Victoria Cross Recipient from here

We have a "Memorial" in town for this man for receiving "Posthumously" the Victoria Cross and a Distinguished Service Cross. The Memorial is in the 500 Block of Vernon St, Nelson BC, right in front of the Post Office.

Lt. Robert Hampton "Hammy" Gray (Pilot)
Born Nov. 2, 1916 in Trail BC
moved to Nelson, BC.
died (Aug. 9, 1945)
Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve

He was flying a "little plane" and (single-handedly?) took out a huge Destroyer called AMASKUVA... he died when his plane went down in flames during that action...Aug. 9, 1945.

[Garry Shipton (RIP)]

Vets,exerpt from "Courage at Sea" by Arthur Bishop-son of Billy Bishop V.C.
"It happened the same morning the US dropped the 2nd Atomic bomb.The little plane was in fact a Corsair F4U,one of the most powerful piston engined fighters of WW2."Gray took aim on AMAKUSA,anchored in the middle of the harbor.As he swept in,a cone of fire-from everywhere it seemed-zeroed in on him.Ack-ack struck his aircraft,knocking one of his bombs away and setting the Corsair on fire.But Gray persisted in his attack,holding a steady course.Flames streaming behind,he closed within 50 yards before releasing his remaining bomb.It was a perfect strike amidships.Gray's plane turned slowly to starboard,then rolled on it's back & dived into the water.Neither pilot or Corsair were ever found""He was also honored by by his enemies."."In 1989,the Japanese erected a cairn & memorial plaque in Saklyama Peace Park,overlooking the site of Gray's action"."It is the only memorial to an Allied officer or serviceman on Japanese soil".HE was born in Trail B.C. in 1917.He served in the Royal Navy Fleet Arm aboard FORMIDABLE.KIA August 09,1945.
Garry

[servicepub (RIP)]

Years ago, as a young lad, I dated a girl whose father was Hammy's best friend aboard the HMS Formidable. Charley Butterworth, (or Mr. B) was also a Canadian pilot in the Fleet Air Arm. He flew in the other squadron (1844?). On the day after Hamy died Mr. B flew off the Formidable and accomplished exactly the same thing that Hammy did the day before - but lived. Mr. B attacked and sank a Japanese ship. He was awarded an immediate DSC and, where Hammy was Canada's last KIA of WWII Mr. B may have been Canada's last DSC of the war.
Mr. B. was the son of another Charles Butterworth who, as a member of the Royal Navy Air Service flew in the Great War. That "Mr.B" was shot down while providing air cover on a bombing mission on the Mauser plant. His squadron commader was Ray Collishaw, VC. The senior Mr. B was a POW for 2 years.

[Garry Shipton (RIP)]

known as"D'Artagnan of the Air".Sixty vitories,born in Nanaimo,B.C.Awards=CB OBE DSO & Bar DFC CdeG)France)

Originally posted by Garry Shipton
HE was born in Trail B.C. in 1917.
Garry

Hi Garry... I was sure that the memorial in town lists "Hammy's" birth year as 1916. I'll doublecheck and if it's 1916 let you guys know again. If its 1916, then someone has their info wrong and I'm sure I can check around to verify the correct year of birth

Interesting stories in this thread!!!!!

By the way... what is: ACK ACK ?????????

Carman

[Frank Misztal]

Ack-Ack = common military term for Anti-Aircraft (AA)

Originally posted by Frank Misztal
Ack-Ack = common military term for Anti-Aircraft (AA)

Thanks Frank C.

Originally posted by Vets_Dottir
We have a "Memorial" in town for this man for receiving "Posthumously" the Victoria Cross and a Distinguished Service Cross. The Memorial is in the 500 Block of Vernon St, Nelson BC, right in front of the Post Office.

Lt. Robert Hampton "Hammy" Gray (Pilot)
Born Nov. 2, 1916 in Trail BC
moved to Nelson, BC.
died (Aug. 9, 1945)
Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve

He was flying a "little plane" and (single-handedly?) took out a huge Destroyer called AMASKUVA... he died when his plane went down in flames during that action...Aug. 9, 1945.

