Bray, Cecil Arthur; Able Seaman/Chief Petty Officer; RAN 7296
Cecil Arthur Bray was born at Bourke NSW, on 3 April 1890. Abandoned by his parents and raised as a foundling, he grew up in government welfare homes and foster families.
His fortunes began to change when as a teenager he was fostered by a wealthy Coogee chemist, a Mr Alexander. At age 18, Bray joined the new navy. He was chosen for submarine service and joined the commissioning crew of the AE2 in 1913, after training in Portsmouth.
Bray developed an affinity with his captain, Dacre Stoker, and the two stayed in touch throughout their lives. A hard-working and trustworthy prisoner, Bray was bizarrely given a reference by the German Construction Company at the end of his time in Turkey. During his incarceration, he kept an illustrated diary. In it he noted that in the name Belemedik, ‘Bele’ stood for ‘No’ and ‘Medik’ for ‘Place’. He thought the name appropriate for the desolate prison high in the bleak Taurus Mountains. His work was hard and tedious, and like nearly all the prisoners he contracted malaria which remained with him throughout his life.
Prison life revolved around obsessions with food which was always in short supply. Bray befriended the local hill people and was able to obtain extra cheese and yoghurt to supplement his diet. Impressing his German supervisors with his work ethic, Bray was put in charge of some of the camp’s electrical systems, which included setting up a cinema. He ended up with a team of Turkish workmen under him who had to address him as ‘Bray Effendi’, a title of respect. Bray’s prisoner of war experience demonstrated resilience under extreme conditions.
Bray returned to Australia in 1919 and had no hesitation in re-enlisting in the navy. He stayed with submarines, and went again to England in 1925 for specialist training as a crew member of the then new generation of RAN submarines, Oxley and Otway. He came back to Australia as torpedo coxswain on Oxley in 1928, staying with her until compulsory retirement at the age of 40. In 1930 he joined the Naval Dockyard Police. Always patriotic, at the outbreak of WWII he re-enlisted as a naval regulating officer, serving at the Brisbane Naval Department until 1945.
On 22 March 1965 Bray received a letter from a very elderly Stoker:
My Dear Bray,
Your letter arrived yesterday and caused me the very greatest pleasure. It is good to know the world has gone well for you, and I am quite sure you have well deserved it. The years have treated me kindly too and I’m in almost indecent good health considering my 80th birthday was last month. I’ve always been keen on games, won a lot of cups at golf and tennis between wars, and was lucky to discover croquet at the age of 65 – and that’s the finest game of all for keeping the doctor at bay. Four years ago I was thrilled (and lucky) to win the Championship of Ireland – to be Champion of my natural country at anything, even tiddlywinks, would have thrilled me!
Of course the sad part of living so long is watching old friends die off. Nichols very kindly wrote me two very long letters last year telling me what he could about all our grand chaps of AE2 – including you of course. The sad list of deaths, too. Wheat and his wife had called on me some years ago, so I was particularly sorry to hear that he had slipped cable. Nichols seems understandably proud of the grand progress Australia is making, and I was proud of the successes most of our chaps seem to have made of their lives after leaving the navy.
After we got back from Turkey I had to divorce my first wife – the knowledge that I’d have to do that did not make the years of captivity any easier. But in 1925 I married again and we happily celebrate our 40th year next month. Then I’d a lucky career on the stage until called back for service in 1939. I’d several interesting appointments (serving as a Captain), got to sea many times, was on Commander-In-Chief’s staff for the Normandy invasion, and afterwards was sent by the Admiralty to lecture to every ship and establishment in the Home and Mediterranean fleets, explaining to them about development and progress of the fighting against Japan. So I got about a bit! After the war I only did a little acting on TV and film, but wrote three plays, two about submarines which were produced on stage, TV and film, then I found I’d made sufficient to retire permanently and take up croquet!
But naval contact is not quite broken, so until last year I was President of Navy Lawn Tennis Association, and have regularly attended the annual dinner of the S/M Old Comrades Association, the only officer who has done so since its inception. They always make me say a few words, then the reigning Flag Officer S/M comes up each year to take the dinner, and tells us what is going on.
When he told us the Polaris S/Ms are going to be 7000 tons it reminded me of how incredibly big we thought the E boats were at 700 tons. Admirals Nasmith and Boyle are still alive, but I somehow feel they haven’t had quite as much fun as I have through the years. I have been visited several times by a man writing yet another book on the Dardanelles submarines. And have just been invited by the 29th Division to attend their 50th (to be their last) anniversary dinner of their captivity.
The receipt of our signal that we were through just stopped the Anzacs being withdrawn that night. What a tragedy that campaign failed. It would have altered all history. No Russian revolution and possibly no communism. And now I’m off to the garage to take density of my battery on charge! Hoping this may just catch you to wish you Good Luck on April 3rd [Bray’s 75th birthday].
Very Sincerely,
H. G.Stoker
Bray was one of Australia’s longest-serving submariners. Because of this long service and accumulated knowledge, the elderly Bray, like Stoker in Britain, was often sought out by writers and researchers wanting details of naval history, language and procedures. He became the unofficial expert for the ABC, and took part in a radio play.
