Richard Gorham Sir Richard Matthew Gorham CBE , DFC , JP ( 3 October 1917 - 8 July 2006 ) was a prominent Bermudian parliamentarian , businessman and philanthropist , who served as a pilot during the Second World War when he played a decisive role in the Battle of Monte Cassino , earning the Distinguished Flying Cross . Second World War . Bermuda Volunteer Engineers . Born in Pembroke , Bermuda , the son of Mr . and Mrs . A . J . Gorham , he enlisted in the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers in 1938 . The unit was mobilised , along with the other part - time units of the Bermuda Garrison ( the Bermuda Militia Artillery ( BMA ) , Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps ( BVRC ) , and the Bermuda Militia Infantry ) , when the Second World War was declared . As a Corporal , he was attached to the signalling division at the Royal Naval Dockyard , he earned a commission as a result of his saving an exercise when he suggested an emergency method of signalling visually to replace a broken wireless transmitter . As a Lieutenant he learnt of an instruction from the Army Council prevented commanding officers from preventing officers under their command from taking any training course for which they volunteered ( although his commanding officer , Major Cecil Montgomery - Moore , DFC - having transferred from the BVRC in France to the Royal Flying Corps when he had been commissioned during the First World War , and heading the Bermuda Flying School during the Second World War - must undoubtedly have approved of what Gorham intended ) . Royal Artillery and Royal Air Force . At the time , the Royal Air Force was having great difficulty in providing effective Air Observation Post pilots to the British Army . In 1918 , the British Amy lost its air wing when the Royal Flying Corps was merged with the Royal Naval Air Service to create the independent Royal Air Force ( RAF ) . Since then , the RAF had jealously guarded its monopoly on British military and naval aviation . They provided the Royal Navy with RAF aircrew and support personnel to operate the aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm , although the Navy had been allowed to begin training its own aircrew before the war began . The RAF also provided the aircraft and crews that worked in close support roles to the Army , notably the AOP pilots . These were pilots of light aircraft , such as the Auster , who acted as artillery spotters , directing the fire of the guns of the Royal Artillery from the air . Having had poor success at training RAF pilots to direct artillery fire , it was decided to train Army officers who were proficient at the task to pilot aeroplanes . This preceded the recreation of a new air wing within the British Army , the Army Air Corps ( which initially included parachute and glider landed units , as well as the Glider Pilot Regiment , but would eventually take over the AOP and other air support roles from the RAF ) . Then Lieutenant Gorham requested to train for this role , and was detached from the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers to travel to England for the training . Transferred into the Royal Artillery , and trained by the RAF , he served in a squadron controlled by the RAF . He served in North Africa and Italy . In Italy , while in command of B Flight of 655 Squadron , he played the decisive role in the Battle of Monte Cassino when he spotted a German division moving in half - track ed German Armoured Personnel Carriers to counter attack the British 5th Division and the Polish Corps , which were themselves attacking the German - occupied monastery . Contacting the senior Royal Artillery fire control officer on the ground . All two - thousand field guns within range were switched from their local targets and placed under his control . Gorham directed their fire down onto the German Division . The guns fired for hours , with Gorham taking turns with other AOP pilots . The German division was completely destroyed , and the Allied ground forces broke through four days later . For this action , Gorham received the Distinguished Flying Cross , a relative rarity for an Army officer . Post - war service . Returning to Bermuda after the War with the rank of Captain , Gorham found his original unit , the BVE , was disbanded in 1946 . All of the other local military units were demobilised at the same time , though the BVRC and BMA would both maintain skeleton command structures till their strength was built back up again in 1951 ( they would amalgamate in 1965 into the Bermuda Regiment ) . Gorham entered the BVRC in which he served for a number of years . He was part of the detachment sent to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 . Civil life . In his civil life , Richard Gorham became a prominent businessman and Member of the Parliament of Bermuda ( originally titled " Member of the Colonial Parliament " , or MCP , but today simply " Member of Parliament " , or MP ) . He donated much of his wealth to a host of causes , including the Bermuda Maritime Museum , and the Bermuda Sloop Foundation .