Born in Darlington, UK in Aug 1919, Ray joined the RN as an OS at Chatham in 1937. He served in the Mediterranean aboard the ARETHUSA (a cruiser) until the outbreak of war. After the fall of Singapore, HMS EXETER and HMS ENCOUNTER were sunk in the Battle of Java Sea on 1 Mar 42. Ray and other survivors, after 18 hours in the sea, were rescued by the Japanese and spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp at Maccasar on the island of Celebes. After the war, in 1947, Ray qualified as a PTI 2nd class at the RN School at Portsmouth. On release from the RN in1949, he joined the RCN and spent the next twenty years serving at Cornwallis, MAGNIFICENT, Stadacona, BONAVENTURE, RMC and Esquimalt. He retired in 1969 in Victoria BC.