|
Major Philip Wright OBE
Late Grenadier Guards
by Major James Gatehouse
formerly Grenadier Guards
|
Despite leaving the Army late in 1982, almost 43 years ago and while I was still a young Officer Cadet in training at Sandhurst, I can say with certainty that Philip Wright was one of the most popular Regimental characters of our generation. To see so many familiar faces here today is testament to his wide circle of friends, both in the Grenadier Guards and in many other walks of life.
Let me take you back. Philip was born on the island of Cyprus in April 1941, one of 3 children, with sisters Jill and Joanna. Their father Andrew – who in the Great War had been awarded the MC and bar, with the Suffolks in France - would go on to have a distinguished career in the Diplomatic Service. From 1949-1954 he was the Governor and CinC in Cyprus and later knighted for his services. This life had its advantages for the young family and there is a charming painting of them all now hanging in the drawing room at No 38, where many of us have been so well entertained by Philip and Henrietta over the years.
Like many of his generation, Philip was soon sent off to boarding school, going firstly to the Dragon and then on to the boy’s school at Sherborne. His father, by now Sir Andrew, was a great friend of Brigadier Algy Heber-Percy, then a senior Grenadier who during the war had commanded our 3rd Battalion with distinction in North Africa and Italy, so after Philip decided to join the Army it was natural that the young man should become a Grenadier, which he did upon completion of his officer training at Mons.
He was commissioned in March 1960 and immediately sent out to West Germany, joining our 2nd Battalion; they returned to Caterham in 1961, where Philip soon got his first taste of Public Duties. His life as a young officer had its highlights: in late 1962 he was dispatched to Melton Mowbray for 6 months on an officers’ Long Equitation Course – it is worth mentioning here that Foot Guards officers and horses are not often a happy union together, as others know all too well; shortly afterwards, he deployed with the 2nd Battalion to British Guiana – a country larger than GB on the NE coast of South America - where a state of emergency had been declared and there was much civil unrest.
For Philip, the highlight of this tour seems to have been an expedition he led, consisting of him with 10 Gdsm who paddled a home-made raft, made from 24-gallon oil drums welded together for 110 miles down the wonderfully named Demerara River. To quote the Regimental history, ‘they were successful despite unexpected rapids, falls, a broken oar, snared ropes and finally almost being swept in to the Atlantic Ocean!’
Over the next 15 years Philip held a succession of military appointments, in Germany, Northern Ireland, and at Oswestry, where he commanded the Guards Company of the Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion. In 1975 he attended the Staff College at Camberley, followed by an appointment at Horse Guards where he had responsibility for anti-terrorist operations at Heathrow and Operation BURBERRY, the national emergency that erupted in late 1977 involving Guardsmen being employed to protect London from fire during the Fireman’s Strike. In the process, Philip qualified to drive a Green Goddess fire engine, perhaps a unique talent amongst his brother officers, and in 1977 he was awarded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal.
He was Senior Major of the 2nd Battalion and, in 1979, he became Regimental Adjutant, riding on the Queen’s Birthday Parade that year and in 1980.
In 1981 he volunteered to join the British Military and Advisory Team in Zimbabwe and while there he was responsible for forming a battalion of 1200 former guerrillas. Although there can be no connection, on his return to England, he became Second-in-Command of the Guards Depot at Pirbright and, in 1982, he rode again as the Major on the Queen’s Birthday Parade. That was to be his last duty in a tunic and bearskin.
With 22 years’ service in the Army to his credit, Philip decided to exchange his ‘fieldboots and breeches for lace and black tights’ by applying for the post of Deputy Assistant Serjeant at Arms in the House of Commons. He served on working parties planning the redevelopment of the Parliament Street block and the initial measures for the building of Portcullis House. In addition, he cheerfully took responsibility for managing a wide range of activities, from exhibitions to mass lobbies, with a large number of Office Keepers and their Attendant staff. Romayne even tells me that he was involved in organising a pop-up concert by Alicia Keyes, I doubt that Philip had heard of her before!
One incident is worthy of mention: while on duty in the Chamber he went forward to remove the Mace as the House was due to adjourn for the 1992 Summer Recess. Six Scottish Members had other ideas, protesting about water privatisation in Scotland, and they linked arms in front of him. All Philip could do was look on with pained disdain, until the impasse was broken. Undaunted by this experience, on promotion to Assistant Serjeant at Arms in 1995, Philip took over responsibility for security in the Commons Chamber.
In 2002, he was commended by the Speaker for his involvement with the planning and preparation of the Lying in State of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in Westminster Hall. His many friends and colleagues were delighted when he was appointed OBE for his 22 years’ service to the House of Commons and he retired on 31st October 2004.
In retirement, Philip continued to demonstrate his great love and abiding interest for all matters Regimental: he gave sound advice and wise counsel to successive Regimental Adjutants, me included. He worked to support the archives, a treasure trove, and he remained a very active member of The Guards Magazine Editorial Committee for many years. He was a prolific contributor of well researched, beautifully written articles to both the Guards Magazine and the Grenadier Gazette. In 2009, he published a book For Distinguished Conduct about Grenadiers awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in the Great War; it is now required reading for all young officers. He also delighted readers of the Friends of Battersea Park Review with his witty cartoons.
As Chairman of the Friends of Battersea Park and later as Chairman of the Appeals Committee, he was intimately involved in efforts to raise the necessary funds to transform a corner of that Park, surely one of the best in London, into an exquisite 21st century Winter Garden. In 2011 it was opened by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.
In 2004 my wife and I bought a house in Battersea, just around the corner from Philip and Henrietta and, over the next decade, we saw a lot of them both, and of Melanie, Romayne, and the grandchildren. As my children grew up and bicycles and dogs came and sadly went, we were often to be seen walking together in the Park. At first rather austere, I quickly learned that Philip was a kind man with a heart of gold. He had a keen sense of humour, an eye for the ridiculous, and a deep reservoir of good stories.
My abiding memory of Philip will always be his frustrated growl, ‘Archie, will you come back here!?’ Yet again, Archie, a terrier with a fiercely independent streak, would completely ignore his master and dash off after another squirrel.
Address at Philip Wright’s service of thanksgiving in Battersea on 9th April 2025 |
|
