1874063, Sergeant(Air Gunner), Richard William GRAY
Aged 20
|
Richard William GRAY was born in 1923 (Samford Q3-1923 4A;1715), son of Isaac William and Lilian Victoria GRAY (née RICHARDSON),
of Hintlesham, Suffolk.
In the 1939 register, at Ivywell Farm, Sproughton were his father Isaac [11-11-1888] a produce merchant and grower; his mother Lilian [5-9-1895] and his brother Jack N GRAY [14-3-1922] assisting in the business. His will gave the address as Berrishill, Burstal, Suffolk, father Isaac a fruit farmer. The Culfordian, having previously reported him missing, had sadly to report in the next issue that Dick had been killed on air operations against Germany and the Red Cross had reported he was buried in the Meuse cemetery between St Michel and Verdun |
|
On 20th February 1944, at 23:58, Handley Page Halifax Mk III, ser.no LV814, call sign EY-C, took off from RAF Beighton, near Selby, Yorkshire
on a bombing mission to Stuttgart. The aircraft crashed at Les Monthairons, near Recourt-le Creux, 15 km south of Verdun. The crew were initially buried in the local cemetery at Petit Monthairon, before being re-interred in the American Cemetery at Antilly and then moved again to Choloy. The crew ( all RAFVR) were:- Pilot-F/Sgt Gladstone STOREY; Navigator - F/Sgt John S SUTHERLAND; Flt Engineer - Sgt Walter R HALES; Bomb Aimer - F/Off Patrick KINSELLA; W/Op/Air Gnr - Sgt Albert E REEVE - ; Air Gunner - Sgt Eric C NOTT and Air Gunner Sgt Richard GRAY. |
Commemoration in France in 2014 at crash site
(Directions)..From Verdun, direction St Mihiel by the left bank of the Meuse.
After about 15 kms, in the middle of the village of Monthairons, turn right before the church
and follow a white road for about 3.5 kms (heading west) to find the memorial
just on the edge of
the forest of Souilly.
click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details