Air Chief Marshal Sir John Day was one of the RAF’s leading helicopter pilots and commanders who rose to become the Commander-in-Chief of Strike Command during the early operations in Afghanistan and in the build up to the Iraq War in 2003.

After attending Imperial College , London he trained as an RAF pilot and spent his early career flying helicopters and as a flying instructor. He served in Northern Ireland and Germany before commanding the RAF’s largest helicopter base at Odium. He then began a series of senior appointments, first in the Plans Division in MoD and then as AOC No 1 Group. It was during this time that a Chinook helicopter crashed into the Mull of Kintyre with heavy loss of life. Day’s judgement that the pilots were negligent was controversial and remains so. At Strike Command his forces were heavily engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan. He retired in 2003 to join British Aerospace as the senior military advisor. He later joined the board of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance . He died on 6 February aged 76.

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Tony Mason became one for the country’s most influential thinkers on defence and air power issues. He began his RAF career in the Education Branch but soon developed a keen interest in the application of air power. He was appointed the service’s first Director of Defence Studies, a post which he developed over five years into one of influence and original thought. The author of numerous books, and a regular guest on radio and TV channels, he pioneered the way for future officers to study the historical aspects of air power and to think at the philosophical level and how air power fitted into the wider political and strategic arena. His legacy is the Mason Fellowship established earlier this year and open to all ranks in the RAF who spend a year in academia studying topics related to air power.

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Patrick Cliff had a remarkable escape when he was the sole survivor of an aircraft crash that killed fifteen of his colleagues when their aircraft was returning from a rugby match. He completed his training at Cranwell, flew fighters before converting to the helicopter. He flew in Germany, commanded a squadron in the Persian Gulf before being appointed to command the Joint Helicopter Force in Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles in 1977-7. He saw much operational service flying in the difficult and dangerous country on the border country of South Armagh. For his outstanding leadership he was appointed OBE.

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After training as a pilot in the United States, Godwin flew Liberator bombers in Coastal Command. During the latter part of 1944, he flew from North Scotland on 16-hour patrols well north of the Arctic Circle supporting Russian Convoys. Post-war, he flew transport aircraft and carried out many missions during the Berlin Air Lift. For two years he flew the C-124 ‘Globemaster’ during an exchange appointment with the USAF. A flying instructor, he was a member of Transport Command’s examining and standardisation unit. He commanded RAF Benson with Argosy squadrons and later became the Air Commander in Hong Kong. After retiring from the RAF, he continued flying a Chipmunk towing gliders.

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Wing Commander Martin Bee, who has died aged 84, was one of a small, select group of RAF fighter pilots who flew the top-secret Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft whilst serving on an exchange appointment with the United States Air Force. He was a very experienced Lightning pilot who had served on the RAF’s first squadron, No 74 Tiger Squadron. He tested numerous versions of the U-2 during his five-year appointment and was awarded the AFC.

He returned to the Lightning world, first as a flight commander and then in command of No 56 Squadron based in Cyprus when his squadron stood alert during the Turkish invasion of the the north of the island. He chose to retire early and flew for many years in The Persian Gulf.

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‘Jack’ Frost served as a pilot in Coastal Command from the first to the last day of World War Two. Initially he flew the Anton with 608 Squadron on North Sea patrols, and he was the only survivor of a ditching off the Scottish coast. He converted to the Hudson and flew ‘Rover’ patrols seeking out enemy shipping off Norway and in the north Atlantic. After converting to the four-engine Liberator, he joined 206 Squadron. He attacked the U-299 causing slight damage. On November 5 1944 he took off to patrol near the Norwegian coast. He was attacked by three Messerschmitt Bf 110s. In a fierce fight, one of his gunners was killed, another injured and the aircraft suffered severe damage. With the flying controls badly damaged, flying on three engines and short of fuel, he crash landed at an airfield in the Shetlands. He was awarded the DFC. He flew transport sorties to the Far East before retiring to become the Head of Newbury College of Further Education. He died aged 103.

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