Victoria, British Columbia
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.