South Yorkshire Times, June 17th, 1944
Major R.T.V. Hay M.C. – Loss of Leg After Wounds
Major R. T. V. Hay, M.C. Royal Artillery, who has family connections with Wombwell, has lost a leg as a result of wounds sustained in action in Italy. Major Hay was in the Territorials before the war and had served since the outbreak of hostilities.
Major Hay was wounded by a shell which killed several others, including Major Eustace Wilson, of Sheffield. This was on February 19th, 1944, while he was in command of the regiment.
In a letter written home about that time he says the Germans attacked on a wide front after intense mortar and artillery preparation. He was directing the fire of the Divisional Artillery when he was hit by fragments of a shell which landed close to them, killing an R. A. officer, his assistant, and another officer. The attack was repulsed with very heavy casualties to the Germans, but they also had casualties. He also told of the great difficulties in getting the wounded off the mountain.
Major Hay is a son of the late Mr. John Hay, who was a mining engineer at Nottingham, and is brother to Mr. J. L. Hay, manager and agent at Wombwell Main Colliery. Before the war he was Assistant Secretary to a Gainsborough Engineering firm. He married Miss Kathri Wiles, of Willesborough, near Ashford, Kent, who is serving with an American ambulance unit.
An officer in the territorials at the outbreak of war, he went out to the Middle East in January, 1943 and gained the M. C. in North Africa. He was in the landing at Salerno and has seen much fighting.