Charles James Stuart Wright

Wright was probably killed during the Battle of the Bazentin Ridge.On the night of 13/14 July the four Leicestershire battalions moved into position through Mametz Wood onto the eastern edge which was to be the start line. At 3.25am the British artillery barrage opened up on the German positions in Villa Trench, simultaneously subalterns' whistles blew and the the first wave of Leicesters headed over the top. The barrage was supposed to send the Germans into cover and it was then a race against time across no mans land to arrive at the German defences before they were remanned. However, as soon as the Leicesters began advancing they were met with the rattle of machine gun fire. Despite this by late afternoon the Brigade were in control of Forest Trench which was the second objective of the attack and by 7pm the last Germans had been driven out of Bazentin-le-Petit Wood. As calm was beginning to fall across the battlefield the Leicesters had successfully taken all of their objectives, but for the battalions the Battle of Bazentin Ridge was a disaster. The casualty lists were appalling with all four battalions suffering in the region of one hundred men killed in action and around two hundred more wounded. The 8th Battalion also lost its Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel Jepson George Mignon. The Battle of Bazentin starkly demonstrated the downside of what became effectively Pals Battalions in Kitchener's New Army, the numbing weight of casualties that affected individual communities.

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