{"id":5465,"date":"2025-06-18T14:19:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T14:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/?page_id=5465"},"modified":"2026-03-05T15:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:57:11","slug":"william-alfred-gray","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wwii\/carliol\/william-alfred-gray\/","title":{"rendered":"William Alfred Gray"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-5465\" data-postid=\"5465\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-5465 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n                    <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_cuzr670 tb_first tf_w\">\n                        <div class=\"row_inner col_align_top tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col4-2 tb_izvx670 first\">\n                    <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_bryl670   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h2><strong>Key Information<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><strong>Name:<\/strong> WILLIAM ALFRED Gray<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><strong>DoB:<\/strong> 22 October 1908<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><strong>Regt:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Pilot Officer<\/p>\n<p>43166, 37 Sqdn., Royal Air Force<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><strong>DoD:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>09\/06\/1940 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 31<\/p>\n<p>Buried: CAMBRAI (ROUTE DE SOLESMES) COMMUNAL CEMETERY<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><strong>Academic Career<\/strong>: CGS 1922-24<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: medium;\"><strong>Other:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Biographical Information<\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->        <\/div>\n                    <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col4-2 tb_jhjq670 last\">\n                    <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_77g2858 image-top   tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"430\" height=\"309\" src=\"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/lho-1.png\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-5768\" title=\"lho 1\" alt=\"lho 1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/lho-1.png 430w, https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/lho-1-300x216.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 430px) 100vw, 430px\" \/>    \n        <\/div>\n    <!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n        <\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_mvvx740 image-top   tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"325\" height=\"428\" src=\"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/lho2.png\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-5769\" title=\"lho2\" alt=\"lho2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/lho2.png 325w, https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/lho2-228x300.png 228w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\" \/>    \n        <\/div>\n    <!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n        <\/div>\n<!-- \/module image -->        <\/div>\n                        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_efrs247 tf_w\">\n                        <div class=\"row_inner col_align_top tb_col_count_1 tf_box tf_rel\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col-full tb_d4fy247 first\">\n                    <!-- module accordion -->\n<div  class=\"module module-accordion tb_9ske247 \" data-behavior=\"accordion\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n    \n    <ul class=\"ui module-accordion   gray\">\n            <li class=\"builder-accordion-active\">\n            <div class=\"accordion-title tf_rel\">\n                <a href=\"#acc-9ske247-0\" class=\"tb_title_accordion\" aria-controls=\"acc-9ske247-0-content\" aria-expanded=\"true\">\n                                                            Family Background                <\/a>\n            <\/div><!-- .accordion-title -->\n            <div id=\"acc-9ske247-0-content\" data-id=\"acc-9ske247-0\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"accordion-content tf_clearfix\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_subrow themify_builder_sub_row tf_w col_align_top tb_col_count_1 tb_8pln247\">\n                <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column sub_column tb_pjv7247 first\">\n                    <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_xjcn247   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <p><strong>Family Background:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Son of Alfred Beaton Gray and Annie Elizabeth Gray; husband of Annie (Nancy) Margaret Gray, of Dalston, Cumberland. William had married Nancy (\u201cthe finest woman I know\u201d ) in Dalston Parish Church in 1937. She was 21, he 29. They had two children, Eileen Margaret, born in November 1938 and Ian William, born February 1940.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n                    <\/div><!-- .accordion-content -->\n        <\/li>\n            <li>\n            <div class=\"accordion-title tf_rel\">\n                <a href=\"#acc-9ske247-1\" class=\"tb_title_accordion\" aria-controls=\"acc-9ske247-1-content\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                                                            Academic Record                <\/a>\n            <\/div><!-- .accordion-title -->\n            <div id=\"acc-9ske247-1-content\" data-id=\"acc-9ske247-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"accordion-content tf_hide tf_clearfix\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_subrow themify_builder_sub_row tf_w col_align_top tb_col_count_1 tb_qpte247\">\n                <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column sub_column tb_qslb247 first\">\n                    <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_0ykd247   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <p><strong>Academic Record: <\/strong>William had attended the Carlisle Grammar School and left at the age of 16. He went to the Cranwell RAF College to train as a pilot before the war. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n                    <\/div><!-- .accordion-content -->\n        <\/li>\n            <li>\n            <div class=\"accordion-title tf_rel\">\n                <a href=\"#acc-9ske247-2\" class=\"tb_title_accordion\" aria-controls=\"acc-9ske247-2-content\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                                                            War Record                <\/a>\n            <\/div><!-- .accordion-title -->\n            <div id=\"acc-9ske247-2-content\" data-id=\"acc-9ske247-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"accordion-content tf_hide tf_clearfix\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_subrow themify_builder_sub_row tf_w col_align_top tb_col_count_1 tb_b254247\">\n                <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column sub_column tb_g45w247 first\">\n                    <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_ccj2247   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <p><strong>War Service<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>Pilot Officer 43166, 37 Sqdn., Royal Air Force<\/p>\n<p>William had joined the RAF on an apprenticeship at the age of 18 in 1926. He completed courses as Fitter Airframe and Fitter Engine at Halton before joining 602 Squadron. His abilities were always described as \u201cVery good\u201d or \u201cSuperior\u201d but despite several recommendations to transfer to pilot, it took five years for this to be realised. In the meantime William completed Higher Education courses. He was posted to India with his squadron in 1931. In 1932 he began training at No.4 Elementary Flying Training School in Iraq. He passed out as a sergeant pilot two years later and returned to Home Establishment. Meanwhile ha had flown many VIPs around the Middle East and was awarded the Air Force Medal as a sergeant pilot by King George VI in June 1939. William also became a fully qualified flying instructor, teaching young pilots to fly heavy bombers including night flying and bomb aiming.