Robert Hampton Gray conflict World War II
Robert Hampton "Hammy" Gray, , RCNVR (November 2, 1917 – August 9, 1945) was a Canadian naval officer, pilot, and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC) during World War II, one of only two members of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm to have been thus decorated in that war. (The other was Eugene Esmonde, 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, Canada, but resided from an early age in Nelson, where his father was a jeweller. In 1940, following education at the University of Alberta and University of British Columbia, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts and was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) at HMCS Tecumseh in Calgary, Alberta. 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, England. He was then assigned to the African theatre, flying Hawker Hurricanes for shore-based squadrons, nos. 795, 803, and 877, where he spent two years at Nairobi.He trained to fly the Vought F4U Corsair fighter and in 1944 he was assigned to 1841 NAS, based on HMS Formidable. From August 24–29, 1944, he took part in the  unsuccessful Operation Goodwood raids against the German battleship Tirpitz, in Norway. On August 29, 1944, he was Mentioned in Dispatches for his participation in an attack on three German destroyers, 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."
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