Warrant Officer Class I. Robert Dennis Gay. Battalion Headquarter, 156 Parachute Battalion.

Robert Gay was born on the 19 June 1917 and came from Bristol. He enlisted into The Grenadier Guards on the 3 August 1933, as a boy soldier. [1]

As a Company Sergeant Major he volunteered for Airborne Forces and did the shortened Parachute Course 55 at RAF. Ringway, 15 – 22 March 1943, which was for personnel of the 1st Air Landing Brigade. His Parachute Instructors comments: ‘Excellent NCO. Works hard, but a little awkward due to his height’. [2]

Lt-Col. Sir Richard des Voeux, who had been appointed the new Commanding Officer of the 156 Parachute Battalion, then stationed at Jenin, in Palestine, must have requested CSM. Gay as his RSM, as he took up the post as Commanding Officer on the 15 March 1943, and was then joined by RSM. Gay soon after the completion of his Parachute Course. ‘With des Voeux came RSM Denis Gay, also from the Grenadier Guards, who immediately imprinted his personality on the Battalion. A formidable heavyweight boxer, he became the Battalion Champion at his weight. He was a tough Glaswegian who sported a scar on his cheek that he had gained street fighting as a boy. Discipline and turnout soon smartened up! Desert boots were banned, together with other forms of Indian/ Middle East attire.’ [3]

He took part in Operation ‘Slapstick’, the naval landing action at the Southern Italian port of Taranto in September 1943.

On Monday, 18 September 1944, he boarded a Dakota aircraft of the 314th Troop Carrier Group, USAAF., at Saltby aerodrome. He was bound for DZ ‘Y’ at Ginkel Heath in Holland as part of the 2nd Lift of Operation ‘Market-Garden’.

During the battle he was wounded and taken prisoner. He was sent to the ‘Airborne’ Hospital at Apeldoorn, and left there on an ambulance train on the 6th October 1944.

Robert was sent to Stalag 11B at Falingbostel, in Germany, where he was given the POW No. 118460. He was released by advancing elements of the British Army on the 16 April 1945.

Upon his return to England, and after survivors leave, he was posted to 148 OCTU (Officer Cadet Training Unit) on the 4 October 1946, and discharged to a Commission on the 31 January 1947. [1]

He also served with the 6th Airborne Division in Palestine after the war.

Robert ended his army career in 1949 as Adjutant, Training and Holding Battalion, Parachute Regiment.

For RSM. Gay’s conduct at Arnhem, and as a Prisoner of War, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, which was announced in the London Gazette on the 20 September 1945. His citation reads:

“RSM Gay dropped with his battalion at Arnhem on the 18th September 1944, his coolness and courage and sense of discipline, which no danger could divert, were of first rate importance when the battalion found itself in action even as it began to organise on the ground. During the fighting that day and the next his leadership was conspicuous. On the second day an enemy AFV was harassing him on a road covered by flanking fire from a Spandau. Ignoring intense fire from the MG he charged the tank, attracting its attention away from Battalion HQ and trying to put it out of action with a grenade but he was severely wounded in the leg by the tank's machine gun and subsequently made a prisoner.

 His conduct as a POW has now been reported on in terms of the highest praise. Once recovered from his wounds he determined that imprisonment would not affect his own standards nor anyone else. The high state of health, spirits and discipline which he assisted RSM Lord {3rd Battalion} to produce in a prison camp is now well known and reflects most adequately the tradition of a regular Grenadier Guardsman and a member of the 1st Airborne Division which RSM Gay represents.”

 He had already been recommended for a Mention In Despatches, whilst serving as the Regimental Sergeant Major of the 156 Parachute Battalion: 

"This Warrant Officer has been in the Army for 10½ years. He joined Airborne Forces at an early stage in their formation as a Company Sergeant Major and proved himself to be an outstanding Warrant Officer. He joined the Battalion in June 1943 in North Africa as Regimental Sergeant Major. His services to the Battalion have been unrivalled. He has been very loyal and cheerful through every kind of difficulty and has proved himself a first class example to the NCO’s of the Battalion."

Medals awarded for his Service:

Distinguished Conduct Medal, George VI type 1.

1939-45 Star.

Italy Star.

France and Germany Star.

Defence Medal.

War Medal, with oak leaf for Mention in Despatches.

General Service Medal, 1 clasp, Palestine 1945-48.

NOTES:

[1] The Parachute Regiment, Transfer and Enlistment Book 20, page 05.

[2] Parachute Course Report, RAF. Ringway. March 1943.

[3] ‘From Delhi To Arnhem’, by John O’Reilly. 2009.

Researched and written by Robert Hilton