ALBERT GEORGE WRIGHT
Images courtesy of Peter Wright.
Born: 6th September 1914, Ipswich.
Died: 28th July 1943; age: 28; died of Beriberi and Dysentery, as a Japanese PoW – Thailand – Burma Railway.
Captured: 15th February 1942 – Fall of Singapore.
Occupation: a Pastry Cook.
Residence: 43, Prospect Street, Ipswich.
Rank: Private; Service Number: 5825510.
Regiment: Suffolk Regiment, 4th Battalion.
Grave Reference:
Collective Grave 10.F.2-10.L.4.
Thailand.
Relatives Notified & Address: Son of William Hinton Wright & Ellen Selina Wright, of Ipswich.
Father: William Hinton Wright, born 1870, Cuddington, Buckinghamshire – died 1914, Ipswich. A Butcher.
Mother: Ellen Selina Elizabeth Wright (nee Butcher), born February 1881, Lowestoft, Suffolk.
Step Father: Charles Theobald, born 1884, Ipswich – died 1930, Ipswich.
A family note:
Mr. Peter Wright
Like so many prisoners working on the Burma Railway, Albert, after 17 months of captivity, lost his life to beriberi and dysentery due to the terrible conditions imposed by the Japanese.
An English translation penciled on his Japanese record card, lists his occupation as a Pastry Cook which was likely his profession in Ipswich prior to enlistment. This is being researched further.
Albert’s early life was speckled with family tragedies. He lost his father and only sister just prior to his birth. Further, in the 1920s and early 1930s, he lost his stepfather and two brothers aged in their 20s. The youngest of 6 siblings, he was survived by two elder bothers and his mother who was able
to leave her poignant message on his gravestone as pictured.
The 4th Battalions was attached to the 18th East Anglian Division.
15 February 1942: After the fall of Singapore, approximately 620 of the Battalions were taken POW and later mostly died on the Burma-Thailand Railway.
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