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Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Remembering World War II
Frank E. Wright
Name:
Frank E. Wright
Rank:
First Lieutenant
Service Number:
11032323, O-751518
Service:
369th Bomber Squadron,
306th Bomber Group, USAAF
Awards:
Air Medal, Purple Heart
Date of Birth:
1921
Place of Birth:
Princedale, Annapolis Co., NS
Date of Enlistment:
November 18, 1941
Place of Enlistment:
Boston, Massachusetts
Address at Enlistment: Danvers, Essex Co., Massachusetts
Age at Enlistment:
20
Occupation:
Attendant, filling station/parking lot
Date of Death:
February 22, 1944 (declared Oct 2, 1945)
Age:
23
Cemetery:
Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, England
Tablets of the Missing, Memorial
Frank E. Wright was the son of Ira Edwin Wright (1892-1968) and Nina Belle (Hutchinson) Wright (1888-
1982). His father was born in Princedale, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia; his mother – in Roxville, Digby Co.,
NS. Frank had two brothers, Frederick ‘Fred’ Hutchison (1919-1988), and Wilfred Cleveland (1923-20011),
and two sisters Helen Marguerite (1918-1991) and Marjorie E (1927-2017). Helen, Fred, Frank and Wilfred
were all born in Princedale, NS. Frank’s father Ira served in WWI in Canada and England with the 219th
Battalion, serving April 1, 1916 to December 31, 1917.
The family moved to the US in 1926 and Frank’s younger sister Marjorie was born in Mass in 1927. The
family lived in Ipswich, Mass. in 1930. By 1940, they were living in Danvers, Mass.
Both of Frank’s brothers also served in the US Armed Forces in WWII. His older brother Fred served in the
USAAF from September 21, 1942 to November 20, 1945, and his younger brother Wilfred served in the US
Army from March 12, 1943 to November 16, 1945.
Frank married Mary Alice Sullivan (1923-1990) October 11, 1943, at Geiger Field,
Spokane, Washington. Geiger Air Force Base was a major group training field for B-17
Flying Fortress heavy bombardment units during WWII. Mary was born in Peabody,
Mass. She served as a Private in the Women’s Air Corps, USAAF (Service No. A-
118262) during WWII as well. She served from March 3, 1944 until her discharge
December 21, 1945.
Frank served with the 369th Bombardment
Squadron of the 306th Bomb Group, known as
the ‘Reich Wreckers’; their motto: Abundance of Strength. They
were stationed at Thurleigh in Bedfordshire, England.
Without fighter escort and in the face of powerful opposition, the
306th completed an assault against aircraft factories in central
Germany on Jan 11, 1944, being awarded a Distinguished Unit
Citation for the mission. They then received another DUC for action
during ‘Big Week’, the intensive campaign against the German
aircraft industry from Feb 2-25, 1944: although hazardous weather
forced supporting elements to abandon the mission, the group
effectively bombarded an aircraft assembly plant at Bernberg on
Feb 22.
Frank’s aircraft, B-17G Flying Fortress #42-39935, was last seen
near Bonn, Germany, on that bombing mission to the JU88 plant at
Bernburg, Germany on February 22, 1944. The aircraft went missing
and is presumed to have crashed in the North Sea. Frank was
serving as Co-Pilot. He was declared dead October 2, 1945.
The other crew were:
First Lieutenant
Rudolph Horst III
Pilot
from Pennsylvania
Second Lieutenant John Joplin
Navigator
from Texas
Second Lieutenant Henry Schmitz
Bombardier
from Idaho
Technical Sergeant Bill Osgood
Flight engineer/Top turret gunner
from Massachusetts
Technical Sergeant Arthur Cook
Radio Operator
from Massachusetts
Staff Sergeant Laurel Kloster
Ball turret gunner
from Minnesota
Staff Sergeant Edward Ryan
Waist gunner
from New York
Staff Sergeant Ed Justice
Waist gunner
from California
Sergeant Joe Threlkeld
Tail gunner
from Alaska
First Lieutenant Frank Wright’s body was never located or recovered, and he is commemorated on the Walls
of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery.
The Cambridge American Cemetery sits on a quiet hillside outside the ancient university town of
Cambridge. This is the only military cemetery in the UK that commemorates American servicemembers who
died in WWII. Graves fan out across the lawn in sweeping curves. The mosaic on the ceiling of the memorial
building depicts the flight of ghostly aircraft joined by mourning angels flying into eternity. The Walls of the
Missing list over 5000 names.
“They crossed the ocean to fight for freedom, and sacrificed their lives”
Memorial Airman at the
Cambridge American Cemetery