Hector Bertram Gray (6 June 1911 – 18 December 1943) was an officer of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, and a member of the

British Army Aid Group The British Army Aid Group (B.A.A.G.) was a para-military organisation for British and Allied forces in southern China during the Second World War. The B.A.A.G. was officially classified in the British Army's order of battle as an MI9 unit t ...

, who was posthumously awarded the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has be ...

for "most conspicuous gallantry" in resisting torture after the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in 1941.

Early life

Gray was born on 6 June 1911 in

Gillingham, Kent Gillingham ( ) is a large town in the unitary authority area of Medway in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. It is also the largest town in th ...

the son of Lionel and Adela (née Duff) Gray, his father was a musician. Gray joined the Royal Air Force as an aircraft apprentice at

RAF Halton Royal Air Force Halton, or more simply RAF Halton, is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom. It is located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire. The site has been in use since the First World ...

Long distance flight

In November 1938 Gray, then a Sergeant Pilot with the RAF Long Range Development Flight, was acting as a radio operator/mechanic in one of three

Vickers Wellesley The Vickers Wellesley was a medium bomber that was designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands near Weybridge, Surrey. It was one of two aircraft to be named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of W ...

bombers that flew non-stop for two days from

Ismailia Ismailia ( ar, الإسماعيلية ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city has a population of 1,406,699 (or approximately 750,000, inclu ...

, Egypt to

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

, Australia (7,162 mi/11,525 km) setting a world distance record. The Wellesley's record remained unbroken until November 1945 but it remains the longest by a single engined aircraft. Gray was awarded the

Air Force Medal The Air Force Medal (AFM) was a military decoration, awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for "an act or acts of valour, ...

for the flight.

British Army Aid Group

Gray smuggled medicine into the prisoner of war camp to help the many seriously ill prisoners incarcerated there and was a conduit for news from the outside world. When the Japanese grew suspicious he was tortured and interrogated for six months but refused to divulge the names of fellow officers, such as Captain Douglas Ford of the

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regime ...

, and Colonel

Lanceray Arthur Newnham Colonel Lanceray Arthur Newnham (3 August 1889 – 18 December 1943), known as Lance or Lan Newnham, was a British Army officer. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross for the gallantry he showed in resisting Japanese torture during the S ...

of the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Ref ...

. He was executed by firing squad, with fellow prisoners, on 18 December 1943 and buried in

Stanley Military Cemetery Stanley Military Cemetery is a cemetery located near St. Stephen's Beach in Stanley, Hong Kong. Along with the larger Hong Kong (Happy Valley) Cemetery, it is one of two military cemeteries of the early colonial era, used for the burials of ...

in Hong Kong. Notice of his award was published in the London Gazette on 19 April 1946.George Cross Database Recipient
at www.gc-database.co.uk

Honours and awards

*28 April 1939 Sergeant Hector Bertram Gray of the Royal Air Force Long Range Development Unit was awarded the

in recognition of services rendered to crews of two aircraft which flew from Ismailia to Port Darwin in November 1938 on world's long-distance record flight. *19 April 1946 Flight Lieutenant Hector Bertram Gray AFM is posthumously awarded the

"in recognition of most conspicuous gallantry in carrying out hazardous work in a very brave manner".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Hector Bertram Royal Air Force officers British recipients of the George Cross Royal Air Force recipients of the George Cross Recipients of the Air Force Medal People executed by Japan by firing squad Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II 1911 births 1943 deaths Executed British people 20th-century executions by Japan People from Gillingham, Kent Executed people from Kent British torture victims World War II prisoners of war held by Japan British World War II prisoners of war Burials at Stanley Military Cemetery Military personnel from Kent