Medal for Military Valour (Al Valore Militare) awarded to Commander H. J. Bray, RNR.

Henry James Bray was born in Shrewsbury in 1882 and qualified as a Merchant Navy captain in 1910. From 1910-1914 he was master of the ‘Holt Hill’, a four-masted barque. During World War I Bray served as a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve and in 1916, while commanding the armed trawler ‘Searanger’, helped to sink the German submarine ‘U-74’ which was on a mine-laying expedition in the Firth of Forth. Bray was awarded the DSC for this action. He was promoted to Acting Lieutenant-Commander in 1919.

The medal is bronze. On the obverse are the arms of Savoy within a wreath of palm and laurel tied in a bow with the crown above, surrounded by the legend ‘AL VALORE MILITARE’ (for military valour). Engraved on the reverse are two branches of laurel. The medal is suspended by a blue ribbon from a bar with six of Bray’s other medals: Distinguished Service Cross (MED1593), British War Medal (MED1595), 1914-15 Star (MED1594), Mercantile Marine War Medal 1914-18 (MED1598), Victory Medal 1914-18 (MED1596) and Long Service Medal, Special Constabulary 1943 (MED1599).