I'm currently researching the rather strange tale of a British POW, Lance-Corporal Tom Wright, later a well-known dramatist and TV writer, and the evacuation of Lucy the Elephant from Munich Zoo to Innsbruck Zoo in 1944. The story served as the basis of Michael Winner's 1969 film Hannibal Brooks. I'd like to discover more information about this event. Wright was forced to become an elephant keeper at Munich whilst a POW and took care of Lucy. He led the elephant overland to Innsbruck to escape Allied bombing, saving the animal. I gather that Wright wrote his experiences down, but I can't locate them. Any assistance would be most gratefully received.
I expect you have seen this.......... Hannibal Brooks is a 1969 British war film about a prisoner of war attempt to escape from Nazi Germany toSwitzerland during World War II, accompanied by an Asian elephant. It stars Oliver Reed, Michael J. Pollard andWolfgang Preiss. It was directed by Michael Winner. The beginning is based on the experiences of the writer Tom Wright, who whilst a prisoner of war, worked at Munich Zoo to care for their elephant "Lucy". It has also been attributed to the true story of Olga the elephant rescued from Vienna Zoo in 1944. The title is a reference to theCarthaginian military commander Hannibal who led an army of war elephants over the Alps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Brooks
Do you have any further info on Tom Wright ?? regiment, numbers (service or POW), date of birth etc etc - anything to help find him and then perhaps his 'history' TD
The only information I have on Tom Wright is that he was born in Glasgow on 8 March 1923, rank Corporal (not Lance-Corporal as I wrote earlier), captured December 1944 Ardennes, possibly Royal Artillery as a short bio notes he was captured 'directing artillery fire' which seems unlikely based on his rank, assigned Munich Zoo as an elephant keeper. Hopefully this helps?
Yes, I've seen this. I'd also be interested to learn more about the rescue of Olga the Elephant from Vienna Zoo and whether that also involved Allied POWs.
Might be of use: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1578668/bio Date of Birth 8 March 1923, Glasgow, Scotland Date of Death 28 May 2002, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK Mini Bio (1) Tom Wright (1923-2002) was a Scottish poet, dramatist, and television writer, who served in World War II as a British Army corporal and on 3 September 1944 participated in the liberation of Brussels. He was then captured by German soldiers in the Ardennes, and served as a POW at the Munich Zoo, where he was assigned to transfer Lucy, the Elephant, to Austria's Innsbruck Zoo because of the threat of the Allied bombing campaign. After the war, he wrote poetry and made a living as a stain-glass window maker for cathedrals. In 1963, at age 40, he earned a Master of Arts in writing from Glasgow University. In 1965, he wrote the one-man play "There Was a Man" written in honor of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. In the 1980s, he wrote the play "Talk of the Devil" which was adapted for film by Armac Films in 2002. TD
Many thanks. I'm wondering whether his private papers might be lodged somewhere. He apparently wrote down the story of saving Lucy.
It's interesting that in the following article written on the occasion of Tom Wright's death there is no mention of him being a POW or his involvement with an elephant rescue. Apparently there is a famous photo of him used post war to symbolize the liberation of Brussels. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/tom-wright-writer-who-created-mrs-mack-of-take-the-high-road-1.147936 Regards ...
Had a reply back from Wright's friend . He says that Wright was never a POW! The rest of the bio info online is correct except the stuff about Lucy and Wright's capture. The plot thickens! Another Thomas Wright perhaps? Common enough name. Further digging required.
Jim, According to the NA the Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department acquired his papers in 2003. I can't find anything when searching the university directly, but it could just me. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/accessions/2003/03returns/03ac247.htm Regards ...
Further to my topic, anyone know the story of the evacuation of Olga the Elephant from Vienna Zoo in 1944?
Perhaps someone at the Vienna Zoo (Tiergarten Schönbrunn) would know something of Olga's tale. The zoo was damaged by bombing raids in WW2. Apparently the Munich side of the story was originally concocted by POW Tom Wright who spent time there, perhaps as a way to amuse himself? "Hannibal Brooks (1969) was inspired by the experiences of Tom Wright, a British house painter who had spent time working in the Munich Zoo while being held as a POW by the Nazis during World War II. Wright concocted a tale about a man who escapes from Nazi Germany through the Swiss Alps—while escorting an elephant (à lá Hannibal, the legendary Carthaginian military commander)." http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/notes/hannibal_brooks.html The whole thing smells of pure fiction to me. Regards ...
Is this the correct Tom Wright? His papers are at Glasgow University Library, but are listed in the Theatre Archive within its Special Collections rather than directly under his own name. http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/STA/search/resultspd.cfm?NID=1855&EID=&DID=&AID=
Gibbo Good find. Do you see anything there that has to do with elephants? I notice that a Tom Wright is given credit along with Michael Winner for the story of Hannibal Brooks. http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/94268/Hannibal-Brooks/credits Tom Wright's filmography on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1578668/ I have no idea who this Tom Wright is other than to suggest he's perhaps the same man as the writer above who according to his colleague was never a POW. Regards ... Edit: Added link to better filmography.
It looks as if the papers listed on the link that I posted above all deal with his post war writing career. The link below should be to his obituary in the Glasgow Herad, although the URL implies that the article is about Aberdeen FC. I have not read it as I have exceeded the Herald's quota of free articles in a 4 week period. http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/tom-wright-writer-who-created-mrs-mack-of-take-the-high-road-1.147936
PS I have now accessed the article after resetting my password. The only mention of his WWII army career is that in 1944 he entered Brussels ahead of the rest of the army. There is no mention of him having been a POW.
It would be very interesting to know where the original story - which seems to appear in all the references to the film 'Hannibal Brooks' - actually comes from. They all say it is based on the true story of Olga the Elephant's rescue, but as yet I have been unable to find any 'true story' of a similar nature. It also seems, from the 'obituary' as Gibbo points out, that this Tom Wright was not a POW and if there was a true story then this TW was not the one involved, so do we assume that there is another TW who had some vague experience to the Olga story. Hmmmm where to go to from here?? :mellow: - fact or fiction?? TD
I'm starting to err on the side of fiction re: the Lucy story. I'm hoping for some joy from the Olga story instead.
