David Gay
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Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
David William Maurice Gay MC (2 April 1920 – 10 July 2010) was a decorated British Army officer, English
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er, and later an educator. Gay served with distinction in World War II, earning the Military Cross during the course of the war. Following the war, he played first-class cricket, before embarking on a career as a teacher, which eventually led him to New Zealand, where he lived out the remainder of his life.


Early life and war service

Born in
Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
, London on 2 April 1920, he was the son of Stuart Eddington Gay of Rye, Sussex, and Margaret Muriel Kennedy. He was educated at Shrewsbury School, where he excelled at sports, including
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, which he played for the school. After leaving Shrewsbury School, Gay joined the Merchant Navy as an ordinary seaman in December 1938. Two months after joining, the ship he was on caught fire near the
Pitcairn Islands The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four isl ...
and took three days to be extinguished. Gay fought in World War II, fighting in France with the Royal Sussex Regiment as part of the British Expeditionary Force. Following the unsuccessful defence of France, he was evacuated from Dunkirk. Following the Dunkirk Evacuation, he was commissioned as an emergency commission to the
2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) The 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was first raised in 1685 by the Earl of Peterborough as the Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Horse by merging four existing troops of horse. Renamed several t ...
. In January 1942, he was promoted from
Cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...
to
2nd Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
. He served with the Queen's Bays in the North African Campaign, and took command of Troop B Squadron in August 1942. He fought in all the major battles of the campaign, from both Battles of El Alamein, in which he was wounded, to the campaigns end in Tunisia. During the Tunisia campaign, he was said to have shot down a
Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
with his Browning Rifle, after which it exploded and crashed among the Welsh Guards, setting alight to some of their trucks. He saw action later in the war during the Italian Campaign, including action at Coriano Ridge, during which on 20 September 1944 he carried out the actions which earned him his Military Cross. Commanding a troop of tanks in an attack on the ridge, an important target in the push toward Rimini, they came under heave machine-gun and anti-tank fire, holding their advance up and causing heavy casualties. The Queen's Bays lost two tanks, causing the accompanying
King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...
to take cover in nearby buildings, which instantly came under heavy fire. Providing covering fire and ordering his remaining tanks to cover the evacuation of the wounded. Gay then dismounted his own tank, ran across ground which was under heavy sniper and artillery fire, running to one of the two tanks which had been crippled and from which none of their crews had emerged from. Entering one of the tanks, he found all but one crew member dead, with the one surviving member, its commander, seriously wounded. Removing the wounded crew member from the tank, while being shot at from close range, Gay successful managed to take the officer to safety; despite this, the officer was hit twice while being carried to safety, and died from his wounds shortly thereafter. Gay's driver, who had witnessed the rescue, described it as the "bravest thing" he had ever seen. His receipt of the Military Cross was mentioned in dispatches in the ''
London Gazette London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
'' in February 1945. He continued the war in Italy, on one occasion he was carrying out a night-time reconnaissance on foot with the Gurkhas to establish a point for crossing the River Marano. During this mission, he was mistaken for a German soldier by one of the Gurkhas, who silently crept up behind him with his kukri poised to strike Gay. The Gurkha placed his hands on Gay's shoulders, felt his pips he was wearing and realised his mistake before he could strike. Gay calculated that throughout the course of the war he had seventeen near misses. In February 1945, he obtained the rank of lieutenant on a permanent basis, having held the position temporarily since February 1943.


Post-war

Following the end of the war, Gay continued in military service with the Queen's Bays. In 1947, he was promoted to the rank of
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
. Having been a talented sportsman before the war, Gay featured in first-class cricket, being selected in 1949 to play for the Combined Services against the touring New Zealanders at the
Garrison Ground 2 Garrison Ground 2 was a cricket ground in Gillingham, Kent. The ground, which has also been known as the Royal Engineers Sports Ground and simply the Garrison Ground, was used by Kent County Cricket Club for first-class and List A cricket betwee ...
. Gay was dismissed for a duck in the Combined Services first-innings by
Ces Burke Cecil "Ces" Burke (27 March 1914 – 4 August 1997) was a New Zealand cricketer who played for Auckland and, once, for New Zealand. He was born in Ellerslie, New Zealand and died in Auckland, New Zealand.
, while in the New Zealanders first-innings he bowled 31
overs Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England *Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England **Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pete ...
of his right-arm medium pace, though without taking a wicket. He made a second first-class appearance for the Combined Services in the same season against Hampshire at the United Services Recreation Ground, Portsmouth. He again made a duck in the Combined Services first-innings, falling to the bowling of
Clifford Walker Clifford Mitchell Walker (July 4, 1877 – November 9, 1954) was an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A graduate of the University of Georgia in 1897, he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Walk ...
. He claimed two wickets in Hampshire's first-innings, those of David Blake and Reginald Dare, finishing the innings with figures of 2/61 from 23 overs, while in their second-innings he took figures of 4/57 from 15 overs. In that same season, he played two first-class matches for
Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
in the County Championship against
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at
The Saffrons, Eastbourne The Saffrons is a multi-purpose sports ground in Eastbourne, East Sussex. The ground is home to Eastbourne Cricket Club, Eastbourne Town Football Club, Eastbourne Hockey Club and Compton Croquet Club. There is also a sand dressed astroturf pitch ...
, and
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
at the County Ground, Hove. This was his only season of first-class cricket, though he did feature for the Free Foresters in non-first-class matches in 1951 and 1952. On 3 October 1951, he married New Zealand born Yolande Innes QSO, at Savoy Chapel, London. He continued to serve in the army until 1958, when he retired and upon doing so was granted the honorary rank of
Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
. Following retirement from the army, he embarked on a career in teaching. He taught at
Chafyn Grove School Chafyn Grove School is a private co-educational day and boarding preparatory school situated on the edge of the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, in England's West Country. Founded in 1879 by Mr. W. C. Bird as an all-boys' school, it became Chafy ...
in
Salisbury, Wiltshire Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
, for seven years. He then moved to New Zealand, where he taught for 24 years at the Southwell Preparatory School in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
. Gay and Innes had two children, Susan, born 1953, and Richard, born 1954. Gay survived Innes, who died on 30 March 1998 at
Cambridge, Waikato Cambridge (Māori: ''Kemureti'') is a town in the Waipa District of the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. Situated southeast of Hamilton, on the banks of the Waikato River, Cambridge is known as "The Town of Trees & Champions ...
. Gay died at Hamilton, Waikato, on 10 July 2010. His obituary featured in '' The Daily Telegraph'' on 2 August 2010.


References


External links


David Gay
at ESPNcricinfo
David Gay
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, David 1920 births 2010 deaths Military personnel from London Sportspeople from Kensington People educated at Shrewsbury School British Merchant Navy personnel British Army personnel of World War II Royal Sussex Regiment officers 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) officers Recipients of the Military Cross English cricketers Combined Services cricketers Sussex cricketers Schoolteachers from Wiltshire British emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand schoolteachers