Ronald Cuthbert Hay

Ronald Cuthbert Hay, (4 October 1916 – 22 November 2001) was a British naval aviator and the only Royal Marine fighter ace. He joined the Royal Marines in 1935 and then served as an aviator with the Fleet Air Arm. In 1940 he joined 801 Naval Air Squadron flying the two seater Blackburn Skua on for the Norwegian campaign, claiming his first victory on his first operational flight. He took part in operations covering the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the Dunkirk beaches. Flying the Fairey Fulmar, he joined 808 Naval Air Squadron during the Battle of Britain. In 1944 Hay became wing leader of the 47th Naval Fighter Wing, flying the Vought F4U Corsair aboard in the Far East. He led the wing during many of the major British air attacks on the Japanese in Sumatra. By the end of the war he had claimed four aircraft destroyed solo and nine shared destroyed. After the war he transferred to the Royal Navy, reaching the rank of commander before retiring in 1966. Early life Ronald Cuthbert Hay was born on 4 October 1916, in Perth, Scotland, one of five children (three girls and two boys) of Captain Cuthbert Joseph Hay and Letitia Griffith Fausset. He was educated at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire. Second World War Too old for a cadetship in the Royal Navy, Hay volunteered for the Royal Marines in 1935, and served a year at sea in the cruiser . In 1938 he volunteered for flying duties with the Fleet Air Arm and was posted to the recently reformed 801 Naval Air Squadron, assigned to the fleet carrier and equipped with the two seater Blackburn Skua and Blackburn Roc fighter aircraft. His first victory during operations over Norway was on 27 April 1940, which he later described in detail: