Gordon Robinson Wright

Gordon's father was born James Francis Alfred Wright in 1885 in Seaforth, Ontario, the son of a carpenter. He later went by the name Frank J. Wright. Gordon's mother Minnie Gladys Hazen (“Gladys,” b. 1890) hailed from Hamilton but by 1911 she and her family were living in Toronto on Queen Street East where the Russell Carhouse is located today. Her father worked in a silver factory. Frank and Gladys married in Toronto on July 14, 1914 while Frank was in Dentistry school. Eventually he had his office at the northeast corner of Greenwood and Queen. He and Gladys lived in an apartment upstairs and Frank's parents and his sister were their neighbours. Frank's office was subsequently located at Beech and Queen on the southwest corner, across from the Garden Gate Restaurant (“The Goof”). Gordon Wright was born November 30, 1922 and had an older sister Dorothea (b. ca. 1920). By the time Gordon started at Norway, the family was living at 373 Woodbine Avenue. When he was 6, Gordon was ill with scarlet fever but recovered after six weeks. Between Grades 3 and 4, Gordon transferred from Norway to Williamson Road School because the family had moved to 59 Beaufort Road. They attended St. Aidan's Church on Queen Street.

Gordon, centre, Norway class photo, ca. 1933. Agnes Mutrie Kerr collection.

After Williamson Road, Gordon went to Malvern C.I. in 1935. He joined Malvern's successful rugby program and since he was heavy-set, he was a great asset. In 1939 he was a member of the junior team that made it to the city finals. Gordon must have been a mischief maker at school because there is a note in the 1939 yearbook: “What would happen if... Gord. Wright kept out of trouble....”

On the same day in January 1941 several Malvern rugby teammates joined the air force and Gordon finalized his enlistment on February 10, 1941. After a month of basic training and tests at the Exhibition grounds, he was sent to Dunnville near Fort Erie for a nine week pilot's course. He returned to Toronto for more training at the No. 1 Initial Training School near Eglinton and Avenue Road. In June Gordon left for further training in Windsor and ultimately received his wings with the rank of Sergeant at Brantford on October 24, 1941. Two days later he was in Halifax, awaiting deployment to Britain. He finally arrived in mid-November and was quickly sent to Bournemouth to the No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre where it was determined the type of plane a pilot would be flying. On January 27, 1942 Gordon was shipped to No. 51 Operational Training Unit in Debden, 30 miles northeast of London. There he was trained for night flying on Boston aircraft. The Boston was a three man light bomber plane.

Douglas Boston bomber. Imperial War Museum photo.

Gordon, at right. Clipping from The Toronto Telegram, 1942. Agnes Mutrie Kerr collection.

Three months later, on April 29, he joined the famed RAF 23 Squadron located in Ford, near Littlehampton on the south coast of England. The Squadron had been formed in 1915 and boasted the revered pilot Douglas Bader, the legless flying ace who was victorious at Dunkirk and during the Battle of Britain. By the time Gordon joined the squadron, Bader had baled out of his plane over German-occupied France and was a prisoner of war. Despite his disability, he attempted several escapes.

No. 23 was a fearsome night intruder squadron. Night intruders were usually light bomber or fighter planes whose mission was to attack enemy planes or infrastructure like airfields and railroads. There were many Canadians and a few Poles flying with the British pilots. In less than a week Gordon was piloting Boston planes to Abbeville in Northern France. On May 5 he and his crew dropped a 250 pound bomb, twelve 14 pound bombs and 60 incendiary bombs. The next month they bombed an airfield in Poix-de-Picardie and on returning, they strafed two trains with machine gun fire. In July the squadron re-equipped with the more reliable De Havilland Mosquito bomber which only required a crew of two – a pilot and a navigator – who sat side by side in the cockpit. It was one of the fastest airplanes at the time.

de Havilland Mosquito bomber. United Kingdom Government photo.

The Squadron records indicate that Gordon frequently flew during the summer and he had a knack for destroying railroads and trains, often doing this while trying to avoid the anti-aircraft guns. He and his navigator won the title “Train Wreckers” after blowing up five enemy ammunition trains.

On September 8 Gordon took off at 2258 hrs with his navigator, Sergeant Arthur Malcolm Frederick Cook, a 22 year old Welsh RAF Volunteer Reserve member. They were to patrol Gilze and Eindhoven in the southern Netherlands. It was a 300 mile flight from which they never returned. Two other Mosquitos from 23 Squadron didn't return that night either. The crew of one of them was picked up in the North Sea by the Navy.

Gordon's name is on the Runnymede Memorial in England which commemorates Air Force members of the British Commonwealth who died with no known grave.

Gordon's mother Gladys died on June 25, 1947 and his father was still living in the Beach in 1961.