassberg and subsequently Lubeck. His enthusiasm to accept every task that is offered to him has never faltered. His enthusiasm, high standard of skill and his application to the task on hand has been a fine example to other crews. It is the consistently high quality and performance of the men like Navigator I Sowersby who have done so much to guarantee the success of the air lift despite the unending routine and the interference of the weather, with the consequent heavy mental and physical strain to which those aircrews have been exposed."