Rfn
Percy Charles Wright

Information about birth

Year of birth:
1885
Place of birth:
King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom

General information

Profession:
Labourer

Army information

Country:
England, United Kingdom
Force:
British Expeditionary Force
Rank:
Rifleman
Service number:
R/31643
Enlistment place:
Woolwich, Kent, England, United Kingdom
Units:
 —  King’s Royal Rifle Corps 17th Bn. (British Empire League)  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
31/07/1917
Place of death:
20.V.28.a.10.70, Belgium
Cause of death:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Age:
32

Cemetery

Poelcapelle British Cemetery
Plot: XVI
Row: C
Grave: 17

Distinctions and medals 2

Points of interest 3

#1 Place of birth
#2 Enlistment place
#3 Place of death (approximate)

My story

Percy Charles Wright, a laborer from King's Lynn, Norfolk, served in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps 17th Battalion (British Empire League), which was assigned, at the time of the Third Battle of Ypres, to the 117th Brigade, part of the 39th Division.

The 39th Division participated in the opening attack of the Third Battle of Ypres, The Battle of Pilckem Ridge, on the 31st of July. The Division attacked at zero hour, 3.50 a.m. with two Brigades and one Brigade in support. Eight tanks gave assistance during the attack. The 117th Brigade was on the left; and was carried by the King’s Royal Rifle Corps 17th Battalion on the left, the 16th Sherwood Foresters on the right and the 17th Sherwood Foresters in support.

At 3.50 a.m. all hell broke loose, as the British artillery put down a heavy barrage, which creeped forward every six minutes. At 3.56 a.m. the attacking Battalions left their jump off line and moved forward under cover of the barrage.

The first objective of the KRRC 17th Battalion was the German front line, dubbed the Blue Line. This front line system was captured in conjunction with the 16th Sherwood Foresters. The trench had been torn apart by the British artillery and most Germans had left the trench before the British attacked, those who remained in the trench quickly surrendered. While the leading wave of “A” and “B” Companies captured and held the left of the front line, one platoon of “A” Company captured Canadian Farm. Once these objectives were in British hands, the second waves of “A” and “B” Company moved through towards the German close support lines of the trench system. This so called Red Line was taken relatively easily. After which a third and fourth wave of “C” and “D” Companies captured the rest of the support lines. Civilization Farm was the Battalion’s last objective, also known as the White Line. It was rushed and taken by a platoon of “C” Company.

By 4.20 a.m. the leading Battalions had overrun the whole German front line system. Consolidation of the gains started, as the 118th Brigade went through to take the Division’s final objective, the crossing over the Steenbeek stream. The going for the 118th Brigade was much harder. Almost all forward positions and trench systems, had been abandoned by the German defenders in the days before the offensive. The Germans suspected a large offensive and had withdrawn to a series of better defensible lines, which consisted of interconnected pill-boxes, bunkers and dug-outs. Some pill-boxes were dealt with and the Brigade made it as far as Von Tirpitz Farm, but owing to German counterattacks, heavy losses, and having lost touch with the 55th Division on their right flank, the 118th Brigade was forced to give up some ground they had gained. The 118th had suffered severe casualties and the Brigade were withdrawn to the Divisional Reserve. Consequently the final consolidation line, near the village of St. Julien, was to be held by the 116th and 117th Brigades.

Rifleman Percy Charles Wright became a casualty during the opening attack of the Third Battle of Ypres on the 31st of July 1917, known as the Battle of Pilckem Ridge. His remains were exhumed, Southeast of Poelcapelle, about 2.3 miles behind Percy’s Battalion’s final consolidation line. He had been buried at a place called Sourd Farm alongside other British soldiers.

Percy Charles Wright was reburied at Poelcapelle British Cemetery.

Files 1

Sources 7

"The Annals of the King's Royal Rifle Corps Volume V. The Great War", Hare S., Uckfield, The Naval & Military Press, 2009, pg. 223-225.
Sources used
"The King's Royal Rifle Corps Chronicle 1917", Murray M., Richmond, Military Books, 1920, pg. 198-201.
Sources used
"The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account", McCarthy C., London, Arms & Armour Press, 1995, pg. 26-27.
Sources used
Ancestry
http://home.ancestry.co.uk/
Further reference
CWGC
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/492334/WRIGHT,%20P%20C
Sources used
The Long, Long Trail
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/
Sources used
War Diary King's Royal Rifle Corps 17th Bn.
http://www.nmarchive.com/
Further reference

More information 2