HI, help please i have met the family of one L H G Wright, thought to have served with 7th airborne they have always believed he was in the glider that landed at the wrong bridge on the Pegasus bridge raid though he is not recorded. now i am wondering if any 7th airborne gliders were meant to land at another bridge or were close to the 4 th glider. they even think he took off at Tarrant Rusden any ideas please
Hi Mike, As can be seen on the Coup de Main nominal roll on the Pegasus Archive there was no one named Wright on any of the gliders. Lt. Macdonald, Liaison Officer with 7 Para, was the only one from the Battalion to fly in with the Coup de Main troops. Coup de Main Force I couldn't find a L.H.G. Wright listed on 7th Pararchute Battalion nominal rolls. The following did turn up: 327314 - 2/Lt. Dennis Rupert Wright 1574947 - Pte. J. Wright 14329594 - Pte. J. S. Wright 14400525 - CSM F. Patrick Wright 14793462 - Cpl. F. Wright 14897023 - Sgt. A. Wright Stumped for now but if I come across anything relevant I will be sure to post. Regards ...
hi Alex only what his daughter said, started in the royal artillery then retrained for the 7th airborne ! thanks to cee it is looking less likely i through in the possibility of Arnhem and the liberation of Norway as they were family rumours i needed to find out off forum if what i was saying made sense . So perhaps he was with the 7th Bn KOSB rather the 7th Parachute or first airborne thanks to cee . he came up with these possibility's tying all together. must get them to get the service records ,mike
looking for any thing at all about the above after a chance meeting with his family. i know service records are the real answer, however i said i would try i have more after he changed units but its family hearsay. to be honest, i put out some bait on another post and it was picked up and the forum member has encouraged me to carry on. the possible 7th airborne relates to a Pegasus bridge incident but what have looks like it may not be that unit so i don't want to muddy the water at this stage help please ,mike
The below shows that he stayed with the Royal Artillery but that he served with 53rd Air Landing Light Regiment which was part of 6th Airborne Division so he would have been in Normandy with them in the general area of Pegasus Bridge
wow blown away with this start ! next dumb question what are the chances he took off from Tarrant Rushton in a glider that landed at or near the wrong bridge any thing know ? blown away with this thank again AB64
A new thread has just been started regarding L. H. G. Wright. It displays an R.A. tracer card which tells us he is 953255 Gnr. Leslie Harry George Wright, 53rd Worcestershire Yeomanry, R.A. The 53rd Worcestershire Yeomanry, R.A. travelled to Normandy by sea, except for the 211th Airlanding Lt. Bty., which was gliderborne, landing on LZ N as part of Parkerforce. It's possible Gnr. L. H. G. Wright served with 211th Airlanding Lt. Bty., putting him both in a glider and close to the bridges. Seems to fit with information provided so far.
53rd (Worcestershire Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment, RA (pegasusarchive.org) is probably worth a read - from a very quick glance it looks like 211 Battery went by glider from Fairford and the rest went by boat, hopefully others who know this area a lot better will be able to add some detail
Hi Mike, The tracer card was a great find by AB64. I was off the mark with the 7 Bn KOSB suggestion. It would appear he transferred to 1st Airlanding Light Battery on June 8, 1945 (1st Airborne Division) which might explain the Norwegian certificate you mentioned in a PM as that unit participated in Op Doomsday. Otherwise if he managed to make it through war unscathed he would have stayed with the 53 A/L Lt Regt, RA and been involved in the Normandy Campaign, The Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes) and Operation Varsity with travels through Germany up to Wismar on the Baltic Sea. But better not get ahead of myself. Regards ...
cee i owe you and ab64 a great deal of thanks with out your help piecing together the odd snippets i had and showing me what i had was possible i may not have gone on ,mike
Mike, If LHG Wright was with 211 A/L Lt. Battery RA he would have been on one of the Horsa gliders (CN 194 - CN 220A ) that flew out RAF Fairford on the evening of D-Day. They were pulled by the Stirling Aircraft of Squadrons 190 and 620 RAF and arrived on Landing Zone 'W' at approximately 9:30 in the evening. LZ W was located west of the Caen Canal near Benouville. After unloading the Battery would have crossed over the Canal and Orne River bridges and travelled on to Ranville. A few more links with some general information on the 53 Airlanding Light Regiment RA. 53 Airlanding Light Regiment RA | ParaData Lieutenant-Colonel Tony Teacher The war diary for the 53rd A/L Lt. Regt. on the Pegasus Archive which covers their German period mentions a Bombardier (Bdr) Wright being an occupant on one of Regimental gliders that took part in Operation Varsity, 53rd (Worcestershire Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment, RA Glider No., Tac Sign, Type - 313 D7 Horsa I Occupants - Lt Laird, Bdr Wright, Gnr Nash, Gnr Mullins Map Ref Landing - W of Rhine Did it Crash - Yes Nose or Tail Unloading - Tail Eqpt - Jeep, Trlr Was eqpt written off - No How far from the intended area - 4000 x SW of L.Z. Flak - No Remarks - No Cas Of course there is the possibility he could be another Wright entirely. Regards ...
thanks David i think he is the man i was looking for after cee helped me with his service number,mike
i would like to update this thread and explain to all those who helped with this enquiry. Today i managed to direct LHG Wrights daughter to this enquiry, to say she cant thank you all enough is a understatement. truth is there was slight misunderstanding in the family that caused a little upset and this has helped sort it out . theses guys as we know rarely spoke of what happened. we would like to know out of interest how / where AB64 found the tracer card please. Also can any one suggest books that would be of interest and or any photos of this unit ? and yes service records are being looked into ,thank you all
The Tracer Card came from Ancestry.co.uk , I believe the originals are with the Royal Artillery museum