Herbert Wright
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- Military History
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Herbert was the son of Moses and Susan Phoebe Wright (née Sharp/Sharpe). Both his parents were born in Kirtling, Cambridgeshire. Moses was born on 22 November 1872 (O/N/D Newmarket) the son of James and Elizabeth Wright. Susan Phoebe was born on 8 October 1874 (O/N/D Newmarket), the daughter of William and Sarah Sharpe, and was baptised as Kirtling on 23 May 1875. Moses and Susan were married in 1894 (O/N/D Newmarket) and had eight children of whom two died in infancy. Seven children have been traced from census records and birth registrations: Edith Eve b. 1895 (A/M/J) d. 1895 (J/A/S); Frank b. Kirtling 1896; Herbert b. Kirtling 1 May 1898; Arthur Edward b. Kirtling 1900; Elizabeth Edith E. (Edith) b. Kirtling 1903; Julia Ethel b. b. Herringswell Suffolk 18 May 1906 and Millie b. Herringswell 14 July 1908. In 1901 Susan (27) was living in Burwell, Cambridgeshire, with her parents-in-law James Wright (73), a retired hurdle maker, and his wife Elizabeth (68), and her three sons Frank (4), Herbert (2) and Arthur (8 months). They were living either in the same property or next door to Moses' brother James, his wife Eliza (m. 1891) and their three children. Moses and Susan's next child, Elizabeth, was born two years later, also in Kirtling, but their two youngest daughters, Julia and Millie were both born in Suffolk in 1906 and 1908 respectively. However, Moses (38), a farm labourer, and Susan were living again living in Cambridgeshire by 1911, in Burwell. In the home were their six surviving children: Frank, a farm labourer, Herbert, Edward, Elizabeth (7), Julia (4) and Millie (2). The family later moved to Nottinghamshire as when Herbert attested in 1916 he named his mother as his next of kin; the military record gave her address as 46 Vernon Street, Worksop. However, his next of kin was later amended to his wife, Edith A Cooper, whom Harold married in 1917 (J/A/S Worksop). The CWGC record gives his widow's address as 11 Park Avenue, Mansfield. Moses and Susan probably continued to live in Nottinghamshire after the war although by 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled they were living in Bunny near Bradmore, Nottinghamshire. Moses was a retired miner. Also in the household were Julia E Campbell who was probably their daughter who had married Henry F Campnell in 1935 (J/F/M Stepney London) and Julia's daughter Sheila Campbell (b. 26 September 1933, reg. Hull Yorkshire), together with Dorothy May Wright (b. 14 January 1915, later Barwick). There were also two other members of the household whose records remain closed. Susan probably died in 19 November 1942 and Moses in 1960 (J/F/M Nottingham).
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Howe Bn Royal Naval Division, attd. 1st Royal Marines Battalion. Herbert enlisted on 2 March 1916 and transferred to the Army Reserve. He entered on 19 July 1917 and drafted from the BEF on 26 November 1917. He joined Howe Bn on 17 December and was attached to the 1st Royal Marines Battalion. He was reported missing 11 February 1918-24 March 1918 and then found to be a prisoner of war. He died in Field Hospital Escaudoeuvres of gun shot wounds to his abdomen. He is buried in Cambrai East Military Cemetery, France (grave ref. VII. A. 27). Herbert qualified for the British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - Cambrai East Military Cemetery (extract): 'Cambrai was occupied by German forces on 26 August 1914 and it remained in German hands until 9 October 1918. The 1917 Battle of Cambrai (20 November to 3 December) left the Allied line still eight kilometres from the city on the south-west side, and the German offensive of March 1918, drove it far to the west, but the 1918 Battle of Cambrai, the last of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line, delivered the city into the hands of Commonwealth forces, though it was very severely damaged and the main square was still burning two days after the fight. Two Casualty Clearing Stations were later posted to the town, 30 CCS in October 1918 and 22 CCS in November 1918. Cambrai East Military Cemetery was made by the Germans during their occupation and laid out with the greatest care, with monuments erected in it to the French, Commonwealth and German dead. On 11 August 1918, as an inscription in the cemetery records, the Bavarian Commandant handed over to the city the care and maintenance of the cemetery. The graves have now been regrouped.'
CWGC headstone personal inscription: 'God will link the broken chain stronger when we meet again' Herbert Wright is commemorated in a book of remembrance held by Mansfield District Council. Mansfield Reporter, 17 May 1918: ‘The Roll of Honour. Missing. RNVR. H Wright R/5448, Mansfield.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
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