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 ...
, who was posthumously awarded the
George Cross 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 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.
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 ...
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, includi ...
, Egypt to
Darwin, 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 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 R ...
. 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 ...
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 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, ...
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 George Cross "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