War Service:
Pilot Officer 43166, 37 Sqdn., Royal Air Force
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 “Very good” or “Superior” 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.
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.
The shooting down of William’s Wellington bomber was all the more intriguing as William’s 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’s Wellington. It seems Dolly and “Sir Gunner” had previously met in Iraq in the 1930s.
This description of the crash of Wellington L7781 on 31st May 1940 is told by William’s son Ian Gray, recorded in the Cumberland News 18 November 1983:
“On their last fatal flight it had been my father’s 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.”
