The publication of the Great War Aviation Society’s monograph on the De Havilland DH 2 was one of the highlights of 2022 in aviation literature, in my opinion. The title was magnificently put together by Trevor Henshaw with his own input and that of others, most notably from material researched and collected by Barry Gray.
Barry sadly passed away peacefully at his home on Friday, 13th September 2024. The monograph and the Windsock Datafile on the DH 2 serve as a fitting testament to him. The photograph shows Barry’s first sight of the DH2 Monograph, which he had worked tirelessly for for decades.
Mick Davis, editor of the Cross & Cockade International journal will give a full obituary in CCI 55/4. As Mick says, “Barry was a founding member of this Society and the driving force behind our DH2 monograph, and we are saddened to hear of his passing.”
Barry was for many years the organiser of the London Branch meetings of the Society, a genial and welcoming host who, on a monthly basis, put on a range of speakers or activities, which is not an easy thing to do. As a neophyte member of the Society, I attended my first meeting sometime in the mid/late 1990s and was made to feel very much one of the family, despite being in awe of the luminaries often present.
More recently Barry helped me by providing information on the Thornton Pickard camera gun (he actually owned one) and by providing me with an overview map of the grid system used in France by the RFC/RAF. I will miss chatting with him at the occasional London Branch meetings, almost always in his signature cable knit jumper (sweater), often with the latest publication on WW1 aviation to hand.
Trevor Henshaw, his co-author on the DH2 book adds, “Barry sought out surviving WW1 airmen and their families to widen his knowledge, and in return, offered wonderful information back to them. Typically, he used his senior position at the Museum of London to foster his contacts as well. When I rang Mike O’Connor’s wife, Polly, to tell her of Barry’s death, we spoke for a long while about how incredibly helpful and vital Barry had been to Mike’s Airfields and Airmen series of books. To produce them, they frequently flew off – Mike and Barry and a friend with a light aircraft – to fly all over key areas of the airfields and battlegrounds of WW1 on the Western Front. Barry would be leaning out of the aircraft, taking loads of photos – back in the day when that meant rolls of film – and then going back to his darkroom for hours and days, producing dozens of photos for Mike to use. Mike glows with praise about Barry’s efforts in the Introductions of all his books. Barry was passionate. And fun.”
RIP Barry Gray.