Well ... dammit. I walked by the Post Office today
and was blown away to see that the memorial for "Hammy" was trashed ... pushed over, broken in parts, and the plaque part that rested on top, inlaid in granite (the whole sculture was granite,the plaque was brass) is gone. I don't know thestory but it sure as hell looks like vandalism to me ... unless a car jumped the sidewalk, crossed it, and knocked the memorial over (the beating marks don't look like avehicle did it) I don't know where the plaque part is... hopefully it was rescued and the memorial will be rebuilt.

BTW ... in front of the Gov't buildings here,is another large 4-sided memorial, naming all the fallen soldiers from around here, from WW1 and WW2 and the Korean wars. Sad to slowly walk and read the lists and lists of so many men who sacrificed their lives, from this little area alone. Many men ...

sad

[Garry Shipton (RIP)]

There's gotta be a way to rectify this.Talk shows,city hall,Fed & Prov representatives,even an E-Mail address for all MLU people worldwide to voice their displeasure for such vandalization.Heck,the Japanese have dedicated a memorial to a fallen Canadian hero on their home soil.Look what happened when Canada's most famous tank "Bomb"was left derelict down in Sherbrooke Quebec.Look what's now happening to the SAR's command halftrack.Find the right peope to right a wrong.

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Yeah, I think we can kick up a bit of a fuss here. K, give us as much info as you can and let me start the ball rolling through the VA. We need to pressure the Town Council as well, however... that's where YOU come in.

Let's go for it.

Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
Yeah, I think we can kick up a bit of a fuss here. K, give us as much info as you can and let me start the ball rolling through the VA. We need to pressure the Town Council as well, however... that's where YOU come in.

Let's go for it.

Rock-n-Roll
with it, eh?... I'll make some calls and keep you posted

My FIRST call???

Why, I called the cops of course non-emerg number and asked "What happened to Hammy Greys memorial?"

Good news folks ... Hammy's Memorial trashing was NOT the result of vandalism as it looked to be, to my eyes anyways, the markings were wierd. The Memorial WILL be REPAIRED in the Spring.

I didn't want to know the details about the accident. The policeman laughed when I told him that his news would make a lot of military types happy to know it was NOT vandalism. He understood.

Yaps

Hi ... I was searching for a photo image of the memorial I'm talking about. I didn't find one yet, but I DID find an RCAF page with his photo. Gawwwd ... what a YOUNG FACE! Scroll about half way down the page to see his photo and read a small bio. Other bios and photos as well

http://mars.ark.com/~camuseum/RCAF/part6.html


I'll continue to look for an image of the memorial and post it. It really was quite beautiful Shaped sort of like a podium.

[John McGillivray]

Talking about the Victory cross, there is a new series of articles about the Victory Cross which has started in Legion magazine. Here is the link to the the first of 18.

http://www.legionmagazine.ca/feature...ry/04-01.asp#5

[Garry Shipton (RIP)]

Three's an article in the Montreal Gazette dated Sunday Jan 25/04 whereby there is a campaign afoot to repatriate the remains back to Toronto..Plans are taking shape to bring home the bones of the Crimean hero--the 150th anniversary of his battlefield exploits.The date is being marked by Canada Post with a special issue of stamps honoring Dunn & the other 92 award winners.

.Advocates in Toronto are getting positive signals about the project from Ottawa.The Canadian Legian may even lend their support.In 2001 Canadian peacekeepers happened on his grave in Eratria,which was in disrepair..It had been repaired,& a year later it had been scavenged.

[Marc Montgomery]

The story of Lt Dunn and the repair of his grave was carried in issue #3 of Convoy (summer 2001) Sad to hear it has been vandalized/scavenged yet again.

Dare I say in countries where life is so little respected, its not surprising so little respect is given to the dead.

An interesting story is coming up about an encounter with Canada's remaining VC winner "Smokey" Smith, in issue #14 and the story behind a famous Canadian photo of a WWII universal carrier in the same story.

But as for Mr Smith V.C., I had the honour of saluting him from the cab of my 1944 C60 during Victory Spring in Ottawa.(.golly has it been that many years already!!!!) Anwyay, it was kinda neat cause he smiled and returned the salute.. note it was the correct Canadian WW-II salute, and not the modern one. ;-)



Marc
http://www.geocities.com/convoymagazine
http://www.geocities.com/lga25ubique