GRAY, Reginald Maurice Desmond
| Service Numbers: | MP291, V166990 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 February 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Devon North, Yarram, Gippsland, Victoria , 17 July 1911 |
| Home Town: | Lorne, Surf Coast, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Fisherman |
| Died: | Killed in Action, At sea, 9 February 1943, aged 31 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Plymouth Naval Memorial, Plymouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom Panel 84 Col 1 Australian War Memorial https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/249800239/reginald-maurice_desmond-gray |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Able Seaman, MP291 | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Feb 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, V166990 | |
| 19 Oct 1942: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, V166990 | |
| 19 Oct 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Navy, MP291 |
Help us honour Reginald Maurice Desmond Gray's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Able Seaman Reginald Maurice Desmond Gray (Service Nos:V166990/M/P291) initially served in the ACMF as a Private attached to 6 Ordnance Ammunition Coy from 24 February 1942 to 19 October 1942, when he transferred to the RAN. Able Seaman Gray served on HMAS Lonsdale until his death on 9 February 1943. A/S Gray was the eldest of five half brothers who all served in WWII (Doug and Trevor also in the RAN, and Neil and Ray in the RAAF).
Reg was born in Yarram in the Gippsland region of Victoria in 1911, only child of Robert Alexander Gray (b1885 in Bairnsdale, Victoria) and Margery (Millie) Lily Rowe (b1892 in Bairnsdale, Victoria). Robert (a Wharf Labourer and Deck Hand) and Millie married in Melbourne in 1910 and separated immediately, divorcing in 1914. Robert moved to Western Australia in 1911, where he remarried and raised a family. Millie remarried in 1918 in Bairnsdale to Frederick (Fred) Albert Thomas Collins (b1892 in Melbourne, Victoria). Fred was a Motor Mechanic in Port Melbourne, and he and Millie raised their family in Bairnsdale, Lakes Entrance, Queenscliff and Barwon Heads, where Fred was a Motor Mechanic. Fred and Millie retired to Southport QLD in the late 1950s.
Reg worked as a Fisherman in Lorne and Queenscliff, and in 1939 in Geelong married Dora Sykes (b1920 in Yorkshire, England) - Dora immigrated in 1928, arriving in Melbourne with her parents and siblings on board the Bendigo. In 1942 Reg and Dora were living in Lorne, where Reg was a Fisherman when he enlisted in the Army. Following his death in 1943, Dora later remarried.
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