Hi all, I have started going through my late nans correspondence from the 1940s and have discovered two fairly interesting items that I thought might be of interest to some of you.
The two photos below are of a 1942-1943 clothing book addressed to a B M? Hundleby (I believe this is my Great Grandad) on the reverse it says:-
To S/SGT Aaron J Wright 18011644
613 Bomb Sq 401 Bomb Gp
APO 557 US Army
1942-1943 CLOTHING BOOK by Gaz West, on Flickr
1942-1943 CLOTHING BOOK by Gaz West, on Flickr
The third photo is obviously of an American in the US Army, I cannot say for sure if it is S/SGT Wright. Goggling the name brings up some results but nothing from WW2 (that I could see) adding the service number brings up no results at all. A visit to the 401 Bomb Group association website also proved fruitless, which makes me think that S/SGT Wright was not aircrew. My nan used to mention that she nearly married an American, but never mentioned a name. I realize its a long shot but can anyone help with further information on S/SGT Wright?
[POSSIBLY] S/SGT AARON J WRIGHT 18011644 by Gaz West, on Flickr
By: Reckless Rat - 1st July 2014 at 20:03
I had wondered if that was him, but in the absence of any firm evidence either way, I left it out of my previous posting.
WRT Mrs. Rosemary Wright, it appears that she passed away last year.
http://vinyardfuneralhome.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1164968
By: Last Lightning - 1st July 2014 at 12:27
Bit of an update, I have e-mailed the Wilson County news editor in Texas, this is the reply I received back:- “What fascinating information you have uncovered! I’ll check w/ the local historical society to see if we can discover anything about S/SGT Wright … There are a lot of Wrights around here, but I’ve never heard the name Aaron. Will get back to you.” Hopefully something will turn up.
*update*
Things have now moved to a conclusion, a couple of friends have pieced together enough info for for me to get a big enough picture about Aaron, heres what I have just sent back to Wilson County News:-
“It would appear that not everything is as it seems in these letters, I have found out that Aaron was a tail gunner with the 613 BS and was involved in at least one accident while over here, the details of which are:-
S/SGT Aaron J Wright, of 614BS/401BG, tail gunner on B-17 42-97395 (named “Chute the works”, 111 missions recorded), crashed 25/Mar/45 near RAF Saltby flown by 2nd Lt D H Stauffer after getting into difficulties on return from formation for an aborted mission that day. The crew successfully abandoned the aircraft uninjured, bar one member who broke an ankle on landing.
It also appears that Aaron was married to Rosemary on the 30th December 1941 (possibly days before he left for Europe). My information about his service career is sketchy at best, but I believe he returned to the USA sometime in June or July 1945. Which would explain why the letters stopped and the one for Aaron was returned. Its fairly evident that my nan did not know Aaron was married, but wars hell, right?
Anyway as it turns out Aaron passed away in 2006 he is buried in Fairview Cemetery, Floresville. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=80839696 From the photo it would seem that Rosemary (when the photo was taken) is still alive. I’m not so convinced she would like a letter from an old girlfriend of Aarons from 70 years ago! or would she?”
By: Alan Clark - 29th June 2014 at 20:02
If you’ve got access to an international ancestry subscription you might well find more information, certainly the entry from the 1940 US Federal census relating to him. If you don’t know anyone with a subscription try your local library, mine has full access.
By: Last Lightning - 29th June 2014 at 16:17
Thank You that is a great help, I have been leafing through some letters and have come across a few from Aaron to my nan, I have also found one from my nan to Aaron that was returned to sender.
By: Reckless Rat - 29th June 2014 at 15:13
Hi there,
I don’t know if this helps, but it appears that your man was from Wilson County, Texas, and enlisted on 07 Aug 40. More info here.
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June 29, 2014 at 2:07 pm