Robert Hampton "Hammy" Gray, , RCNVR (November 2, 1917 – August 9, 1945) was a Canadian

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

, pilot, and recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

(VC) during World War II, one of only two members of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

to have been thus decorated in that war. (The other was

Eugene Esmonde Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde, (1 March 1909 – 12 February 1942) was a distinguished Irish pilot in the Fleet Air Arm who was a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy awa ...

, a British pilot.) Gray is the second to last Canadian to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

Early life

Gray was born in

Trail, British Columbia Trail is a city in the West Kootenay region of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was named after the Dewdney Trail, which passed through the area. The town was first called Trail Creek or Trail Creek Landing, and the name was shorten ...

, Canada, but resided from an early age in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, where his father was a jeweller. In 1940, following education at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherf ...

and

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top three ...

, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts and was a member of the

Phi Delta Theta Fraternity Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta ...

, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) at in Calgary,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Terri ...

. Originally sent to England for training, Gray was sent back to Canada to train at RCAF Station Kingston.

War service

Africa and Norway

Gray initially joined 757 Naval Air Squadron at

Winchester Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Lond ...

, England. He was then assigned to the African theatre, flying

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

s for shore-based squadrons, nos. 795,

803 __NOTOC__ Year 803 ( DCCCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperors Nikephoros I and Charlemagne settle their imperial boundaries i ...

, and 877, where he spent two years at

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

. He trained to fly the

Vought F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contract ...

fighter and in 1944 he was assigned to 1841 NAS, based on . From August 24–29, 1944, he took part in the unsuccessful

Operation Goodwood Operation Goodwood was a British offensive during the Second World War, which took place between 18 and 20 July 1944 as part of the larger battle for Caen in Normandy, France. The objective of the operation was a limited attack to the sout ...

raids against the , in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and th ...

. On August 29, 1944, he was

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

for his participation in an attack on three German

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in 1 ...

s, during which his plane's rudder was shot off. On January 16, 1945, he received a further Mention, "For undaunted courage, skill and determination in carrying out daring attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz."

Japan

In April 1945, HMS ''Formidable'' joined the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships ...

which was involved in the

invasion of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

. By July 1945, the carrier was involved in strikes on the Japanese mainland. On July 18, Gray led a strafing mission against airfields in the Tokyo area. On July 24, Gray led another flight to the inland sea which damaged one merchant ship, and damaged two seaplane bases and one airbase. Gray earned a

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

for aiding in sinking a Japanese destroyer in the area of Tokyo on July 28. The award was not announced until August 21, 1945, when the notice appeared in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

'' with the citation, "For determination and address in air attacks on targets in Japan".

VC action

On August 9, 1945, at Onagawa Bay,

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nor ...

, Japan, Lieutenant Gray (flying a Vought F4U Corsair) led an attack on a group of

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

naval vessels, sinking the before his plane crashed into the bay. The citation for his VC, gazetted on November 13, 1945, described as being: Gray was one of the last Canadians to die during World War II, and was the second to last Canadian to be awarded the Victoria Cross, the last being that of Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski, awarded a year later in relation to an incident that occurred before Gray's. His VC is owned by the Gray family.

Awards and decorations

Gray's personal awards and decorations include the following:

Legacy

As Gray's remains were never found, he was listed as missing in action and presumed dead. He is commemorated, with other Canadians who died or were buried at sea during the First and Second World Wars, at the Halifax Memorial in

Point Pleasant Park Point Pleasant Park is a large, mainly forested municipal park at the southern tip of the Halifax peninsula. It once hosted several artillery batteries, and still contains the Prince of Wales Tower - the oldest Martello tower in North Americ ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

. The War Memorial Gym at University of British Columbia,

Royal Canadian Legion The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian ex-service organization (veterans' organization) founded in 1925. Membership includes people who have served as military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial and municipal police, Royal ...

hall in Nelson, numerous other sites in Nelson, and the wardroom of HMCS ''Tecumseh'' (his RCNVR home unit) also bear plaques in his honour. A memorial for Gray was erected at Onagawa Bay in 1989 in Sakiyama Park. This is the only memorial dedicated to a foreign soldier on Japanese soil. Following the devastation of the March 11, 2011 earthquake (during which the granite monument itself was knocked over), the monument (with new plaque) was moved from its original location in Sakiyama Park to one beside the hospital (Onagawacho Community Medicine Center) in Onagawa Town. A rededication ceremony was held August 24, 2012. Gray is one of fourteen figures commemorated at the

Valiants Memorial The Valiants Memorial (french: Monument aux Valeureux) is a military monument located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It commemorates fourteen key figures from the military history of Canada. Dedicated by Governor General Michaëlle Jean on 5 Novembe ...

in Ottawa. To celebrate the Centennial of the Canadian Navy, during the 2010 air show season,

Vintage Wings of Canada Vintage Wings of Canada is a not for profit, charitable organization, with a collection of historically significant aircraft. The facility is located at the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport, Quebec, Canada. It was founded by former Cognos C ...

flew at events across Canada in a Corsair bearing the markings of the plane Gray was likely flying that fateful day. His life is recorded in ''A Formidable Hero: Lt. R.H. Gray, VC, DSC, RCNVR'' by Stuart E. Soward, published by Trafford Neptune.

Grays Peak, British Columbia

On March 12, 1946, the Geographic Board of Canada named a mountain in

Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park is one of the oldest provincial parks in British Columbia, established in 1922. The park has an area of and is located in the Selkirk Mountains in the West Kootenays region of BC. The park has three glaciers (Kok ...

, British Columbia, after Gray and his brother, Flt Sgt John Balfour Gray,

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

, who was also killed in World War II.Province of British Columbia, BC Geographic Names Database (BCGNIS)
Grays Peak
Retrieved 2010.07.24 Rising to a height of ,

Grays Peak Grays Peak is the tenth-highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The prominent fourteener is the highest summit of the Front Range and the highest point on the Continental Divide and the Contin ...

is well known in Canada as the mountain pictured on the label of Kokanee Beer.Bivouac.com, Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia
Grays Peak
Retrieved 2010.07.24

Hampton Gray Memorial Elementary

The

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

CFB Shearwater Canadian Forces Base Shearwater , commonly referred to as CFB Shearwater and formerly named HMCS ''Shearwater'', is a Canadian Forces facility located east southeast of Shearwater, Nova Scotia, on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour in the Hal ...

is named after Gray.

Kingston Norman Rogers Airport

Gray completed his training at No. 31 Service Flying Training School in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toron ...

. There is a Harvard aircraft, same type of trainer he flew at Kingston, mounted on a pedestal with a memorial dedicated to him. Additionally, the road leading to the airport terminal has been named Hampton Gray Gate.

Royal Canadian Sea Cadets

The Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps in Nelson, BC is named 81 Hampton Gray, VC Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps.

Royal Canadian Air Cadets

In 2012, the Royal Canadian Air Cadets created a new squadron in his honour called 789 Lt. R. Hampton Gray VC Squadron which is located in Mississauga, Ontario.

''Harry DeWolf''-class offshore patrol vessel

The sixth for the Royal Canadian Navy will be named for Gray.

References

External links

* * *
Vintage Wings of Canada article on Gray
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Robert Hampton 1917 births 1945 deaths Aviators killed by being shot down Royal Canadian Navy officers Canadian World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross Canadian military personnel killed in World War II Fleet Air Arm aviators People from Trail, British Columbia Canadian recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) University of British Columbia alumni Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II Missing in action of World War II Canadian military personnel from British Columbia Royal Canadian Navy personnel of World War II