Alan Wright (pilot)
Encyclopedia
Group Captain Allan Richard Wright DFC
Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...

 AFC
Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
The Air Force Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom Armed Forces, and formerly also to officers of the other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy"...

 (born 20 Feb 1920) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 flying ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

 of the Second World War. Wright scored 11 kills, three shared kills, five probable kills and seven damaged against the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

.Wright served with 92 Squadron throughout 1940, and is one of The Few
The Few
The Few is a term used to describe the Allied airmen of the Royal Air Force who fought the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. It comes from Winston Churchill's phrase "Never, in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few"....

, having flown as a Flying Officer
Flying Officer
Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence...

 with No. 92 Squadron RAF
No. 92 Squadron RAF
No. 92 Squadron, also known as No 92 Squadron, of the Royal Air Force was formed as part of the Royal Flying Corps at London Colney as a fighter squadron on 1 September 1917. It deployed to France in July 1918 and saw action for just four months, until the end of the war. During the conflict it...

 during the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...

 and is one of the surviving aircrew of this Battle.

Wright was born in Devon on 12 February 1920. He entered RAF College Cranwell as a Flight Cadet in April 1938. After training he was posted to 92 Squadron at Tangmere
Tangmere
Tangmere is a village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. Located three miles north east of Chichester it is twinned with Hermanville-sur-Mer in Lower Normandy, France....

 on 27 October.

Over Dunkirk on 23 May 1940 he claimed a Bf 110 destroyed and two damaged, on the 24th a 'probable' He 111 and on 2 June another Bf 109.

During the Battle of Britain he shared a He 111 destroyed on 14 August, a KG 27 He 111 at night over Bristol on 29 August, a He 111 and Bf 109 'probable' on 11 September, a Bf 109 damaged on the 14th, a Bf 109 'probable' on the 15th, a Ju 88 'probable' on the 19th, a Do 17 on the 26th, a Ju88 on the 27th, and two Bf 109s on the 30th. On 30 Sept he was shot down and wounded near Brighton by a Bf 109 of JG 27 and hospitalised. The award of the DFC was made on 22 October 1940. On 6 December 1940 he destroyed a Bf 109.

By July 1941 Wright had received a bar to the DFC. He was posted to 59 OTU in July 1941. Service with HQ Fighter Command and as an instructor followed until being posted to 29 Squadron at West Malling in March 1943, where as a night fighter he destroyed a Ju 88 on 3 April.

Remaining in the RAF post-war, he retired as a Group Captain on 12 February 1967 .

Honours and awards

22 October 1940- Pilot Officer Allen Richard Wright (33499) is awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...

- On night in August 1940, this officer displayed great determination and skill in destroying a Heinkel 111, under difficult conditions. Pilot Officer Wright has consistently shown a keen desire to engage the enemy on all occasions. He has brought down a total of four enemy aircraft and has badly damaged four more.
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