John “Jack” David Wright was born in Petrolia on March 29, 1912, the son of David Wright (occupation Liveryman) and Florence Helen (nee Crozier) Wright of 320 Davis Street, Sarnia. John lived in Trinidad, British West Indies, for six years, where he received part of his early schooling. His father was an oil-drilling superintendent in Trinidad. The family came back to Sarnia in 1924, where David was employed with a local automobile sales group. John completed his public school education in the city and then attended Sarnia Collegiate where he was a member of the high school rifle team. He was also a member of Central United Church. Following his Sarnia Collegiate graduation, he entered the Imperial Oil Limited and studied chemistry. He was nearing the conclusion of a course at the Lawrence Institute of Technology, Detroit, when war broke out. He was within a year of securing his Bachelor of Science degree when he left his duties with the chemical staff of the Imperial Oil Limited and enlisted in a locally-organized field company for overseas duty. Tragically, John would lose both of his parents in a six-month period; his mother Florence in December 1934, and his father David in June 1935.
When John enlisted, he was single, recording his occupation as an engineer and his residence as 409 Devine Street, Sarnia. He had always been interested in military matters. John served originally as a Private in the Lambton Regiment (Reserve) and worked his way up the ranks, receiving his commission as first lieutenant with the Royal Canadian Engineers in March 1939. He joined the Canadian Army on September 2, 1939 and trained at Sarnia, London and Petawawa. He obtained his first lieutenancy in May of 1940, and spent his last furlough in Sarnia in July of 1940. John went overseas during August 1940 with the 11th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, with the rank of Lieutenant.
On a Saturday night, March 8, 1941, Lieutenant John David Wright lost his life while in London, England, during a German bombing raid, a nightly occurrence at that time. John Wright was at the Café de Paris restaurant with a group of Canadian friends, including Nursing Sisters Thelma Stewart and Helen Stevens, and Lieutenant Jack C. Clunie, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. Clunie of 218 Davis Street, Sarnia. On that tragic night, both Sarnians would display acts of heroism. As John Wright and his Canadian Nursing sister partner were dancing along with the throng inside the cabaret to “Oh Johnny,” a high-explosive bomb crashed through the thin-roofed restaurant onto the dance floor. John Wright died while shielding the nurse with whom he was dancing. That nurse, twenty-three year old Miss Thelma Stewart of Toronto, suffered a hand injury and required hospitalization, but she survived the explosion.
For Jack Clunie, he and a few of the others, not liking that song, were sitting out at a balcony table when the bomb struck. Amid the ensuing chaos, Jack Clunie and his partner, Nursing Sister Helen M. Stevens of Dunnville, Ontario administered first aid and helped to extricate the dead and injured. They moved about the debris pouring champagne on the wounds of the injured as an antiseptic, bound gaping wounds with tablecloths and clothing and put broken limbs in makeshift splints. Following are the comments of Nursing sister Helen Stevens: “The crash sounded like a bunch of firecrackers and stunned me for a few minutes. The whole place filled with smoke fumes. I thought at first it was gas. Lieutenant Wright shielded Miss Stewart as soon as he heard the bomb screaming. He died protecting the Canadian nurse.” For twenty-three year old Miss Helen Stevens, not a nurse, but a physiotherapist at a Canadian Military hospital, who disregarded her own injuries to tend to others, she said she had no thought of doing anything heroic: “I did what any Canadian nurse would be proud to do.” As Jack Clunie moved through the glimmering light, seeking injured under the debris, he found John Wright’s body. According to Helen Stevens, “Jack and those who helped were as cool as a Canadian spring breeze. They worked with might and main. It seemed to give me courage too.” Jack Clunie would be “mentioned in dispatches” for his work in the rescue operations. For Nursing Sister Helen Stevens, who lost several of her friends in the bombing, she was given official recognition by the Canadian army. Hailed by the press as a “Canadian heroine in London,” the military recorded her
distinguished conduct with these words: Miss Stevens, who was dining in the restaurant at the time, was slightly injured and considerably shaken by the explosions. However, she unhesitantly proceeded to render first aid to the injured amidst the scene of confusion and continued to do so for nearly an hour and a half. She was the last woman to leave the building and then only after other services had the situation in hand. Her conduct throughout merited the highest praise and is fully in accordance with the best traditions of the service. Miss Helen Stevens was the second Canadian woman to be mentioned in military orders.
A total of eighty-five people were killed in the bomb explosion of the Café de Paris. In the days following, the London, England newspapers gave accounts and pictures of the bombing. The papers gave great credit to the valour of Lieutenant John Wright in giving his life in an effort to shield from injury Nursing Sister Thelma Stewart. Credit was also given to Lieutenant Jack Clunie and Nursing Sister Helen Stevens, who attended the wounded.
John Wright and three others (Captain Philip Seagram of Toronto, Corporal G.W. Quinn of Pembroke and Sergeant R.A. Bradshaw of Ottawa) were killed in the cabaret explosion, and many others were wounded. Captain Philip Seagram, who was killed in the tragedy, was well known to a number of Sarnians. He was a member of Lieutenant-General MacNaughton’s headquarters staff and a particular friend of Lieutenant M.J. Chilton and Mrs. Chilton of Sarnia. John Wright would be officially listed as, Overseas casualty, killed due to war operations (enemy action), Charing Cross Hospital, London, England. At the time of his death, John’s sister, Mrs. Howard A. Vince, was residing at 409 Devine Street, Sarnia. His aunt, Mrs. Margaret Crozier, also lived with Mrs. Vince. The commanding officer of the local garrison, Lieutenant-Colonel S.G. Stokes of the 2-11th Field Company, (Reserve) Royal Canadian Engineers organized a local memorial service for Lieutenant Wright, “because of the heroic aspects of his death.”
In early April of 1941, John Wright’s relatives in Sarnia would receive a letter from Lieutenant Arthur Hueston of a Western Ontario regiment, who had witnessed the large military funeral accorded John Wright in England. His flag-draped casket was borne on a gun carriage hauled by a military truck. There was a church service that was attended by virtually all the officers and men from Sarnia who were in the area. Among those were Lieutenants Jack Clunie, Howard Stuart, Colin Hunter, Jack Williams, Walter Claxton, Tom Richardson, Bill Craig, Charles Kennedy, Tom Doherty, Bill Ewener and Ken Hunter; Captains Frank Payne, Charles Wrenshall, Charles Kindersley; and Major Eric Harris. The cemetery for Canadian war dead contained graves marked by the conventional simple white crosses at that time. Twenty-eight year old Lieutenant John Wright is buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey, United Kingdom, Grave 30.C.1.
SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, N, O, S, 2C, 2D