Davish "Pops" Krail was a human male from the planet Dantooine who served as a Y-wing pilot for the Rebel Alliance during the Battle of Yavin. Krail flew in Gold Squadron under the callsign Gold Five during the battle. Along with Captain Jon "Dutch" Vander and Dex Tiree, Krail undertook the first trench run on the Death Star. He aborted his unsuccessful run after Vander and Tiree were both killed, but his fighter was also destroyed by Darth Vader's TIE Advanced x1.
Krail flying his Y-wing during the Battle of Yavin
Davish Krail, also referred to by his nickname, "Pops," was a human male who hailed from the planet Dantooine. During the Imperial Era, he was a pilot for the Rebel Alliance. As part of the Alliance's Gold Squadron, he flew a BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bomber.
In 0 BBY, Krail was already a veteran pilot and was selected to join Gold Squadron in the attack on the Death Star during the Battle of Yavin. Flying under the callsign Gold Five, he was instructed to to cover Captain Jon Vander in the first bombing run on the thermal exhaust port, located at the end of the meridian trench. Krail also estimated that there were at least twenty turbolaser batteries along the trench and alerted both Vander and Dex Tiree to keep a lookout for any TIE fighters. Shortly afterwards, they were attacked by Darth Vader himself and a pair of escort fighters. Despite Vander's warnings that they couldn't outmaneuver Vader and his escort, Krail encouraged him to stick to their target, but when Vander was shot down by Vader's TIE Advanced x1, Krail was forced to abandon his trench run. In his last words, he attempted to warn Red Squadron of the dangers that lay within the trench before Darth Vader destroyed his engine. The starfighter blazed out of control, and exploded, which killed him.
Davish Krail was a human male who was a skilled pilot. By the time of the Battle of Yavin, "Pops" was an ace with 7,603 flight hours and seven confirmed kills.
Davish Krail first appeared in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope as "Gold Five." After informing Red Leader Garven Dreis of the deaths of Vander and Tiree, Dreis refers to him as "Gold Leader." It is unknown if this is a movie mistake, an error made by the in-universe character, or Dreis simply acknowledging that Krail was now the acting commander of Gold Squadron.
The character was first given the name of "Davish Krail" in the 1995 "Premiere Limited" set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. After the Expanded Universe was reclassified as "Legends," the name "Davish Krail" was reintroduced to canon in the 2015 reference title Ultimate Star Wars.
- Ultimate Star Wars
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 4
- Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
- Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide
- Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 34
- Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away
- Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
- Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition — Battle of Yavin Scenario Pack
- Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition — Hotshots and Aces II Reinforcements Pack