Wright, Jim

Title

Wright, Jim
J R Wright

Description

93 items. The collection contains two oral history interviews with Jim Wright, letters, cuttings and photographs. It concerns James Roy Wright’s research into his father, Sergeant Arthur Charles Wright (1911 - 1943, 1149750 Royal Air Force) and an operation to Turin 12/13 July 1943 which caused 100 aircraft to violate Swiss airspace. Two aircraft were shot down or crashed in Switzerland. There are many photographs and details of the activities that night including reports by the Swiss authorities. The crews are identified with photographs and there are several photographs of the funerals at Vevey. Additional material includes aerial photograph of bomb damage in Germany and the logbook and airman's pay book of W G Anderson.

The collection has been donated to the IBCC Digital Archive by Jim Wright and catalogued by Nigel Huckins, with descriptions of official Swiss documents provided Gilvray Williams.

Additional information on Arthur Charles Wright is available via the IBCC Losses Database. This collection also contains items concerning Hugh Burke Bolger and his crew. Additional information on Hugh Burke Bolger is available via the IBCC Losses Database.

Date

2015-05-21

Publisher

IBCC Digital Archive

Rights

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. Some items have not been published in order to protect the privacy of third parties, to comply with intellectual property regulations, or have been assessed as medium or low priority according to the IBCC Digital Archive collection policy and will therefore be published at a later stage. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collection-policy.

Identifier

Wright, J

Collection Items

William Gowland Anderson airman's service and pay book
Includes some personal details, medical classification, inoculations, identity cards issued and a will.

W G Anderson's observer’s and air gunner’s flying log book
W.G.Anderson’s wireless operator’s flying log book covering the period from 1 March 1943 to 28 April 1944. Detailing his flying training and operations flown as wireless operator. He was stationed at RAF Yatesbury (2 RS), RAF Millom (2 OAFU), RAF…

Telegram No. 809 from the Swiss Government to the Swiss Legation in London
Telegram No. 809 from the Swiss Government to the Swiss Legation in London (E. 6563), concerning the violation of Swiss airspace on 15th August 1943 (with additional references to the 12/13 July 1943 incident) when Royal Air Force bombers en route to…

Telegram No. 869 from the Swiss Government to the Swiss Legation in London
Telegram No. 869 from the Swiss Government to the Swiss Legation in London (A. 3465), concerning the violation of Swiss airspace on 12/13 August 1943, between 11.30pm – 12.00pm by over 50 British aircraft en route to Milan. Regions affected were…

Interview with Jim Wright. Two
John Wright was born in 1932. He was evacuated from West Ham during the War along with his Mother and two Brothers. Johns’ Father joined the Royal Air Force as an Observer Bomb Aimer with 207 Squadron. His aircraft was shot down over Switzerland on…

Funeral of Jack Benson
Six of Jack Benson's crew stand beside his coffin. In the background Swiss army. On the reverse 'Funeral P/O Jack Benson Vevey 1944'.

Airmen's funeral at Vevey
14 coffins with union flags. At the side are mourners

Airmen's funeral at Vevey
Chaplain, mourners, Swiss military and Royal Air Force officer at the graveside for the funeral of the 14 airmen.

Royal Air Force wreath at the funeral of airmen at Vevey
Floral wreath in the form of wings and having ribbons with Royal Air Force printed. Part of the funeral for the 14 airmen lost over Switzerland.

Airmen's funeral at Vevey
Many wreaths stacked beside open graves at the funeral of the Lancaster airmen.

Airmen's funeral at Vevey
Chaplains, Royal Air Force officers and airmen, Swiss military and civilians stand by the graveside. Behind are houses and mountains.

Airmen's funeral at Vevey
Coffins with union flags and many wreaths are surrounded by mourners, two soldiers with drums, soldiers and two Royal Air Force officers.

Airmen's funeral at Vevey
Airmen and soldiers at the funeral of the two Lancaster crews at Vevey, Switzerland. In the foreground are the wreaths on top of the coffins. In the background tall trees and mountains. On the reverse 'Vevey-St. Martins 101 & 166 sqn funerals'.

Airmen's funeral at Vevey
Airmen and soldiers at the funeral of 14 Royal Air Force airmen at Vevey, Switzerland. The coffins are draped with many wreaths. On the reverse 'Vevey'.

Swiss anti-aircraft gun and airmen's funeral at Vevey
Photograph 1 is a Swiss anti-aircraft gun manned by seven soldiers. It is annotated '75mm AA gun 3 batteries on Jura mountains fired 400 times night 12/13.7.43'
Photograph 2 is 14 airmen's coffins annotated 'ED412 'O' rear row ED 531 'T' front. I…

Airmen coffins at Vevey
14 coffins of RAF airmen a Vevey. Union flags are draped over them at the start of the funeral service. On the reverse 'Vevey 12/13 July 1943'.

Swiss anti-aircraft gun
An anti-aircraft gun manned by seven men. On the reverse '75mm AA gun Schneider-Cleusot 3 batteries of this type were on the Jura mountains and shot more than 400 times in the night 12/13.7.43. The people around are Swiss soldiers and not Germans'.

Burial Service of airmen at Vevey
Two photographs of the burial of British airmen at Vevey. The coffins have union flags draped over. There is a large attendance in the background. One photograph is annotated 'First photo of 14 graves taken by Mrs Desborough, Vevey Burial service in…

Aircrew being laid to rest
Seven coffins being lowered into graves by military and civilians at Vevey, Switzerland. The two photographs are the same but the second is captioned 'July 1943 "Our Crew" being laid to rest Semper Paratus'.

Lancaster wreckage on a Swiss hillside
The wreckage of Lancaster ED412Q at Bouvertet Switzerland shot down by anti-aircraft fire over Switzerland 12 July 1943. The pilot was Pilot Officer Horace Badge.

Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.

Ronald Brett
Head and shoulders portrait of Sergeant Ronald Oswald Charles Brett, wearing uniform and side cap.

Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.

Sergeant Edward Higgins
Head and shoulders portrait of Edward Higgins in uniform with side cap.

Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.

Robert Wood on a Norton 16H motorbike
Sergeant Robert Wood seated on a Norton 16H motorcycle 'YS9384'

Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.

Robert Wood
Three quarters portrait of Robert Wood in airman's uniform. Behind is a telephone box.

Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.

Sergeant J Spence
Sergeant James Spence in uniform standing in the snow outside a brick building.

Additional information about this item has been kindly provided by the donor.
View all 93 items

Collection Tree

  • Wright, Jim