Davish Krail / Legends Davish Krail , known by his comrades as " Pops , " was a veteran BTL Y - wing starfighter pilot who flew for the Alliance to Restore the Republic . He had been flying for nearly twenty years before joining the Alliance , and served at the organization ' s base on Dantooine alongside his old friend Garven Dreis . He was given command of a Y - wing squadron at some stage , but eventually served under Jon Vander in Gold Squadron . When the Death Star entered the Yavin system in 0 BBY , Krail was amongst the pilots sent by General Jan Dodonna to destroy the battlestation . He accompanied Vander and Tiree in the first attack on the station ' s exhaust port , but during the trench run , his allies were gunned down by Darth Vader , a Dark Lord of the Sith . Aborting his run , Krail too was shot down by the Dark Lord , but not before alerting Dreis , commander of the X - wing fighter unit Red Squadron , to the threat . Biography . Rebel . Since at least 20 BBY , the Human male Davish Krail flew starfighters , and over the course of his career , he fought in many engagements . He had kept the same helmet over the years , and eventually it was battered to a state that it was no longer useful . One of Krail ' s friends during his earlier flying years was Garven Dreis , who flew with the Rarefied Air Cavalry . By the time of his joining the Alliance to Restore the Republic , he was a veteran pilot , and was given command of a BTL Y - wing starfighter squadron at the Alliance ' s base on Dantooine . Also serving at the base was Krail ' s old friend , Dreis . With younger pilots such as Ryle Torsyn under his command , Krail eventually came to be known as " Pops , " since he was in his elder years while serving the Alliance . He was later assigned to Jon Vander ' s Y - wing Gold Squadron , and flew as Vander ' s wingman under the call sign of " Gold 5 . " Krail personally supervised all maintenance and repairs on his Y - wing . He and his comrades were transferred when the Alliance was later forced to abandon the Dantooine base and relocate to the Great Temple of Yavin 4 . The Battle of Yavin . In 0 BBY , the Alliance prepared to strike at and destroy the Galactic Empire ' s Death Star superweapon . Technical readouts to the station had been delivered to the Great Temple by Princess Leia Organa , allowing Alliance High Command to devise a plan of attack . It was the intent of General Jan Dodonna to have snubfighters approach the station , fly down one of its surface trenches , and fire proton torpedoes down a two - meter - wide exhaust shaft . The warheads would hopefully go down the shaft into the battlestation ' s main reactor , and ultimately destroy the superweapon . Since the Y - wings were best suited for bombing runs , Gold Squadron was selected to make the first attack against the exhaust port . However , in bringing the plans to Yavin 4 , Organa and her companions had been tracked by the Imperials , and as a result they had brought the Death Star itself to the Yavin system . Left with little choice but to begin his attack immediately while the Death Star bore down on Yavin 4 , Dodonna launched Dreis ' X - wing Red Squadron , Vander ' s Gold Squadron , Merrick Simms ' Blue Squadron , and Green Squadron against the station . Krail flew on Vander ' s wing as usual , and as the Alliance fighters neared the station , the veteran pilot followed his commander toward the target shaft . Meanwhile , Dreis and his " Red Boys " drew the battlestation ' s defensive fire away from Gold Squadron . Eventually , the Imperials launched Black Squadron , composed of TIE / LN starfighter s , to deal with the Alliance fighters . While TIEs fought with Red Squadron , Vander , Krail , and Tiree began their attack run on the Death Star ' s exhaust port . As the trio began their descent into the trench , Vander marked the exhaust port ' s location . When in the trench itself , he ordered Krail and Tiree to switch all their power to their front deflector shield . As they were beset by cannon fire from turrets within the trench , Vander requested that Krail estimate just how many defensive turrets the trench had . The veteran completed the task while hurtling down the trench , and supposed that there were approximately twenty in total , spread between the station ' s surface and its towers . As they neared the exhaust port , Vander switched to his targeting computer before the defensive fire abruptly stopped . Krail suggested that they switch to rear deflector shields , and advised his comrades to be wary of possible enemy fighter attacks from behind . Sure enough , Vander immediately identified three enemy fighters headed for their position . One of them was a TIE Advanced x1 , piloted by Lord Darth Vader . Since they could not fend off the enemy craft and attack the objective simultaneously , the trio were forced to doggedly continue toward the exhaust port , in spite of the threat . The new arrivals entered the trench behind the trio , and Vader quickly shot down Tiree . Vander began panicking , and protested that the trench was too small , restricting his evasive options . Krail continually beseeched Vander to focus on his objective , but the younger man continued to fret , urging the veteran to move away from his fighter and loosen up formation . The requests were made in vain , however , as Vader swiftly dispatched Vander as well . The loss of Gold Leader proved to be too much for even an experienced veteran like Krail . Now alone in the trench with Vader on his tail , Krail pulled out of the run and contacted Dreis , informing the Red Squadron commander of Gold Squadron ' s failure . With his last breath he informed Red Leader that Vader and his wingmen had attacked them from behind , before the Dark Lord shot down and killed the veteran . Dreis would also be killed by Vader shortly thereafter , but Red Squadron pilot Luke Skywalker eventually succeeded in destroying the station to win the day for the Alliance . Personality and traits . An experienced man and fighter pilot , Davish Krail would retain a determined demeanor while others would frantically panic . When Tiree perished under Vader ' s guns during the Battle of Yavin , Vander began to lose sight of the objective as he feared for his own safety . Admonishingly , Krail , who was the older man , tried to keep his superior dedicated to his task . Although he failed in that act , he did use his final moments to aid his allies with intelligence . Over his years of service , he had kept the same battered helmet , although he did not wear the chinstrap when going into battle . Krail had graying hair . Behind the scenes . Davish Krail was portrayed by Graham Ashley in George Lucas ' . He had technically first appeared in Alan Dean Foster ' s of the film . In the novel , he was identified as " Pops . " The novel had also identified what was Gold Squadron in the film as Red Squadron , and hence , the character was identified as " Red Five , " which was the callsign given to Luke Skywalker in the film . The " Red Five " designation was also used in " A Guide to the Star Wars Universe " . Krail ' s character in the film was referred to as " Gold Five , " with the exception of one instance in which Garven Dreis addresses him as " Gold Leader . " One of Gold Five ' s lines in the radio drama adaptation of the film was spoken by Tiree in the film itself . The character was given the name of " Davish Krail " in the 1995 " Premiere Limited " set of the " Star Wars " Customizable Card Game . In 1998 , however , Jude Watson would identify " Gold Five " as Talos Merkin in " " , which was initially assumed by fans to be a mistake . Many years later , Jason Fry revealed that he considered Merkin to be one of the candidates for the role of Red Twelve in " Star Wars " : Episode IV " A New Hope " , thus indicating him to be , in fact , a separate character . There is a reference to Krail in the video game " " . When destroyed , the Dwarven Gyrocopter unit will utter " They came from behind ! " before disintegrating , in a very similar way to Gold Five in the movie . Blizzard Entertainment staff has confirmed that this is one of many intentional references / homages to Lucas ' " Star Wars " universe .