War hero son’s fury over ‘forgotten’ old

THE son of a Second World War hero killed by coronavirus has begged ministers to stop treating the elderly as “second class citizens”.

Combat medic Charles Wright, 99, had served in a behind-enemy-lines unit created by

Winston Churchill.

The elite saboteur was honoured by Norway for his outstanding bravery three years ago.

But his son, Clive,

60, said Britain’s frail elderly had been

“forgotten about”.

Charles died at The

Willows care home in

Ipswich on April 17, having not seen his family for six weeks.

Clive said: “Many put their lives on the line for this country and they deserve better. They have been treated as second-class citizens.

“My daughter works in a care home and she says it has just been awful. I just wish we could go back ten weeks and do things differently.”

Known as Sonny, Charles survived a mission in Norway to hold back the Nazis. He then served across the Mediterranean, fighting in the Siege of Malta, before being captured on a mission in Greece in 1943.

Charles spent 18 months as a prisoner of war, including time in Austria at the notorious Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp.

Clive, from Ipswich, said his dad, who had three children, 12 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren, was “an ultra-modern father like men are today” and considered himself lucky to have survived the war. Clive backed the Sunday Mirror’s call for an allowance for health staff risking their lives.

He said: “They do an incredible job on basically minimum wage. They risk their health – they are heroes.”