LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Henry John BRAY DFC
Service No: 404324
Born: Nambour QLD, 13 March 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1940
Unit: No. 451 Squadron
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 14 November 1944
Died: Aircraft Accident: (No. 451 Squadron Spitfire aircraft SM346), Norfolk, 14 March 1945, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Henry Maurice and Eva Sarah Bray, of Mooloolah, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Mooloolah QLD
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
DFC Citation: “Since being posted to this squadron, Flight Lieutenant Bray has maintained a high standard of operational skill and courage. During the attacks on the Gustaf and Adolf Hitler Lines in Italy, he took part in many sorties against enemy communications, achieving a marked success rate. In May 1944, he destroyed a Focke Wulf 190 and a second in June 1944 over Bologna. This officer is an exceptional leader who has always proved himself steady and reliable in action.” (London Gazette 14 November 1944 page 5208)
On 14 March 1945, Spitfire SM346 flown by Flight Lieutenant Bray took off to lead a formation of aircraft on an armed reconnaissance against German occupied positions in the Netherlands. After ten minutes, Flight Lieutenant Bray called on his radio saying he had engine trouble and would return to base. However the aircraft did not maintain height and he decided to make a forced landing. He chose a field, but the aircraft hit a hedge while gliding in and it turned over and crashed at 1145 hours at Folkyard Farm, Whitwell, Norfolk, killing him.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 16/6/1001