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 Mr. Soward is a retired
Lt. Commander with the Royal Canadian Navy and was a naval pilot. For
many years Mr. Soward was intrigued by the heroic story
of Hampton Gray, who received the last Victoria Cross awarded to Canadians
during the Second World War. Mr. Soward
believed that Mr. Gray's exploits, coming as they did at the end of the War,
were overshadowed as the world returned to peace. For this reason, he
researched and wrote a biography of Mr. Gray, entitled "A Formidable
Hero". The work was published in 1987. Recognizing that Mr.
Gray as a posthumous VC winner had no known grave, Mr. Soward
undertook a campaign to erect a monument in memory of Mr. Gray. Mr. Soward collaborated on this project with the Military Attache at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo at the time. The two obtained permission from
the Japanese to have the monument situated overlooking Onagawa Bay, where Gray lost his life. Today the monument
stands in perpetuity as the only memorial in Japan erected to a foreign hero.
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