TRIBUTES have been paid to one of Jersey’s last veterans of the Normandy landings, who has died aged 97.
Richard Wraight was serving with the British Army’s Essex Regiment when he landed on the French coast shortly after D-Day in 1944.
In 2016, the St Saviour resident was one of seven Jersey war veterans awarded the Légion d’Honneur – France’s highest order of merit – by the French ambassador for their role in the Allied landings.
And in 2019 he received the Bailiff’s Bronze Medal as part of events to mark the 75th anniversary of the beach attacks.
Bill Reynolds, one of a handful of survivors now left in the Island, described Mr Wraight as a modest man who had only recently taken part in commemorative events for D-Day, Liberation Day and Remembrance Sunday.
He said: ‘Richard was a nice man. I met him when we were given the Legion d’Honneur and he told me that he used to be my postman.
‘I found out Richard was involved in helping provide replacement trucks when we were being bombed and shelled by the Germans – it was a real team effort and we needed people like him.’
Keith Sunter, welfare chairman of the Jersey branch of the Royal British Legion, said that a bugler and standard-bearer would attend Mr Wraight’s funeral at the Crematorium next Friday, when a guard of honour from his fellow veterans is also anticipated.
‘Richard was someone we got to know in the last couple of years.
‘I sensed he had been quite shy and reclusive prior to that, so it was nice that he could take part in some of the recent events and spend time with some of his contemporaries,’ Mr Sunter said.
Brought up in Essex, Mr Wraight initially tried to sign up for the British Army aged 16, but his attempts were blocked by his father.
Speaking to the JEP in 2019, he said: ‘I went to Whitehall and got the paperwork, but when I got home my father threw the forms in the fire – he said I was too young and I wasn’t going anywhere.’
It was not long before the would-be soldier was able to enlist, however, and after suffering from frostbite following training manoeuvres in Yorkshire, he was redeployed to be trained in anti-aircraft skills.
Just a few weeks after his 19th birthday, Mr Wraight made the crossing from Portsmouth to Arromanches in Normandy as part of an ammunition convoy supporting the Allied Forces in Operation Overlord – the codename for the Battle of Normandy.
‘We didn’t really know the details of what was happening or where we were going – it was all very hush-hush,’ he said.
During the latter months of the Second World War, Mr Wraight was based in Brussels where he worked alongside an English brigadier who had been wounded on D-Day.
After finding employment in a variety of roles in England following the war, including a 12-year stint working for the Royal Mail, Mr Wraight moved to Jersey with his second wife in 1974, and subsequently spent 16 years working as a postman prior to retiring at the age of 65.
External Relations Minister Ian Gorst said: ‘I am deeply saddened to hear that Richard Wraight has passed away. He was a part of the Greatest Generation in every sense.
‘It is down to the outstanding bravery and courage of men such as Richard that we have enjoyed 77 years of peace in western Europe.
‘Richard was quite rightly recognised by Jersey for his service, most recently through the award of the Bailiff’s Bronze Medal.
‘He is a hero to whom we owed an unpayable debt and his legacy will stand forever. I send my condolences to his family and friends and may he rest in peace.’
