Lot Essay
32nd Lieutenant Clifford Wright was born in October 1898 and commissioned into the Royal Flying Corps from the West Riding Regiment in September 1917. Qualifying as an Observer, he was posted to No. 42 Squadron in France, subsequently completing at least 20 sorties in
RE8s between August and October 1918. With assignments varying from Dawn Reconnaissances to Contact Patrols, scraps with enemy aircraft
were inevitable, a case in point being that of 16.8.1918, when Wright and his Pilot were attacked by an Albatros Scout ('100 rounds were
fired at E.A. which made off in north-easterly direction ...'). In December, Wright was posted to No. 7 Squadron but was hospitalized at Wimereux in February 1919 and transferred to the Unemployed List in the following month.
RE8s between August and October 1918. With assignments varying from Dawn Reconnaissances to Contact Patrols, scraps with enemy aircraft
were inevitable, a case in point being that of 16.8.1918, when Wright and his Pilot were attacked by an Albatros Scout ('100 rounds were
fired at E.A. which made off in north-easterly direction ...'). In December, Wright was posted to No. 7 Squadron but was hospitalized at Wimereux in February 1919 and transferred to the Unemployed List in the following month.