Private Leonard V Wright

Leonard Victor Wright was the son of William and Florence Sarah Wright, of Bradfield, Essex.

He enlisted into The Essex Regiment and was serving with the 10th Battalion when it was turned over to airborne forces and redesignated as the 9th (Essex) Parachute Battalion.

Pte Wright attended course 47, which ran at RAF Ringway from 18 January 1943 to 1 February 1943, for parachute training. There were 172 personnel from the batallion who went on the course and 149 qualified.

The following year he took part in the Normandy campaign, which marked the start of the liberation of France from German occupation.

Pte Wright died on 22 August 1944, aged 27 years, and is now buried at Bayeux War Cemetery, Normandy.

Headstone photograph courtesy of Major James Brudenell.