Charles Eshleby WRIGHT, PRIVATE 36240

Born: 1Q1891 at Haughton-le-Skerne
Son of: Robert Thompson and Mary Wright
Local address: 6 Wolsingham Terrace (family living Haughton-le-Skerne 1891)
Pre-war occupation: Blacksmith’s Striker
Father’s occupation: Farmer (1891)
Siblings: Four brothers, one half-brother, one half-sister. Position in family: 5
Enlisted: Darlington on 6 December 1915
Regiment: 13th Battalion DLI
Died: Killed in Action, Saturday 7 July 1917, at Hill 60 near Ypres.
Age: 26
Commemorated: Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium
Commemorated after the War:
Family headstone in the churchyard of St Andrew’s Church, Haughton-le-Skerne
Roll of Honour, Working Men's Club and Institute, Haughton-le-Skerne

Charles Eshelby Wright was born in 1891 in Haughton-le-Skerne, the son of Robert and Mary Wright. Robert Thompson Wright had married Mary Ann Eshelby in Darlington in 1885. When the 1891 census was taken in April that year, Robert and Mary lived in a cottage at the western end of the village, not far from St Andrew’s Church. Robert Thompson Wright was described as a farmer aged 34, born at Blackbanks, Blackwell, near Darlington. in 1891 Frances Wright Charles (Charlie) Wright was two months old, the youngest of five children. The Wrights had been farmers in Haughton for much of the nineteenth century, and appear in the 1861, 1871 and 1881 censuses. Francis Wright, Robert Thompson Wright’s father, farmed 100 acres in the village. By 1891, Francis Wright had retired and Robert Thompson Wright farmed the land. Francis Wright aged 72, a widower, lived in the farm house, Robert Thompson Wright with their children lived in a cottage close by.

Robert’s wife, Mary died in October 1896 aged 38 when Charles was only five years old. In 1897 Robert married again, to Margaret Byers, the daughter of a shoemaker from Headlam. In 1901 Robert and his family lived at East Shaws, Westwick, close to the River Tees near Barnard Castle. Robert and Margaret had two further children, a half brother and sister for Charles Eshelby Wright. There was another brother, Walter, who was born in 1896, the same year that his mother died, living in 1901 with his Aunt Isabel and her husband John Webster, in Selbourne Terrace, near Greenbank Road, Darlington. Walter Wright also died during the Great War and his biography is recorded separately.

Robert Thompson Wright’s second wife Margaret died in 1907 and Robert Thompson Wright followed her in 1909 age 55. There is a headstone to Robert Thompson Wright and both of his wives in the churchyard of St Andrew’s Church, Haughton-le-Skerne. The headstone also has the names of their two sons Charles and Walter who were both killed in action in the late spring and summer of 1917.

Charles Wright was appointed to the DLI and placed on reserve. On 15 September 1916 he went to France and on 7 October was appointed to 13/DLI.

13/DLI was a service battalion which had been formed at Newcastle in September 1914 as part of Kitchener’s Third New Army, comprising the third 100,000 men who volunteered. The men of the battalion were trained mainly in the south of England and left for France on 26 August 1915, landing at Boulogne. The men first saw action in the trenches close to Armentires before moving south to Picquiny close to the River Somme. The battalion took part in the Somme Offensive which started on 1 July, sustaining many losses. In August the 23rd Division, of which 2/DLI was part, was pulled out of the line on the Somme front and moved north to the Armentires sector. Their stay there didn’t last long and in September the division was back on the Somme. The battalion was engaged in fierce fighting and during the night of 6 - 7 October, 31 ORs were killed and 86 wounded, as well as a number of officers. These and earlier losses meant that the battalion was well below strength, and had to be reinforced with new recruits from England. Charles Wright would have been one of the soldiers recently arrived from England who joined 13/DLI as replacements. Later on in October the battalion moved north to the Ypres Salient where it remained as part of 23rd Division before leaving France for Italy in November 1917.

In early July 1917 the battalion was billeted at Mic Mac Camp D a hutted camp about 20km to the west of Ypres. On the morning of 4 July, 68th Brigade lined the Reninghelst - La Clytte Road and cheered King George V and the Prince of Wales as they drove slowly along their ranks. 

The Battalion War Diary recorded what happened next.

5.7.17 8.30pm. The Battalion left MICMAC CAMP and proceeded to relieve 8th K.O.Y.L.I. (KingÕs Own Yorkshire Light Infantry). Casualties 2 O.R. wounded.
6.7.17 1.15am. Relief complete.
Dispositions MAP Hill 60.
Headquarters I 29.d.6.4
'C' Company I 36.b.2.3 to I 36.b.5.8
'B' Company I 36.b.5.8 to I 30.d.15.50
'D' Company I 30.c.75.65
'A' Company I 29.d.4.4

(These were locations from trench maps. Charles Wright was in 'B' Company).

1.30am. A small reconnoitring party went out from the right of our line about I 36.b.75.35. Enemy machine guns intermittently swept gaps in new trench from I 36.c.25.10 to I 36.b.5.7.
Casualties 1 O.R. wounded.

1.7.17 12.15am. A patrol consisting of 2/Lieutenant F YOUENS and 3 O.R. left the right of Bttn front to get into touch with the 17th LONDON REGT. They then proceeded to about I 36.b.5.1 where a party of about 40 of the enemy was observed carrying material into the Strong Point. The enemy covering party tried to surround the patrol and after a Bombing fight our patrol was forced to retire, 2/Lieutenant F YOUENS and 1 O.R. being wounded.

