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Robert Hampton Gray, born November 2, 1917 inTrail, British Columbia, Canada, join in the Canadian Navy in 1940.- One of only 13 who qualified as pilots in the Fleet Air Arm, he also served as lieutenant on board the HMS Formidable in 1944, and has been praised for his work during an attack on the German battleship Tirpitz in Alten Fjord. Shortly before his death he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for aiding in the destruction of a destroyer near Tokyo.-
August 9, 1945, Lt. Robert Hampton Gray, leads eight Corsairs in an attack against Japanese military targets.- To everyone's surprise, Gray undertakes a suicidal assault on an armed escort ship in Onagawa Bay on the island of Honshu, the mainland of Japan.-
The description of his valour from his citation reads as follows:
For great bravery in leading an attack to within50 feetof a Japanese destroyer in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire, thereby sinking the destroyer although he was hit and his own aircraft on fire and finally himself killed. He was one of the gallant company of Naval Airmen who, from December 1944, fought and beat the Japanese from Palembang to Tokyo. The actual incident took place in the Onagawa Wan on the 9th of August 1945. Gray was leader of the attack, which he pressed home in the face of fire from shore batteries and at least eight warships. With his aircraft in flames he nevertheless obtained at least one direct hit which sank its objective.-
At Onagawa Bay the fliers found below a number of Japanese ships and dived into attack. Furious fire was opened on the aircraft from army batteries on the ground and from warships in the Bay. Lieut. Gray selected for his target an enemy destroyer. He swept in oblivious of the concentrated fire and made straight for his target. His aircraft was hit and hit again, but he kept on. As he came close to the destroyer his plane caught fire but he pressed to within50 feetof the Japanese ship and let go his bombs. He scored at least one direct hit, possibly more. The destroyer sank almost immediately. Lieutenant Gray did not return. He had given his life at the very end of his fearless bombing run.-
Canadian aviation artist Don Connolly depicts the final moments of Gray's attack.
Neither Lieutenant Gray nor his plane have ever been found.- But his name survives as one of Canada’s World War II heroes.-
Posthumously, he's awarded the highest military honour: the Victoria Cross.-
A memorial to Robert Hampton Gray was erected at The Valiants Memorial near Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario and his name is inscribed on the Sailor's Memorial at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia.-
parallaxfilm
navy.forces.gc.ca
canada-heros.com
wiki
vintagewings.ca
August 9, 1945, Lt. Robert Hampton Gray, leads eight Corsairs in an attack against Japanese military targets.- To everyone's surprise, Gray undertakes a suicidal assault on an armed escort ship in Onagawa Bay on the island of Honshu, the mainland of Japan.-
The description of his valour from his citation reads as follows:
For great bravery in leading an attack to within50 feetof a Japanese destroyer in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire, thereby sinking the destroyer although he was hit and his own aircraft on fire and finally himself killed. He was one of the gallant company of Naval Airmen who, from December 1944, fought and beat the Japanese from Palembang to Tokyo. The actual incident took place in the Onagawa Wan on the 9th of August 1945. Gray was leader of the attack, which he pressed home in the face of fire from shore batteries and at least eight warships. With his aircraft in flames he nevertheless obtained at least one direct hit which sank its objective.-
At Onagawa Bay the fliers found below a number of Japanese ships and dived into attack. Furious fire was opened on the aircraft from army batteries on the ground and from warships in the Bay. Lieut. Gray selected for his target an enemy destroyer. He swept in oblivious of the concentrated fire and made straight for his target. His aircraft was hit and hit again, but he kept on. As he came close to the destroyer his plane caught fire but he pressed to within50 feetof the Japanese ship and let go his bombs. He scored at least one direct hit, possibly more. The destroyer sank almost immediately. Lieutenant Gray did not return. He had given his life at the very end of his fearless bombing run.-
Canadian aviation artist Don Connolly depicts the final moments of Gray's attack.
Neither Lieutenant Gray nor his plane have ever been found.- But his name survives as one of Canada’s World War II heroes.-
Posthumously, he's awarded the highest military honour: the Victoria Cross.-
A memorial to Robert Hampton Gray was erected at The Valiants Memorial near Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario and his name is inscribed on the Sailor's Memorial at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia.-
parallaxfilm
navy.forces.gc.ca
canada-heros.com
wiki
vintagewings.ca