Coming in as low as 50ft and leading the attack, Gray was shot at ferociously, causing one of his 500lb bombs to be blown away. Show all articles. Company Limited by Guarantee. But as Gray’s Corsair passed over the enemy, it was engulfed in flames and corkscrewed into the sea. During the Second World War, Canadian Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray was assigned to the Fleet Air Arm and a member of No. Most quickly slipped back into obscurity and would echo the memorable comment of modest London-born Australian Len Keysor who memorably remarked years later: ‘The war was the only adventure I ever had.’. From attacks against Hitler’s flagship Tirpitz in the Norwegian fjords to strikes against Japan, Robert Hampton Gray had "consistently shown a brilliant fighting spirit and most inspiring leadership". Between those two remarkable acts of gallantry, a further 626 feats of daring were considered worthy of the nation’s highest military award for courage in the face of the enemy, a staggering 104 more than had previously been awarded during the medal’s 58-year history. Boy 1st Class John Travers (Jack) Cornwell, a sight-setter aboard the newly-commissioned cruiser HMS Chester, was aged 16 when his devotion to duty during his first and last action was posthumously recognised. The award was to be backdated to 1854 in order to recognise acts of bravery from the Crimea War. Chavasse, whose unique medal group now has pride of place in the Lord Ashcroft Collection displayed at the Imperial War Museum, was one of 187 recipients, who made up more than a quarter of the total, who earned the ultimate distinction at the cost of their own lives. The overwhelming majority of VCs – an incredible 491, to be precise, including both second award bars – were presented for actions on the Western Front. Who Was The Last Navy Victoria Cross Winner? Unusually, all of them were awarded under Clause 13 of the Victoria Cross Warrant, whereby the survivors were balloted to find the six most deserving recipients among their brave company. 1841 Squadron. Mortally wounded and with his gun team lying dead and wounded around him, he steadfastly stuck to his post as his ship sought to escape a storm of fire at the great battle-fleet action off Jutland. 407270. Who Was The Last Navy Victoria Cross Winner? Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray's final act, sinking the Amakusa, earned him the Victoria Cross. One of the posthumous recipients was Lieutenant Commander George Bradford, whose brother Roland had been killed a few months earlier having been similarly honoured while commanding a battalion on the Somme in 1916. It was the final VC of 182 awarded in World War Two and to date, the last earned by the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Navy. And so in early 1856 with increasing public support, Queen Victoria ordered the War Office to strike a new medal, the Victoria Cross, which was made open to all members of the British armed forces regardless of rank. It was during the landings at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, that a single battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers famously won ‘Six VCs before breakfast’. It is 75 years since the Royal Navy's last Victoria Cross winner. Enter your email address below to get the latest news and exclusive content from The History Press delivered straight to your inbox. £22,000 to £28,000 Per Year + Bonus share scheme! In stark contrast, Captain Frederick Parslow was born just three months after the medal was instituted by Queen Victoria in January, 1856. Cover Image: Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray received the final VC of the 182 awarded to the Royal Navy during World War Two. The same clause was activated again, three years later, following the Royal Navy’s gallant attempt to block the Belgian ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend which were being used by German U-boats. During the Second World War, Canadian Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray was assigned to the Fleet Air Arm and a member of No. It is 75 years since the Royal Navy's last Victoria Cross winner. Still can't find what you're looking for? 233480. As the first Merchant Navy officer to be awarded the VC, he joined an exclusive list of landmark awards which included the first submariner (Lieutenant Norman Holbrook), the first airman (2nd Lieutenant William Rhodes-Moorhouse), the first member of the Tank Corps (2nd Lieutenant Clement Robertson), the first Indian (Sepoy Khudadad Khan), the first Gurkha (Rifleman Kulbir Thapa) and the first man to be so honoured for an act of bravery performed in, or rather over, Britain (Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson). Unusually, all of them were awarded under Clause 13 of the Victoria Cross Warrant, whereby the survivors were balloted to find the six most deserving recipients among their brave company. His final act, sinking the Amakusa, earned him the Victoria Cross. The first Victoria Crosses of the First World War. Charity Registered in England No. Counted among their heroic ranks were the oldest and the youngest winners of the VC during the First World War. Included among them were two second award bars, both made to army doctors – Arthur Martin-Leake, who had earned his original VC a dozen years earlier towards the end of the Boer War, and Noel Godfrey Chavasse, a distinguished scholar and Olympian, who won his two Crosses, together with a Military Cross, in the space of a little more than two years on the Western Front which culminated in his death at the age of 32. He was instructed not to take any unnecessary risks as it was believed that the war with Japan would end soon and the Soviet Unit had attacked Japanese Forces that morning. It was during the landings at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, that a single battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers famously won ‘Six VCs before breakfast’. The award was officially constituted when Queen Victoria issued a warrant under the Royal … Will be used in accordance with our privacy policy, BFBS, Chalfont Grove, Narcot Lane, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 8TN 1841 Squadron. However, two of the most notable episodes involving multiple awards took place away from the main theatre of war. Search above The second however he hurled into the coastal defence ship Amakusa, which exploded in the engine room and detonated the magazine. He was based on board HMS Formidable, which had joined the Royal Navy fleet in the Pacific Campaign and was involved in strikes on the Japanese mainland. (picture: Royal Navy). Housekeeper/Caretaker with self contained flat. Another hero of Zeebrugge, Captain Alfred Carpenter, gained a measure of celebrity by writing a best-selling book about the St George’s Day raid, but for the majority of VC holders any fame proved short-lived. Registered in England No. Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray's final act, sinking the Amakusa, earned him the Victoria Cross. The 59-year-old master of the unarmed horse transport SS Anglo-Californian died on the bridge of his vessel desperately trying to evade an enemy submarine having defied repeated calls to abandon ship. On his missions Gray sighted five enemy ships in the harbour and attacked. Three-times wounded Maurice Dease, an Irish-born Royal Fusilier officer, won his honour posthumously in a desperate attempt to prevent German troops crossing the Mons canal, whereas Major Brett Cloutman lived to receive his VC awarded for bravely trying to save a bridge from destruction ahead of a British attack across the Sambre-Oise canal five days before the end of the war. Parslow’s posthumous honour came after the war and only after he was granted the ante-dated rank of Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve. On the morning of 9 August 1945, Gray was asked to fly his corsair over Onagawa Wan, a bay off the East Coast of Japan where enemy shipping had been spotted, and seek targets. It was only the third instance of brothers being awarded the Victoria Cross. In all, eight VCs recognised the initial operation, four of them being ‘elected’ awards, and a further three were granted for a second forlorn effort against Ostend. The last occasion a Commonwealth country was awarded the Victoria Cross was in 1969 …
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