Part 2 (Obituaries) - King's College - University of Cambridge

After one year at Cambridge Bob joined the Army. He was young enough to
partake in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, and unlucky enough to be
seriously injured by shrapnel as his tank blew up. Despite the injury Bob
stayed in the Army until 1947 when he was serving in the Sudan. Bob, now
Major Wright, decided to return to what for him was still home in some way,
namely the India that was just winning independence from British rule. In
March 1948 he was back in India and began a career in industry. Bob
eventually ended up as the Chairman of the Indian Mining Association, a
prestigious appointment that showed that he could make himself at home in
the new free India.
Bob was a handsome and charismatic man whose very natural aptitude for
leading and managing others he soon put to good use for the British
community.TheTolly had been established in 1895 but was by the early 1970s
in a poor state. The club’s managing member had been executed by Maoist
guerrillas, the Naxalites, in 1971 and theWest Bengal government coveted the
club’s ground for building a new metro station and a stadium. Bob became
Managing Director in 1972 and had to put up with menacing phone calls,
bombs on the veranda and arson attacks on the stables, but soon managed
with benign authoritarianism to restore order and safety. He also negotiated a
good solution with the local government in which theTolly was compensated
for land lost for new infrastructure with land elsewhere. The club soon
prospered and expanded, the golf course was redesigned, a new swimming
pool built and more tennis courts added. But the traditions of the club were
carefully guarded, the restaurant served what it had always served and the bar
was well stocked with pink gin.
Through serving as a successful managing member of the Tolly, Bob was
quickly becoming a pillar of British life in Calcutta. But the respect that he
inspired was not so much due to his work at the club as it was due to his
philanthropic activities. Bob was involved in the British Citizens Association,
Dr Graham’s children’s homes in Kalimpong, the East India Charitable Trust
and the Calcutta Tercentenary Trust, and he served as Chairman of the
Historical Cemeteries Association. He was awarded an OBE in 1988 for his
contributions to charity. Bob also arranged sporting events that would
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OBITUARIES