[2] Bray was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment on 2 February 1928.

[3] He served in North West Europe and the Middle East during the Second World War[3] being promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel on 19 October 1942.

[4] He became a Brigadier on the General Staff at the British Army of the Rhine in 1950 and then Director of Land-Air Warfare and North Atlantic Treaty Organization Standardization at the War Office in December 1954.

[3] Promoted to major-general on 29 October 1955, he became General Officer Commanding 56th (London) Armoured Division in April 1957.

[5] He served as Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Northern Europe between November 1963 and February 1967 and as Deputy Supreme Commander Europe at NATO's Allied Command between May 1967 and December 1970,[3] succeeding Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Thomas Pike.