Paymaster Sub Lieutenant (S) Edwin John Loftus WRIGHT RN
HMS Glorious, Royal Navy

Date of birth: 30th July 1918
Date of death: 8th June 1940

Killed in action aged 21
Commemorated on the Portsmouth Memorial Panel 36 Column 2
He was born at Bournemouth on the 30th of July 1918, the eldest son of John Loftus Wright, barrister, and Doris Bertha (nee Birch) of Carlyon Bay, Cornwall.

He was educated at the Junior King's School from September 1929 and at the King's School Canterbury from September 1932 to December 1935, where he was in Holme House and was a member of the Junior Training Corps.

On leaving school he joined the Royal Navy as a Paymaster Cadet in December 1935, having gained fourth place in the examinations. He was appointed as a Paymaster Midshipman on the 1st of February 1937 and was promoted to Paymaster Sub Lieutenant on the 1st of January 1939.

On the afternoon of Saturday the 8th of June 1940, the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, under the command of Captain Guy D'Oyly-Hughes DSO DSC RN, and her escorts, the destroyers, HMS Acasta and HMS Ardent were intercepted by the German battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst in the North Sea. The two groups of ships spotted each other at 4pm and action stations were sounded on HMS Glorious with the crew rushing to get her aircraft ready for action. The first shots were fired at 4.32pm by the Scharnhorst and HMS Glorious was hit by her third salvo at 4.38pm, which penetrated the flight deck and exploded in the upper hanger. This started a large fire and disrupted the attempts of the crew to ready their aircraft. Shell splinters also damaged the casing of the boiler which caused a loss of pressure. Then a second hit was received which killed most of the crew on the bridge. The escorting destroyers laid smoke to screen HMS Glorious from the enemy. This was effective and the two German ships ceased firing from 5pm to about 5.20pm. HMS Ardent, having made one hit on the Scharnhorst, was hit by her secondary armament and sank at 5.25pm. At this time HMS Glorious was hit again in the centre engine room, causing a loss of power and she began to list to starboard and sank at 6.10pm. HMS Acasta attacked the Scharnhorst with guns and torpedoes, causing severe damage to the ship and a number of casualties among the crew but at 6.20pm, she too was sunk. In the three British ships engaged there were 1,500 British sailors lost with a small number of survivors being picked up by a Norwegian vessel and some by the Royal Navy.

His mother received the following telegram dated the 10th of June 1940: -

"From Admiralty. Deeply regret to inform you that your son Sub Lieutenant Edwin John Loftus Wright RN is believed to have been on board HMS Glorious must be regarded as missing though possibly a prisoner of war."

He is commemorated on the Dover war memorial.
Holme House

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