Mark Nicholas Gray
British Royal Marine / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mark Nicholas Gray MBE is a former colonel in the British Royal Marines, as of 2021[update] running a floating armoury company in the ocean area subject to piracy based in Somalia and nearby countries.
Colonel Mark Gray MBE RM | |
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Born | Weymouth, Dorset |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Marines |
Years of service | 1984 – 2013 |
Rank | Colonel Royal Marines |
Unit | 40 Commando |
Commands | Zulu Company, 45 Commando Royal Marines FPGRM Royal Navy Counter-Piracy Task Group 2010 |
Battles/wars | Operation Haven (Northern Iraq) Operation Banner (Northern Ireland) UNPROFOR (Former Yugoslavia) Operation Tellar (Nicaragua) Operation Highbrow (Beirut) Operation Telic (Iraq) Operation Capri (Somalia) Operation Herrick (Afghanistan) |
Awards | MBE Order of Duke Domagoj (Croatia) |
As a UN observer he prevented a disaster at the Peruća hydroelectric dam in 1993 during the Croatian War of Independence. The Serbian military raised the level of the lake and placed 30 tons of explosives within the dam in their preparations for withdrawal; detonating the explosives was intended to destroy the dam, which would have released a huge surge of water which would have killed or made homeless 20,000 people. Gray, on his own initiative and exceeding his authority, opened the spillway gate and reduced the level of water in the lake by several metres; when the explosives were detonated the dam did not fail.[1][2][3]