l Possibly a long shot , last year I had to go to a Funeral at Chester [UK] Cemetery , and arriving early the family was looking at the Headstones of Military personnel who died of wounds , [Chester is Hospital nearby] and we came across the RCAF section and saw one gravestone with the age age of 16 on it , unfortunately we never took details , If this brave Airman died of wounds at sixteen , what age was he when he enlisted , having gone through training etc. and does anyone know the details this young man John
Name: WRIGHT, EDWARD JAMES Initials: E J Nationality: Canadian Rank: Flight Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force Unit Text: 428 Sqdn. Age: 16 Date of Death: 30/04/1945 Service No: R/287664 Additional information: Son of James Albert and Alfreda May Wright, of Brighton, Sussex. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. A. Grave 1023. Cemetery: CHESTER (BLACON) CEMETERY Lancaster KB879 Crash
What a Brave little guy a heart of a lion , I feel strangely sad that someone so young died that way , but it was his wish to be there doing what he felt he had to do , rest in peace young Ted Edwards.
Groundhugger he was indeed a very brave youngster as he died as a sergeant air gunner which would mean that he probably joined before his 15th birthday which would be late '43 when we were all feeling the lack of reinforcements particularly in the Bomber Command and anyone standing upright and warm were to be welcomed - and that would be long before D Day and it's losses... Cheers
Groundhugger he was indeed a very brave youngster as he died as a sergeant air gunner which would mean that he probably joined before his 15th birthday Cheers This was in the link Tom! Instead of granting him an interview, the recruiting officer should have sent Wright straight home to his mother, because the self-confident, fair-haired youth had only recently celebrated his 15th birthday, and the minimum age for enlistment was 18. It remains a mystery how the relatively small-framed, 129-pound, 5-6 teenager was able to fool the recruiting officer.
In the Book, They Shall Grow Not Old, Wright is listed from Winnipeg, Manitoba. "The crew of Lancaster aircraft #KB879 were engaged on a cross-country exercise when they crashed at Sandon, Staffordshire, England. F/L WG Campbell, Sgt. JH Kay, FS SS Berryman, FS JL Tweedy, (WO2 TD Lawley) and another member of the crew, not a Canadian, were also killed." [page 410 under the listing for Lawley cheers, phil
Must have been one of the few rear gunners who didn't feel cramped in there!! Probably had a desk and book shelves in there!! More sobering is the fact that it was so near the end of the war. Chester (Blacon) was a new cemetery in 1940 when the authorities set aside two plots for service burials. The larger plot in section 'A' was used as a Royal Air Force regional cemetery by a number of R.A.F. stations in Cheshire and the adjoining counties. Only airmen are buried in it. The smaller plot in section 'H' was used for Commonwealth burials and for the burial of servicemen from the numerous Polish hospitals and camps in the area. Intriguing about how he is recorded as Canadian, with parents living in Sussex and presumably too young to have made his way to Canada before enlisting. The cemetery info is that Plot H was used for Commonwealth burials, yet he is buried in Plot A.... nor did his parents opt to have him buried in Sussex.... Don't you feel there's a bunch of threads here that need pulling!!
curious as to why if he's Canadian why parents are from sussex Because that where they lived when the memorial stone was placed. as in the link on first post. James and Alfreda Wright and their twin children, Richard and Patsy, left Canada in 1946 and settled in Brighton, England. James Wright made a personal visit to the Blacon Cemetery, and to Sandon. He met several people who had witnessed the crash of KB879 a year earlier, including Herbert Halfpenny, who gave Wright a photograph which purported to show Teddy's body outside the crashed Lancaster.
Poignant story, all the more so because of the age of Flight Sergeant Wright. The crew of KB879 are very well remembered by that page though; great link to reply to a query with!
Ted Wright was my uncle whom I'm named after.He successfully enlisted in the RCAF a few days after his 15th birthday.My grandfather a high ranking RCMP officer was able to track him down when at the age of 14 he ran away and enlisted in the navy.He also found him again enlisted in the army and had him pulled out.Teddy then told my grandfather he was going to enlist in the RCAF under a false name and thus they would never know what happened to him if he was to track him down again.My grandfather reluctantly agreed to let him go.His Lancaster suffered a mechanical problem on April 30 1945 on a training mission and crashed near Sandon,Staffordshire England,killing all 7 crewmembers.
Ted, Hello and welcome to the forum and the short but remarkable story of enlistments. It also reminds me of the 16 year old Ghurka that is buried here in Berlin. So young to make the total sacrifice. My greatest respect. Regards Tom
Ted Wright was my uncle whom I'm named after.He successfully enlisted in the RCAF a few days after his 15th birthday.My grandfather a high ranking RCMP officer was able to track him down when at the age of 14 he ran away and enlisted in the navy.He also found him again enlisted in the army and had him pulled out.Teddy then told my grandfather he was going to enlist in the RCAF under a false name and thus they would never know what happened to him if he was to track him down again.My grandfather reluctantly agreed to let him go.His Lancaster suffered a mechanical problem on April 30 1945 on a training mission and crashed near Sandon,Staffordshire England,killing all 7 crewmembers. hello Ted, Welcome to the forum. the following is taken from BCL Vol.6 - W R. Chorley 30 April 1945 428 Squadron Lancaster X KB879 NA-Y Op. Training F/L. W G. Campbell RCAF + F/S/ W G ward + Sgt. J H. Kay RCAF + F/S. S. Berryman RCAF + WO2. T D. Lawley RCAF + F/S J L. Tweedy RCAF + F/S. E J. Wright RCAF + Broke up in flight at 1154 hrs and dived into the ground at Hixon 5 miles ENE of Stafford. The six RCAF airmen were taken to Chester (Blacon) cemetery. F/S. ward lies in Selkirk (Brierylaw) cemetery. It is noted that F/S. Wrights parents lived at Brighton in Sussex and his age in the CWGC registrar is given as 16. If this is correct then he must have been about the youngest airman to loose his life in WW2
Thankyou for your warm welcome to this interesting and informative website.I happened upon it yesterday after googling KB879 as I often do at this time of year.I'm sure I'll learn a lot here.My uncle was indeed the youngest airman to die in any war according to RCAF historian Floyd Williston.He has done a lot of research and has written many articles for Canadian newspapers and a hopefully soon to released book about the fate of my uncle and his crewmates.They had the unfortunate distinction of being the last RCAF airmen to die in WW2.It was so close to the end of the war however my uncle in his last letter home was hoping to be restationed to the far east where the war was still raging with Japan
Thankyou for your warm welcome to this interesting and informative website.I happened upon it yesterday after googling KB879 as I often do at this time of year.I'm sure I'll learn a lot here.My uncle was indeed the youngest airman to die in any war according to RCAF historian Floyd Williston.He has done a lot of research and has written many articles for Canadian newspapers and a hopefully soon to released book about the fate of my uncle and his crewmates.They had the unfortunate distinction of being the last RCAF airmen to die in WW2.It was so close to the end of the war however my uncle in his last letter home was hoping to be restationed to the far east where the war was still raging with Japan Ted, welcome aboard. P
