Crowfield – All Saints Church (James Wright – Commonwealth War Grave)

This is the sole Commonwealth War Grave at the beautiful church of All Saints in Crowfield and it commemorates the life of James Wright.

James was born on 29 March 1923, the son of Jarvis Wright and Lillian Wright. The family were listed in the 1939 register, something that seems quite poignant when there’s a death, with Jarvis, Lillian and James living together, along with Mabel Buckles (nee Wright). Jarvis ran the Bell Inn at Crowfield and he was also a farmer, with James helping out on the farm.

On the matter of the Bell Inn, this unfortunately closed in the 1960s and is now used for residential purposes, retaining the name ‘The Old Bell’.

James was a Aircraftman 2nd Class in Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service number 1724940. He died on 5 May 1943 at the age of 20 following an air crash near Milton in Hampshire. He was in an Boulton Paul Defiant aircraft (DR940, RAF 1622 Anti Air Co-operation Flight) which crashed and also killed the pilot Norman Reilly. There’s a strong likelihood that James’s parents were told about his death when standing behind that door at the pub, with only the limited consolation that his body was able to be recovered home to Crowfield as unlike many aircraft it didn’t crash over enemy territory.