N.Z. Fighter Ace On Short Visit Home
(Special) AUCKLAND, This Day.
There were no bands or cheering crowds in Auckland yesterday to welcome New Zealand's highest scoring fighter pilot of the war, Wing-Com-mander Colin Gray, D. 5.0., D.F.C. and two bars, who arrived by air on short leave.
In fact, probably few, if any, of the hundreds who passed him in the city streets recognised the slight, keeneyed air force officer as the intrepid flyer who wrote his name in a blase of glory over blitzed London and war- torn Europe. Quiet, unassuming and modest to a degree, the battle-wise Kiwi airman steadfastly refused to talk of his exploits overseas. “That’s all over now,” he contented himself by saying. Yes, it was great to be home, he added, although he did feel like a stranger in a strange country.
Wing-Commander Gray flew home by way of America, Honolulu and Fiji. He spent V-E- day on operational duty in England and V-P Day in far off Santiago. Pie left by air this morning for his home in Gisborne.
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Northern Advocate, 21 August 1945, Page 2
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177N.Z. Fighter Ace On Short Visit Home Northern Advocate, 21 August 1945, Page 2
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