William Wycliffe Bright

In memoriam

BRIGHT William Wycliffe. Sergeant (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) 1580574, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. 148 Squadron. Died 31st May 1944, aged 21 years. Son of George William and Emily Ethel Bright of Spalding, Lincs. Commemorated BELGRADE WAR CEMETERY. Coll Grave I.C.1-7./ Spalding SS Mary & Nicholas Sympathy will be with Mr. and Mrs. George Bright, of 12 Alexandra Road, Spalding, in the anxiety following the news that their youngest son Sergt (W.Op.) William Wycliffe Bright, R.A.F. is missing from an operational raid in the Central Mediterranean theatre of war. He was 21 last September, joining the R.A.F. two years to the day he was reported missing. Before going abroad he had been on operational flights from this country. Previously employed by Spalding Bulb Company. Educated at the Parish Church Day School. Lincolnshire Free Press – 05 June 1944. Parents officially notified by the Air council that their second son, William Wycliffe, is presumed to have lost his life on an operational flight last May. He volunteered in 1840 and joined the RAF May 31 1942. Mr. and Mrs eldest son Sig, J. R. Bright, has just returned from home leave to the B.L.A. He is with a Highland Division and took part in the crossing of the Rhine. Has been in the army 5ive years, and previously with Messrs. Seymour Cobleys. Extracted from Lincolnshire Free Press, 23 April 1945. M r. and Mrs. Bright have received a letter of sympathy from the King and Queen in the loss of their son, as follows "The Queen and I offer you our heartfelt sympathy in your great sorrow. We pray that your country's gratitude for a life so nobly given mat brig you some measure of consolation-George R.I" Extracted from Lincolnshire Free Press, 30 April 1945 SPALDING AIRMAN HERO GRAVE IN BELGRADE CEMETERY LATE SGT. W. W. BRIGHT, R.A.F.V.R. Mr. and Mrs, G. W. Bright, of 12, Alexander Road received from the Air Ministry on Tuesday further information of the circumstances of the death in an air operation on May 31st, 1944, of their son Sgt. W. W, Bright, R.A.F.V.R. The Air Ministry state the certain investigations made by the R.A.F. Missing Research and Enquiry Service in Yugoslavia have clearly established that Sgt. Bright's aircraft crashed on the Western side of Lake Palic, near Subotica, Yugoslavia and that the crew were buried in the nearby cemetery. It was decided that this cemetery was not suitable as a permanent resting place for our fallen airmen, and the remains of the crew have been transferred to a collective grave in the Belgrade British Military Cemetery, it has been registered with the Imperial War Graves Commission and, as a temporary measure, marked with a cross showing the crew's service. Lincolnshire Free Press – 31 May 1948 – page 6.

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