He had another claim to fame as this 1959 press cutting shows:
What is believed to be the first “ emergency Sea Hawk landing involving the use of the Royal Navy’s nylon rope barrier occurred on February 28, when Lt. Nigel Grier-Rees of No. 806 (“Ace of Diamonds”) Sqn. landed his Hawk on H.M.S. Eagle following hydraulic failure. With the aircraft’s powered controls out of action he returned to the carrier’s circuit and discovered that his arrester hook could not be lowered. Two touch-and-go landings were made in an unsuccessful effort to jerk the hook down, after which the nylon barrier was erected by the flight deck crew in the record time of 2 min 20 sec.
As shown in the photographs above, the Sea Hawk was arrested successfully by the barrier and, in the words of an Admiralty announcement, “both pilot and aircraft were undamaged.”