Lieutenant (E) Geoffrey Michael – Denys – Wright, RN, MBE, DSC, (Tr 26) fought in the submarine service in WW2 and died serving on HMS Triumph in the Mediterranean in January 1942.
Lt. Denys Wright, RN – a very courageous man
For his service with the Royal Navy, Denys was awarded the following medals: MBE (Military); DSC; Defense Medal; 1939-45 medal with Oak Leaf; 1939-45 star; Africa Star; Atlantic Star; King George V medal and King George VI medal.
A contemporary newspaper report states that the MBE (military) was awarded for the following act of bravery:
“ When during a series of enemy attacks on Malta dockyards, a merchantman heavily laden with ammunition, was bombed and set on fire, he (Lieutenant Wright) and a chief stoker from HMS Triumph boarded her. They went below to the burning engine room where they stopped machinery, deadened electrical circuits and prepared to scuttle the ship if necessary. Later this officer and his ship mates boarded a dockyard tug lying unattended alongside, banked up her fires, and shut off her machinery, so that should she be hit there would be less danger of an explosion which might again set fire to the merchantman.”
Service on HMS Triumph
Both the Oak Leaf and the DSC were awarded for courage, skill and devotion to duty while serving on HMS Triumph in the Mediterranean .?
A total of 14 war patrols are mentioned in the citations. During these there were many engagements and at least 7 supply ships, an Italian submarine and 2 anti-submarine trawlers were sunk.
HMS Triumph she was lost with all hands in January 1942. Denys is commemorated at the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, at Haileybury and on the wayside cross high up on the cliff path between Polperro and Talland.
The sinking of HMS Triumph
(Above: HMS Triumph viewed from the air – photo: Imperial War Museum, public domain)
HMS Triumph was a T-class submarine, built by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness and launched in 1938; in the Mediterranean, she operated in a clandestine role, including landing secret parties in Greece. Under Lt. John Symons Huddart, RN she sailed from Alexandria on Boxing Day, 1941 and landed a group at Anti Paros four days later.
However, when she failed to return to pick up the party on 9th January 1942, she was declared overdue five days later. The story of her loss remains a mystery although it is widely thought the vessel was mined and sank with all hands, including Denys.
Website dedicated to HMS Triumph
A website dedicated to finding the wreck of HMS Triumph, including some astonishing photographs (see the photograph of the button boy on HMS Ganges – ed.) and letters (including the contents of a letter home written by Denys himself, 80 feet below the Mediterranean) can be found here. It gives a fascinating insight into the intimacy of a submarine crew and makes for a harrowing story to think of so many lost in such a relatively small vessel.
A personal story
Every person lost in war is a tragedy in itself, a life left unfulfilled in the service of crown and country. Below we show two photographs of another Denys which tell of brighter days: one in his earlier life, shown wearing a Haileybury tie; the other on his wedding day to Elizabeth Ross.
About this article
The information in this article forms part of a wider project for Old Haileyburians to submit information of family members who died on military service and who are commemorated in our Roll of Honour. We are indebted to Christopher Wright (Tr 54), who was barely two years old at the time of his father’s death, and who supplied us with much of the information in this moving piece.
About the Roll of Honour
The information in this article forms part of a wider project for Old Haileyburians to submit information of family members who died on military service and who are commemorated in our Roll of Honour. Our Roll of Honour page enables you also to supply information about your own family members who died on active service.