786. Pensacola December Loss 12-14-1944 WWII

Updated: Feb 26, 2022

US Navy Lt. Albert Downing Gray was born in Colmar, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on January 24, 1910, the of son Luther Albert Gray (1881-1954) and Harriet Downing (1881-1981). His parents were married in Philadelphia in 1908 and settled down to raise their family in Montgomery County while his father supported his family as a lifelong attorney. Harriet's father was Charles H. Downing (1843-1927) who enlisted on July 1, 1863 in Company "B" of the 44th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. and fought throughout the Civil War.

Albert would graduate from the William Penn Charter School (founded 1689) in Philadelphia in c1928 before entering the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. There, he was known as "Al" or "Rabbit' and there he would letter on the Navy's football team all four years of his attendance. His academy classmates wrote of him that, "Once in a while someone will convince the Rabbit that Midshipmen are supposed to crack a book between work-outs; so he will tear his mind away from the smooth water up the river long enough to roll up some velvet and keep himself well up in the savvy half of his class."

Upon graduation in 1931, he would volunteer for the naval flight program and eventually was sent to NAS Pensacola for training. He would earn his wings as naval aviator #4003 on March 22, 1934. After advanced training he was sent to the Atlantic fleet in Norfolk, Virginia where he served on the USS Salt Lake City. When he left Pensacola, he not only left with his cherished aviator wings but he also took with him the promise of marriage by a young widow from Pensacola. That promise was fulfilled on September 7, 1934 in Norfolk, Virginia when Mrs. Judith Cameron Maxwell Roberts (1901-1992) took her vows before the alter.

Judith was the daughter of Judge Evelyn Croom Maxwell (1863-1954) and Wilhemenia M. Thornton (1867-1944). Her father was a prestigious legal figure in Pensacola as was his father and his father's father. Judge Evelyn Maxwell was the 31st Justice of the Florida Supreme Court and served from 1902-1904. His father, Augustus Emmet Maxwell, had served as a Florida Supreme Court justice immediately after the Civil War and again from 1887 to 1889. Evelyn was also the grandson of the former Justice Walker Anderson. Evelyn was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1885 and by 1892, was a judge of the Criminal Court of Record of Escambia County. In 1896, he was appointed to the First Judicial Circuit Court and after five years on the bench was appointed as one of the commissioners of the Florida Supreme Court. In 1902, the legislature created three additional justice positions to add to the three they already had. Evelyn was selected to serve as one of those until 1917 when he returned to private practice in Pensacola.

Judith was also the widow of US Naval Aviator Lt. Frederick William Roberts (1899-1929). Judith and Frederick were married on January 28, 1928 while he was serving at Corry Field as a flight instructor. Their marriage was the talk of Pensacola and every banquet, luncheon, party, and shower were covered extensively by the News Journal. Young Frederick had graduated from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1919 (one year early due to WWI). Sadly, on March 25, 1929 Frederick was sitting on the tarmac in the cockpit of his plane giving instruction to a student pilot, 2nd Class Albin Crossman Huthcings. Nearby, three planes took off for their solo flight when one piloted by 3rd Class Harry E. Nettnay rammed Frederick's stationary plane. Both planes caught fire killing Frederick and his student. Lt. Roberts was buried in St. John's Cemetery in Pensacola.

In the meantime, Albert was assigned to Patrol Squadron VP-102 on April 1, 1941. On December 8, 1941, Squadrons VP-101 and VP-102, as part of Patrol Wing #10, were sent to the southern Philippines after Pearl Harbor was attacked the day before. Along with them were the tenders USS Childs, USS William B. Preston, USS Heron, and the USS Langley (former carrier CV-1). During the next two weeks the squadron was attacked repeatedly, losing seven of their PBY's in a surprise attack at Olongapo in the Philippines. On December 26, the remaining six PBY's of Patrol Wing #10 attacked a Japanese naval force near Jolo in the Philippines and four were lost to enemy action. At this point, we do not know how Albert came to be a prisoner of war but it is likely he and his crew were shot down in this action and captured.

He was held in the Philippines until December 1944 when he was placed on an enemy hellship called the Oryoku Maru en route to Japan. These ships were called "hellships" because of the horrible treatment our prisoners received by their captors. On December 14, American planes spotted the ship and attacked. When the pilots saw the large number of men scrambling out of the ship's holds, they quickly realized it was carrying POWs and called off the attack. Unfortunately, Lt. Albert Downing Gray had already been killed. After the POWs had evacuated the ship, the American planes resumed their attack and sank it at Subic Bay on December 15, 1944. In response, Judith was notified by the War Department that her second husband was now gone as well! Judith would pass away on June 15, 1992 and joined her family in the St. John's Cemetery.