Wright, Arthur Hayward

Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE ARTHUR HAYWARD WRIGHT 10/856. Born in Hull, on 15/07/1894, the eldest of four children to John and Ada Wright of 96 Legsby Avenue, Grimsby. One of the original Pals, Arthur was a Clerk before the war but queued to enlist in the long lines outside Hull City Hall in the heady days of September 1914. He was with the battalion through Egypt to the trenches of the Somme and the battle for Oppy Wood before being killed in action on 27th March 1918 as the German Spring Offensive punched a hole in the British lines. Arthur’s body was never recovered and his name is commemorated on Bay 4-5 of the Arras Memorial. He was 23 years old. Major Hewson recorded the events of that day: “At about 11.20am the enemy barrage opened and at 12 noon the first SOS went up from the front line and contact with the enemy commenced. From that time for several hours there was a general battle for possession of the crest in which at least four times the crest was lost and retaken.” There is something so matter-of-fact and removed about that account. It says nothing of the struggle under that barrage, nor the bravery and resourcefulness of both sides in taking and retaking that ridge. Somewhere out there was Arthur Wright. And somewhere out there he remains.