Peter Harold Wright

2024-07-16T08:05:24Z

2603:8000:D300:3650:A404:83BC:E40B:F3E7: sp

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Peter Harold Wright
|image= Peter Harold Wright.jpg
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption= Peter Harold Wright, pictured here in 1945.
|birth_date= {{birth date|1916|08|10|df=yes}}
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1990|04|05|1916|08|10|df=yes}}
|birth_place= [[Mettingham]], [[Suffolk]], [[England]]
|death_place= [[Ipswich]], Suffolk, England
|placeofburial= All Saints Churchyard, [[Ashbocking]], Suffolk, England
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch= {{army|United Kingdom}}
|serviceyears= 1936–1945
|rank= [[Company sergeant major|Company Sergeant Major]]
|servicenumber= 2657545
|unit= [[Coldstream Guards]]
|commands=
|battles= [[World War II|Second World War]]
|awards= [[Victoria Cross]]
|relations=
|laterwork= Farmer
}}
[[Company sergeant major|Company Sergeant Major]] '''Peter Harold Wright''' [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (10 August 1916 – 5 April 1990) was a [[British Army]] soldier and an [[England|English]] recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]] (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

==Early life and military career==
Peter Harold Wright was born in [[Mettingham]], near [[Bungay, Suffolk|Bungay]] in [[Suffolk]] on 10 August 1916, during the [[World War I|First World War]]. Until the age of 20, he worked on his father's farm but decided to join the [[Coldstream Guards]], one of the oldest regiments in the [[British Army]]. He served with the 3rd Battalion of his regiment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vconline.org.uk/peter-h-wright-vc/4588580672 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811062719/http://vconline.org.uk/peter-h-wright-vc/4588580672 |archive-date=2020-08-11 |title=Peter H Wright VC - victoriacross}}</ref>

==VC citation==
Wright was 27 years old, and a [[company sergeant major]] in the 3rd Battalion, [[Coldstream Guards]], [[British Army]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]] when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 25 September 1943 near [[Salerno]], Italy, a steep, wooded hill was being assaulted by the 3rd Bn. Coldstream Guards, and Company Sergeant Major Wright's company, most of its officers killed, was held up near the crest. Sergeant Major Wright took charge and single-handed he silenced with grenades and bayonet three [[MG 42|Spandau]] posts and then led his men to consolidate the position. He then beat off a counter-attack, and disregarding the heavy fire, brought up extra ammunition.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36690|supp=y|page=4157|date=5 September 1944}}</ref>

Wright's [[Distinguished Conduct Medal]] (DCM) was substituted for the VC on the instructions of [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|King]] [[George VI]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shinycapstar.com/wright.htm |title=Home Page |accessdate=2012-12-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516005158/http://www.shinycapstar.com/wright.htm |archivedate=2012-05-16 }}</ref>

==After the war==
Wright retired from the army in 1945 and in the following year he married Mollie Hurren from [[Wenhaston]], Suffolk. Together they farmed Church Farm at nearby [[Blythburgh]].

Peter Harold Wright died in [[Ipswich]], Suffolk on 5 April 1990, at the age of 73, and is buried in the village churchyard of All Saints at [[Ashbocking]], also in Suffolk.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vconline.org.uk/peter-h-wright-vc/4588580672 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811062719/http://vconline.org.uk/peter-h-wright-vc/4588580672 |archive-date=2020-08-11 |title=Peter H Wright VC - victoriacross}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
*[[British VCs of World War 2]] (John Laffin, 1997)
*[[Monuments To Courage]] (David Harvey, 1999)
*[[The Register of the Victoria Cross]] (This England, 1997)

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041204085616/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/suffolk.htm Location of grave and VC medal] ''(Suffolk)''
*[http://www.peterwrightvc.com/intro.html Peter Wright VC] — Wright family website, Suffolk, England
*[http://vconline.org.uk/peter-h-wright-vc/4588580672]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Peter Harold}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials in Suffolk]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:British World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Coldstream Guards soldiers]]
[[Category:20th-century English farmers]]
[[Category:People from Suffolk Coastal (district)]]
[[Category:People from Waveney District]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Suffolk]]

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Peter Harold Wright