Traces of Military History

During the course of my work I was given a few documents & an ornate leather-bound book by a lovely lady called Virginia who told me that they once belonged to her late grandfather, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Constable Wright.

Although Virginia never met her grandfather as he passed away before she was born, she knew that he was in the Expeditionary Forces Canteen & that he married a lady called Maimie Brickwell, a famous ‘Gaiety Girl’. From her own research she knew Edward was born in Dublin on 21st April 1877 & that he passed away in Hythe, Kent in June 1940, his final resting place was Spring Lane Cemetery in Hythe.

Armed with this information & objects I then started to find out the story about this soldier.

The Object Trace

The Wedding Album 1908

The Wedding Album featured many ornate pages & contained the names & ranks of the military personnel who attended his wedding in Pretoria on 10th November 1908. It was published by a company based in Pretoria during the early 20th century called Wallach Ltd who specialised in producing similar ‘keepsake’ items of the time.

The wedding date & location suggests that Edward was either an officer serving in South Africa in 1908, or simply visiting.

Besides the amazing calligraphy what surprises me was the number of army officers to their wedding. He must of been held in high esteem by his colleagues at the time.

From the list of attendees I have investigated a few:

Major FT Ravenhill Later Brigadier General Ravenhill CMG Commander RA for 26th Division during WW1

Lt AE Erskine: Later Col Sir Arthur Edward Erskine GCVO & DSO. Equerry to King George V from 1919 to 1924 then Crown Equerry until 1941.

Lt AG Leech: Brevet Colonel Arthur Gardner Leech DSO (Brother of William Leech artist)

Mention in Despatches 1917

From the Mentioned in Despatches award (Note: authorised by Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for War) it identifies that Edward was part of the Expeditionary Forces Canteen (EFC) during 1917.

Established in 1915 the EFC was a highly successful commercial-military operation that supplied troops with small comforts such as tobacco, writing paper & food. It later merged with the Navy & Army Canteen Board to form the Navy, Army and Airforce Institutes (NAAFI). An interesting fact that I found was that at the end of the war, some of the surplus EFC stock was sold to Jack Cohen who used it to found his store ‘Tesco’s’.

Order of the British Empire 1918

Edward was also awarded the Order of the British Empire on the 1st January 1918, which was signed by King George V & countersigned by his son, Prince Edward, who would later become King Edward VIII, albeit very briefly.

The Research Trace

Using his name, date of birth & place of birth military archives revealed some interesting documents about a chap called Edward Wright, who enlisted into the Imperial Yeomanry Volunteers on the 18th January 1900 in Rathmines, Dublin.

One concern I immediately had with the documents was regarding the age of person at attestation. If this was our Lt Col Edward (date of birth 22nd April 1877) he would of been aged 22 years & 9 months on the 18th January 1900 & not 22 years & 6 months, as stated in the attestation document below.

To confirm this was the Edward Wright I was looking for I searched for the name ‘A.M. Wright’ & ‘Stillorgan’ listed on his Military History Sheet.

This revealed a genealogy link about the ‘Wrights of Lisaniskea’, a notable family that lived in Dublin. It also revealed that Lt Col Wright OBE was the son of Archibald Manning Wright & thus the link to his earlier Military Records.

The Military History Sheet also showed that he was sent to South Africa on 6th April 1900 until 14th May 1901, where it states he was commissioned the following day. As it was then I would presume that from 15th May 1901 he then had an officers record & he was still based in South Africa.

The next document shows that on 9th June 1901 he was a member of the Battalion Staff for 17th Battalion IY (Imperial Yeomanry) & was awarded the Queens South Africa Medal as a Quarter Master Sergeant (QMS) (His role prior to commissioning).

Interesting note: The officer who signed the medal authorisation was Lt Col Thomas John de Burgh who would later have a famous great, grandson called Chris. Later Lt Col de Burgh would also volunteer as an ambulance driver driving his own ambulance in WW1. Remarkable.

Further research using ‘Service number 11187 Edward Wright’ revealed that his medals had been sold at an auction in 1992 & it appears as well as the Queen’s Medal as a QMS, he was awarded the King’s Medal when he was a Lieutenant.

Imperial Yeomanry

The 17th Battalion sailed from Southampton on 6th April 1900 aboard the SS Galeka (which ties in with his Military Service Sheet). After the Second Boer War conflict the Imperial Yeomanry started to return back to the UK from 1901 & were eventually disbanded in 1908.

So what did he do between 1901 & 1915?

It is believed Edward departs London for Cape Town on 12th Nov 1902 on SS Bulawayo (ships manifest) but as yet I am unable to ascertain if this was military or civilian. What I would like to know is given Edwards later work for & awards for his role in the Expeditionary Forces Canteen during WW1, did he work for the South African Garrison Institute or Canteen board during this time?

World War One

On the 9th April 1915 Edward was Gazetted Temp. Hon Capt