Earlier this month Beryl and I had the privilege of visiting the archives of the Royal Tank Regiment at Bovington in Dorset. Our quest was to find out more about the story of former Christleton resident Arthur Wright, who was a member of 1RTR during WWII. We were able to see and handle some of his war medals, and the books his late wife Gertrude had donated to the Regiment following his sudden death on 3rd June 1977 aged 62 years, whilst de- commissioning Chester Castle as an Army Headquarters. Arthur & Gertrude Wright had come to live in Chester in 1961, and soon afterwards purchased a new property in Home Close, Christleton.

Arthur Wright was the son of Mr & Mrs George Wright of Stowmarket in Sussex, and was a volunteer for the army at the outbreak of war. He joined the Royal Armoured Corps, and whilst serving in the 1RTR was engaged in the major battles of the Middle East and North Africa. He was a tank commander in the 8th Army at El Alamein, and it was here that his regiment came under the control of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. It was Montgomery against Rommel, the famous German General, and thanks to the superiority of the Field Marshals decisions, the British Army and allies drove the Germans and Italians back towards Tobruk and Libya, before forcing them back to Sicily and Italy. Having achieved their goal, it was at a temporary base near the battle of Monte Casino, that Arthur and the other tank crews were told by Montgomery to go home and rest up, I’ll need you fully fit for a major event next year.

The books he had presented to the regiment, tell us of his story but I’ll need time to research these in more detail. The major event was of course to be D Day in June 1944 and the invasion of Europe. Arthur and his men fought throughout Europe, from the battle of Normandy, Mount Picnon and the crossing of the Seine. The relief of Brussels and Antwerp, then the advance towards Arnhem, The Ardennes, The Reichswald and the Crossing of the Rhine before the final advance into Germany. By this time Arthur was attached to XXX Corps Headquarters team and was one of the Field Marshal Montgomery’s bodyguard and close protection team. He was an excellent marksman and won several medals for shooting whilst serving the regiment, and following the war helped German farmers control wild boar and deer on their land.

It was at Luneborg Heath where he met Gertraud Schroder, a young lady from Magdeborg, in East Germany, who had escaped from the Russian Army advances towards Berlin, by escaping across the river Elbe and volunteering to become an interpreter/ translator with the British Army. She became part of the XXX Corps team at Luneborg, and was there at the signing of the Peace Treaty. It was here that she tells of getting her orders each day from the same British Army Officer. It was of course Arthur Wright, who had seen both her beauty and delightful personality. They parted after the war, Gertrude working with an American film Company and travelling the world. Arthur, after the disburdenment of the 1RTR, joining the Royal Scots Greys Regiment and serving with distinction in Germany & North Africa, later becoming a very distinguished member of the regiment as Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant at Catterick Camp. They married in 1957, and Gertrude really enjoyed her new life as an Officer’s Wife, and getting to know that area around the Yorkshire dales and the town of Richmond.

The pictures illustrating this article are from the vast collection of photographs and memorabilia that we have. I will be putting all the information and some of the photographic material together in a book during the year. It has been a great honour to find out more about Arthur in our research, and I hope to do him justice in the final account. We have one mystery to solve. That is the Gold Montgomery Medal held in the archives at the Tank Museum. I need to do much more research from the books and papers we found at the Tank Museum at Bovington.