Family background and education He was the youngest of three sons born to
The Reverend Reynell Wreford Hay,
rector of
Garsdon and Lea in
Wiltshire, and his wife Margaret Alice (née Bolton). His grandfather William Hay was a merchant and ship owner from
Bishopwearmouth, while his uncle,
William Delisle Hay, was a novelist and
mycologist. Hay was educated at
Dean Close School,
Cheltenham, and at
Blundell's School,
Tiverton, and was preparing to enrol at the
University of Oxford when the war broke out.
World War I After serving as a cadet in the
Officers' Training Corps, on 27 January 1915 Hay was commissioned as a second lieutenant (on probation) in the 3rd Battalion,
West Yorkshire Regiment, alongside his brothers
Hugh Allport Hay (1889–1965) and Guy Baldwin Hay (1890–1951). He was confirmed in his rank on 19 November, and received orders sending him into the front lines in July 1915, but a motor-cycling accident delayed his departure until February 1916. He served in the trenches until August, when he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps. Hay returned to England to train as a pilot, He returned to France in April 1917, Hay began his victory string during
Bloody April, taking a share with
Fred Holliday,
Anthony Wall, Ernest Moore, and William Winkler in the shooting down of an
Albatros D.III over
Vimy on the 23rd, and another over
Cagnicourt the following day. On 27 April, he shared the destruction of a reconnaissance aircraft over
Vitry with
Maurice Benjamin and
William Price. Hay had two further solo victories, destroying another D.III over
Etaing on 15 June, and driving down a fourth over
Gistel on 12 July. Hay is buried in the New Communal Cemetery at
Ostend, Belgium. ==References==