1.45am to 3am. Enemy shelled front and support lines very heavily.
2.30am. A party of about 50 Germans attempted to raid the Right Coy. at I 36 b.5.8. They were repulsed by rifle and Lewis gun fire. 2/Lieutenant. F YOUENS although wounded, came out of the dug-out without Tunic or Shirt and rallied a Lewis Gun team which had been disorganised by a Shell. The enemy threw a bomb into the centre of this Lewis Gun team and 2/Lieutenant F YOUENS caught hold of it and threw it away. The enemy did this a second time and as 2/Lieutenant F YOUENS was throwing the second bomb away, it burst and badly wounded him. Enemy Artillery normal throughout the day on front line but very active round Headquarters.

Casualties:
2/Lieutenant F YOUENS wounded
3 O.R. Killed in Action
12 O.R. WoundedÕ

The three O.R.s killed in action were:

36240 Private Charles Wright from Haughton-le-Skerne
27256 Private Francis Porteous from Gateshead
23259 Private Robert Metcalf from Murton Colliery

Charles Wright is mentioned by name in the 13/DLI War Diary. It was very unusual to name ORs, usually only officers were named. The rare naming of ORs that day in the Battalion War Diary is possibly because of the exceptional nature of the action,, and the bravery of the men who were with Second Lieutenant Youens. The action was not itself part of a named offensive. It came between the Battle of Messines in June 1917 and the Third Battle of Ypres between the end of July and November 1917 (a battle nowadays referred to and commonly known as 'Passchendaele'). Although defined by great battles and offensives, this graphically illustrates that shelling and sniping took place continually, the front line trenches being very dangerous places to be at all times.

Second Lieutenant Frederick Youens was evacuated to the Advanced Dressing Station nearby at Railway Dugouts but died from his wounds aged 24. He and Private Metcalf were buried alongside each other. Second Lieutenant Youens, a schoolteacher, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. one of only six men of the DLI who were awarded the

The Victoria Cross is the highest award for gallantry and is awarded for an act of outstanding courage or devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy. Frederick Youens was one of only six men of the DLI to receive the VC in the Great War. His was the only one of the six to be awarded posthumously.

The citation, published in the London Gazette on 2 August 1917 reads:

For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. While out on patrol this officer was wounded and had to return to his trenches to have his wounds dressed. Shortly afterwards a report came in that the enemy was preparing to raid our trenches. Second Lieutenant Youens, regardless of his wound, immediately set out to rally the team of a Lewis gun which had become disorganised owing to heavy shell fire. During this process an enemy's bomb fell on the Lewis gun position without exploding. Second Lieutenant Youens immediately picked it up and hurled it over the parapet. Shortly afterwards another bomb fell near the same place; again Second Lieutenant Youens picked it up with the intention of throwing it away, when it exploded in his hand, severely wounding him and also some of his men. There is little doubt that the prompt and gallant action of Second Lieutenant Youens saved several of his men's lives, and that by his energy and resource the enemy's raid was completely repulsed. This gallant officer has since succumbed to his wounds.

Private Charles Wright and Private Francis Porteous have no known grave and are commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing. The men were killed on Hill 60 which is a man-made hill, built from the spoil removed during the construction of the railway line nearby. Hill 60 was a small area of elevated land in a flat landscape which had strategic importance in the various actions in the Ypres Salient. After the war, the trenches were filled in, but the land remains cratered and to this day bears the scars of the battles fought over it.

On 20 July 1917, a letter was sent to Francis Wright at Windlestone, Ferryhill, the address that Charles Wright had given for Francis as his next of kin. The envelope resides in The National Archives as part of Charles Wright's service record, and is marked 'Undelivered - Insufficient Address'. Scrawled across it is 'Not known - try Windlesham Colliery'. Inside the envelope was a standard form from the Infantry Record Office at York - with the relevant handwritten personal details - informing Francis Wright that

"It is my painful duty to inform you that a report has this day been received from the War Office notifying the death of 36240 Pte Charles Wright, 13th Durham Light Infantry which occurred at a place in France on the 7th July and I am to express the sympathy and regret of the Army Council at your loss. The cause was - Killed in Action."

By this time Francis Wright had moved to Woodland Crescent, Northallerton and the letter must have eventually found its way there, as further correspondence was sent to the Northallerton address. Charles Wright's personal items - his bible, two discs, cap badge, letters and cards - were sent to Francis Wright. Charles Wright was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal which would also have been sent to Francis. On 22 May 1920, the Infantry Record Office sent Francis Wright his brother's Memorial Scroll.

According to Charles Wright's service record, Francis Wright had been an Army private with the number 116291 but I found no further details of his Army service.

Charles Wright's younger brother Walter, 17014, 2nd Battalion The Hampshire Regiment had been killed in action three months earlier on 23 April 1917.

Charles Wright, who died during the Third Battle of Ypres and has no known grave is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres. He is also commemorated on the Roll of Honour at The Working Men's Club and Institute, Haughton-le-Skerne.

Both Charles and Walter are commemorated on the family headstone in the churchyard of St Andrew's Church, Haughton-le-Skerne, which has the inscription:

IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE
OF
MARY
THE DEARLY BELOVED WIFE OF
ROBERT THOMPSON WRIGHT
WHO DIED AT HAUGHTON-LE-SKERNE
OCTOBER 24 1896,
AGED 38 YEARS.
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.

ALSO ROBERT THOMPSON WRIGHT
WHO DIED AUGUST 25 1909
AGED 55 YEARS.

ALSO THEIR SON
PTE CHARLES ESHELBY WRIGHT
KILLED IN ACTION JULY 8 1917
AGED 26 YEARS.

ALSO THEIR SON
PTE WALTER WRIGHT
KILLED IN ACTION APRIL 23 1917
AGED 21 YEARS.
ALSO MARGARET, WIFE OF
ROBERT THOMPSON WRIGHT
WHO DIED APRIL 28 1907
AGED 36 YEARS