A Great War and scarce ‘Somaliland 1920’ clasp Africa General Service Medal group of five to Leading Seaman F. E. Wright, Royal Navy, who served aboard H.M.S. Ark Royal during the Somaliland 1920 operations.
Five: 1914-15 Star (J.848 F. E. WRIGHT, A.B., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (J.848 F. E. WRIGHT, A.B., R.N.); Africa General Service, 1 clasp: Somaliland (J.848 F. E. WRIGHT, LG. SEA. H.M.S. ARK ROYAL); Royal Fleet Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (J.848 DEV.B. 11775 F. E. WRIGHT, L.S. R.F.R.)
Condition: Extremely Fine.
Frederick Ernest Wright was born in Tottenham, London and joined the Navy as a Boy 2nd Class on 24 Oct 1908. He was serving aboard H.M.S. Centurion during the failed attempt to intercept the German ships that had bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914. He next served aboard the destroyer H.M.S Redpole in the Mediterranean during 1915 and then as part of the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla. On 22 Aug 1918 he was posted to H.M.S. Ark Royal and embarked for the cost of Somaliland.
During the Somaliland Campaign of 1920, HMS Ark Royal played a pioneering and highly significant role — it was the first time in history that an aircraft carrier was used in active military operations.
At that time, Ark Royal was the Royal Navy’s first purpose-built seaplane carrier, launched in 1914 and equipped to carry and operate floatplanes (seaplanes that took off from and landed on water). In early 1920, the British government decided to end the long-running campaign against the Somali leader Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, known to the British as the “Mad Mullah.” A combined force of the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy, and local ground troops was assembled to attack his strongholds in the interior of British Somaliland. HMS Ark Royal was dispatched to the Gulf of Aden, operating off the coast near Berbera, carrying Airco DH.9A and Short 184 seaplanes.
From January to February 1920, Ark Royal’s aircraft launched bombing and reconnaissance missions in support of RAF operations based inland. The carrier’s seaplanes carried out aerial reconnaissance over enemy positions, bombing raids on fortifications and encampments, and liaison flights with ground columns advancing from the coast. These attacks caused heavy dislocation among the Dervish forces, destroyed their main fort at Taleh, and broke organized resistance. The use of Ark Royal and her aircraft demonstrated the effectiveness of naval aviation in colonial and expeditionary warfare, marking a historic milestone in both British military aviation and carrier development. After the success of the campaign, Ark Royal returned to home waters, her operations in Somaliland establishing a blueprint for future carrier-based air support in combined operations.
Wright joined the Royal Fleet Reserve on 10 July 1921.
