Ray
was born in Godalming, Surrey on 7th
May 1926.
He began in the RAF,
training for aircrew, but in 1944, when it appeared that these men would be
surplus to requirement, he was transferred to the Army. (During the same
period, many men who had completed their training as pilots, were
compulsorily converted to be Glider Pilots, to replace those lost at Arnhem
and they were used in the Rhine crossing).
After
his initial training, he volunteered to become a parachutist and qualified
at Ringway in February 1945. His first posting was to 12th Parachute
Battalion, with whom he served in India, Malaya and Java. After this period
in the Far East he was transferred to the 8th Battalion in Palestine. He
remained with them until his discharge in December 1947.
