Gunner Harold Dyson Wright (School House 1906-08)
Corporal, Royal Garrison Artillery
Born: November 16th 1889
Died: October 30th 1917
Age at Death: 27
Killed in action, France, 1917
A donation to the memorial statue has been made in honour of this soldier by Stephen Yiduo Chen (Sc. 2011-16).
Harold D Wright
Harold Wright was born in Southport, Lancashire on November 16th 1889. He was the youngest son and fourth child of Albert Wright, a shrimp merchant, and his wife Mary (née Dyson). The reasons for his attendance at the College are unclear and there is little record of his achievements. After leaving the College, he followed his father into the shrimp business in Lancashire, although records show that his father’s business was wound up in 1911. In the same year he married Annie Eckerseley and in 1915 they had one daughter, Enid.
Following the outbreak of war he joined the Royal Garrison Artillery and fought with the 405th Siege Battery during the Third Battle of Ypres. It was there that during the battle’s final stages he was killed during the fighting for Passchendaele village itself, presumably by enemy artillery fire during the ferocious German counter-attacks which took place after British forces entered the village following three months of fighting.
Wright’s grave is in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium.
Source: LEST WE FORGET Project, Brighton College 2014-15