Robert Hampton Gray Robert Hampton " Hammy " Gray VC , DSC ( 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 . Background . Gray was born in Trail , British Columbia , Canada , but resided in Nelson from an early age . In 1940 , following education at the University of Alberta and University of British Columbia , where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity , he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve ( RCNVR ) at in Calgary , Alberta . Originally sent to England for training , Gray was sent back to Canada to train at RCAF Station Kingston where he qualified as a pilot for the British Fleet Air Arm in September 1941 . War service . Gray was first assigned to the African theatre , flying Hawker Hurricane s for shore - based squadrons . After two years in Africa , he trained to fly the Corsair fighter and in 1944 he was assigned to 1841 Squadron , based on HMS " Formidable " . In August 1944 , he took part in a series of unsuccessful raids against the German battleship " Tirpitz " , in Norway . On August 29 , 1944 , he was Mentioned in Despatches for his participation in an attack on three 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 . " In April 1945 , HMS Formidable joined the British Pacific Fleet . By July 1945 , the carrier was involved in strikes on the Japanese mainland . Gray earned a Distinguished Service Cross for aiding in sinking a Japanese destroyer in the area of Tokyo . The award was not announced until August 21 , 1945 , when the notice appeared in the " London Gazette " with the citation , " For determination and address in air attacks on targets in Japan " . VC action . On August 9 , 1945 , at Onagawa Bay , Miyagi Prefecture , Japan , Lieutenant Gray led an attack on a group of Japanese naval vessels , sinking the Etorofu class , escort ship Amakusa before his plane crashed into the bay . The citation for his VC , gazetted on November 13 , 1945 , describes what happened : Gray was one of the last Canadians to die during World War II , and was the last Canadian to be awarded the Victoria Cross . His VC is owned by the Gray family . Legacy . As Gray ' s remains were never found , he was listed as missing in action and presumed dead . He is commemorated , with other Canadians who died or were buried at sea during the First and Second World Wars , at the Halifax Memorial in Point Pleasant Park , Halifax , Nova Scotia . The War Memorial Gym at University of British Columbia , Royal Canadian Legion hall in Nelson , numerous other sites in Nelson , and the wardroom of HMCS Tecumseh ( his RCNVR home unit ) also bear plaques in his honour . A memorial service honouring Gray ' s act of bravery was held in 2006 and a memorial erected at Onagawa Bay , just metres away from where his plane crashed . This is the only memorial dedicated to a foreign soldier on Japanese soil . Following the devastation of the March 11 , 2011 earthquake , the monument was moved from its original location in Sakiyama Park to one beside the hospital in Onagawa Town . A rededication ceremony was held 24 August 2012 . < http : / / www . nelsonstar . com / news / 167598795 . html > Gray is one of fourteen figures commemorated at the Valiants Memorial in Ottawa . A cousin of Gray , filmmaker Ian Herring , in 2005 made a fictionalized film about him , " The Last Battle of Hampton Gray " . To celebrate the Centennial of the Canadian Navy , during the 2010 air show season , Vintage Wings of Canada flew at events across Canada in a Corsair bearing the markings of the plane Gray was likely flying that fateful day . Grays Peak , British Columbia . On 12 March 1946 , the Geographic Board of Canada named a mountain in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park , BC , after Gray and his brother , John Balfour Gray , who was also killed in World War II . Rising to a height of 2 , 753m , Grays Peak is well known in Canada as the mountain pictured on the label of Kokanee beer . Hampton Gray Memorial Elementary . The elementary school at CFB Shearwater is named after Gray .