Sergeant Edward John Wright of Belfast died on 1st September 1943 taking part in a night-time bombing raid over Berlin as a wireless operator and air gunner.
Sergeant
1044677
Sergeant Edward John Wright (1044677) served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War. He was the son of James Wright and Mabel Elizabeth Wright of Belfast.
Sergeant Wright died on 1st September 1943 aged 19 years old while serving in R.A.F. 15 Squadron. He was a wireless operator and air gunner on Short Stirling III EE912 LS-U, which took off from R.A.F. Mildenhall, Suffolk, England on 31st August 1943. The mission did not go well.
The Luftwaffe made use of fighter flare to mark the path of the main Allied force. This, along with cloud cover, poor equipment, and a well defended target, led to critical failures in the raid. Of 622 planes, 47 failed to return. EE912 crashed at Roskow, northeast of Brandenburg, Germany.
Sergeant Wright’s grave is in Section 2, Row G, Collective Grave 14-18 of Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany. His headstone bears the inscription:
There’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever England.