NORWAY COMMANDO AN INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES ‘SONNY’ WRIGHT
The British commandos became famous during WWII for daring raids behind enemy lines, and their units served in all theatres of the war across the globe. What is less well known is that the commandos were first formed in June 1940 from volunteers who had recently fought in Norway using guerrilla-style tactics. These men formed ‘Independent Companies’, and one of these innovative early commandos was a combat medic called Charles Wright.
Known to everyone as ‘Sonny’, Wright volunteered for the Independent Companies in secret and survived a gruelling mission in northern Norway to try to hold back the German invasion. After being evacuated, Wright went on to serve across the Mediterranean, and continually survived intense situations to fight another day. His story is a tale of courage, perseverance and the ability to laugh in the face of danger.
A 1930s territorial
Born in Suffolk in 1921, Wright’s father was a reservist in the British Territorial Army, and he allowed his young son to accompany him. “My father had been in the TA and I knew all the senior NCOs and officers. I used to camp with them and my father when I was seven! When I first joined everything was in tents and carried in horses and carts.”
When Wright officially joined the TA he lied about his age to get in, but his youth did not bother his commanders. “I joined when I was 15 in 1936 but put my age up to 17. They all knew me and my real age but that was it, I was in.” Wright recalls that the reservists were “really well trained” and that he was required to act as a “handyman doing all the work, but I didn’t care”.
When war broke out in September 1939, Wright was immediately called up, and although he had trained as a carpenter he was assigned to the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC). Wright trained as a medical orderly and learned about anatomy and physiology with experienced medics, including a renowned surgeon called Dr. Bell-Jones: “He was known all over England and everybody was scared of him, but he was the best chap I ever worked with.”
The intensity of Wright’s medical training was highlighted when the
