204985 James "Shiner" Wright Royal Navy from:Fleetwood, Lancashire. The most wonderful man in my life was my grandfather, James Wright from Fleetwood, Lancs, other wise known as Shiner which I believe was for his boxing abilities. It is hard for me to piece together the stories he told me as I was a youngster mainly. I know he was at HMS Collingwood and think he served in the Royal and Merchant Navy. I have pictures of him at Collingwood which I will send (when the kids show me how). After the war he worked until retirement and was a volunteer in the Coastguard saving at least two people for which he got recognition. He always attended the white ensign and any other related events he could, infact I remember watching him as a child polishing up his medals and brass buttons the days before such events. He used to carry a standard at the cenotaph on Armistice day in his home town of Fleetwood. I also recall a wonderful tale of his days in Portsmouth where he came upon a lost uncle called Dixie and they remained forever friends and had many a joke about how my Granddad once got drunk ashore and had to be rapidly taken back to his boat by a tug or something! Uncle Dixie who always sang "Dixieland" and wrote great poems is now dead. My grandfather died in 1995 and had standard bearers and a bugle boy at his funeral. In the midst of our grief at losing the rock of our family it was amazing to see old comrades at the funeral. If anyone has any tales or anything at all about this great man I would love to hear from them.
|