<\/p>\n<p>When war broke out William was commissioned as a pilot officer. He was based at Feltwell in Norfolk. During May 1940 the crew was in constant demand flying missions over occupied Europe and Germany. He was killed during the evacuation of troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. There has developed a myth that the RAF did very little during Dunkirk but Barker has explained that the RAF did what they could to disrupt military installations and troop movements and that Gray and his crew contributed to the success of the evacuation.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0The shooting down of William\u2019s Wellington bomber was all the more intriguing as William\u2019s rear gunner was Sir Arnold Wilson. This former MP and adviser to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, had known Hitler and had never believed Hitler wanted war, but when war broke out he changed his attitude utterly and in order to atone for his previous mistaken ideas he volunteered for service and at the age of 55 was commissioned as a pilot officer, becoming a tail gunner in Dolly\u2019s Wellington. It seems Dolly and \u201cSir Gunner\u201d had previously met in Iraq in the 1930s.<\/p>\n<p>This description of the crash of Wellington L7781 on 31<sup>st<\/sup> May 1940 is told by William\u2019s son Ian Gray, recorded in the Cumberland News 18 November 1983:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u201cOn their last fatal flight it had been my father\u2019s habit to dive low to avoid searchlights and to penetrate mist and low cloud. He did it again that night in May. The Wellington was hit by flak and with one engine on fire and some of the crew wounded, he was unable to maintain height. It seems likely that he ordered his crew to jump, Sergeant Axford, the navigator, bailed out so low he broke a leg. The wireless operator, Leading Aircraftsman Orland was the only one to escape without injury. When the plane crashed it caught fire. Sergeant JF Brown, the co-pilot, was killed instantly. My father was thrown clear, but died in hospital eight days later from his injuries. Sir Arnold Wilson also died in the crash.\u201d<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n                    <\/div><!-- .accordion-content -->\n        <\/li>\n            <li>\n            <div class=\"accordion-title tf_rel\">\n                <a href=\"#acc-9ske247-3\" class=\"tb_title_accordion\" aria-controls=\"acc-9ske247-3-content\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                                                            Other                <\/a>\n            <\/div><!-- .accordion-title -->\n            <div id=\"acc-9ske247-3-content\" data-id=\"acc-9ske247-3\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"accordion-content tf_hide tf_clearfix\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_subrow themify_builder_sub_row tf_w col_align_top tb_col_count_1 tb_hez9247\">\n                <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column sub_column tb_7j5q247 first\">\n                    <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_ko31247   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <p><strong>Other:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>William was artistic and musical. He enjoyed playing the piano and singing. Ralph Barker reported he was much in demand at Mess events \u201cwith a beer lined up on the piano-top to keep him going\u201d. He liked walking and had enjoyed walking in Kurdistan. Barker describes Dolly Gray thus:<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cShort and stocky with crinkly fair hair, he had a countenance which always reflected friendliness and good humour and a Service record of thirteen years of almost unbroken keenness and reliability, marred only by a reprimand in 1935 for minor damage to service equipment\u2026just to prove he was human.\u201d He was regarded as an experienced pilot.<\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_bbot359 image-top   tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2189\" height=\"2344\" src=\"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/wegray-article.jpg\" class=\"wp-post-image wp-image-5770\" title=\"wegray-article\" alt=\"wegray-article\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/wegray-article.jpg 2189w, https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/wegray-article-280x300.jpg 280w, https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/wegray-article-956x1024.jpg 956w, https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/wegray-article-768x822.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/wegray-article-1434x1536.jpg 1434w, https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/wegray-article-1913x2048.jpg 1913w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2189px) 100vw, 2189px\" \/>    \n        <\/div>\n    <!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n        <\/div>\n<!-- \/module image -->        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n                    <\/div><!-- .accordion-content -->\n        <\/li>\n            <li>\n            <div class=\"accordion-title tf_rel\">\n                <a href=\"#acc-9ske247-4\" class=\"tb_title_accordion\" aria-controls=\"acc-9ske247-4-content\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                                                            Sources                <\/a>\n            <\/div><!-- .accordion-title -->\n            <div id=\"acc-9ske247-4-content\" data-id=\"acc-9ske247-4\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"accordion-content tf_hide tf_clearfix\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_subrow themify_builder_sub_row tf_w col_align_top tb_col_count_1 tb_7ain247\">\n                <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column sub_column tb_yhbi247 first\">\n                    <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_6um9247   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <p><strong>Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Daughter, Eileen Sinclair<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CGS Memorial Register 1924<\/p>\n<p>Ralph Barker: Men of the Bombers\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cumberland News 18 November 1983<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Sunday Express 13 November 1983 Article by Ralph Barker<\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n                    <\/div><!-- .accordion-content -->\n        <\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n\n<\/div><!-- \/module accordion -->        <\/div>\n                        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Information Name: WILLIAM ALFRED Gray DoB: 22 October 1908 Regt: Pilot Officer 43166, 37 Sqdn., Royal Air Force DoD: 09\/06\/1940 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 31 Buried: CAMBRAI (ROUTE DE SOLESMES) COMMUNAL CEMETERY Academic Career: CGS 1922-24 Other:\u00a0 Biographical Information Family Background Family Background: Son of Alfred Beaton Gray and Annie Elizabeth Gray; husband of Annie (Nancy) Margaret [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"parent":5329,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5465","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5465"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6755,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5465\/revisions\/6755"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trinity.cumbria.sch.uk\/warmemorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}