NZ Births
🔍 ASHSearch URL:
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 3.949 seconds
Source: BDMs by DIA / CC BY 4.0
| Registration | Family Name | Given Name(s) | Mother's Given Name(s) | Father's Given Name(s) | Still Birth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1916/5781 | Wright | Claude Henry | Hazel Amohia | Henry | - | Order Product |
NZ Marriages (Bride)
🔍 ASHSearch URL:
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.998 seconds
No results found.
NZ Marriages (Bride, married surname)
🔍 ASHSearch URL:
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 1.064 seconds
No results found.
NZ Marriages (Groom)
🔍 ASHSearch URL:
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 4.055 seconds
No results found.
NZ Births (Mother)
🔍 ASHSearch URL:
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 1.322 seconds
No results found.
NZ Deaths
🔍 ASHSearch URL:
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 3.948 seconds
Source: BDMs by DIA / CC BY 4.0
| Registration | Family Name | Given Name(s) | Born (approx.) | Age at Death (approx.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945/63064 | Wright | Claude Henry | 1917 | 28Y | Order Product |
Tributes Online (obituaries)
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHSearch URL: https://www.tributes.co.nz/Webform1.aspx/GetTributes
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.19 seconds
No results found.
Whanganui Council Property Rolls
Wright, Claude Henry 🔍 ASHSearch URL: https://wdc.whanganui.govt.nz/propertyrolls/data.aspx?id=search
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.172 seconds
No results found.
Te Papa Collections - People
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHSearch URL: https://data.tepapa.govt.nz/collection/search?q=type:Person+AND+title:(Claude+AND+Henry+AND+Wright)
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.065 seconds
No results found.
Otago Nominal Index
🔍 ASHSearch URL:
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.143 seconds
No results found.
NZ Presbyterian Marriages
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.31 seconds
No results found.
Shadows of Time
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.313 seconds
No results found.
Our Stuff - Denise & Peter's NZ history site
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.987 seconds
No results found.
Sooty NZ (NZ history and genealogical information)
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.309 seconds
No results found.
NZ Genealogy Research Made Easy
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.967 seconds
No results found.
Transcriptions NZ
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.309 seconds
No results found.
Alexander Turnbull Library
Wright, Claude Henry 🔍 ASHSearch URL: https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/imu/request.php
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.073 seconds
No results found.
Auckland Museum Online Cenotaph
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHSearch URL: https://api.aucklandmuseum.com/search/cenotaph/_search
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.037 seconds
Source: Online Cenotaph by Auckland War Memorial Museum / CC BY 4.0
Claude Henry Wright
NZ417144
417144
World War II, 1939-1945
Claude Wright was born 28 December 1915 at St Heliers, Auckland, the son of Henry Wright and of Hazel Wright (nee May).
He was the eldest of his family. He had a brother (in the army) and a sister.
Claude was a farmer who had been educated at Auckland Boys Grammar School (1929-32) and Palmerston North Agricultural College. He was actively involved in sports, playing tennis, cricket, soccer, rugby, hockey, golf and swimming. He managed the farm attached to St. Peter's College, Cambridge, and at the time of enlisting was employed by Mr. C.C. Ellis, of Warkworth.
He enlisted for service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force on 23 December 1940 and went to the Initial Training Wing, Levin on 21 December 1941. On 7 February 1942 he was posted to No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School, New Plymouth where he began his flying training on Tiger Moth aircraft. He continued his training under the Empire Air Training School in Canada in May 1942.
He was a member of No.4 Solo Flight Training School at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1941.
In Canada he was stationed at No. 3 "M" Depot, Edmonton, Alberta until June. On 20 June he was posted to No. 3 Service Flying Training School, Calgary, Alberta. At this point his training was changed to that of air bomber and in September he went to No. 8 Bombing and Gunnery School, Lethbridge, Alberta to commence training. On completion of the course at Lethbridge on 21 November he was posted to No. 3 Air Observer School Regina, Saskatchewan for further training. He was awarded his Air Bomber's badge on 4 January 1943 and promoted to the rank of Sergeant and on the same date as Pilot Officer. Six months later he was promoted to Flying Officer. His next posting was to No. 1 "Y" Depot, Halifax, Nova Scotia and it was from this port that he left for the United Kingdom on 3 February 1943.
Flying Officer Wright arrived at No. 11 Personnel Despatch Reception Centre, Bournemouth on 14 February and remained there until April when he was posted to No. 11 Operational Training Unit, Westcott, Buckinghamshire where he trained on Wellington bomber aircraft.
In June he went to No. 1678 Conversion Flight, East Wretham, Norfolk and transferred to Lancaster bombers prior to joining 115 Squadron. With this squadron operating from Mildenhall, Suffolk and later from Little Snoring, Norfolk and Witchford, Cambridgeshire he took part in attacks on Aachen (his first bombing raid), Hamburg, Essen, Peenemunde, Berlin, Hanover, Kassel, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt.
In a raid against Berlin on 26 November 1943 the Lancaster bomber in which he was flying encountered severe anti-aircraft fire over the target area and one motor was put out of action. The aircraft returned safely to base.
Flying Officer Wright's last mission was on 14 January 1944. He was the bombardier on a Lancaster bomber which took off from Witchford on air operations against the German town of Brunswick and failed to return to base. All members of the crew were classified as missing. Subsequently their deaths were confirmed and they were found to have been buried in the Roman Catholic Churchyard, at Gittelde, approximately 21 miles north of Gottingen, Germany. The other Royal New Zealand Air Force crew were Flight Lieutenant Christiansen of Palmerston North, Flying Officer F.A. Braithwaite and Pilot Officer J.L. Boswell both of Auckland. They are all now buried in the British Military Cemetery at Hannover.
Pilot Officer Wright undertook 20 raids. He did a total of 80 hours as Pilot and 300 hours as air bomber.
An account of the bombing raid on Brunswick on 14/15 January 1944 notes that 496 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes went on the mission - the first major raid to Brunswick of the war. It resulted in 38 Lancasters lost which was nearly 8% of the force. The German running commentary was heard following the progress of the bomber force from a position only 40 miles from the English coast and many German fighters entered the bomber stream soon after the German frontier was crossed near Bremen. The German fighters scored steadily until the Dutch coast was crossed on the return flight. The raid was not a success from Bomber Command's point of view. Most of the attack fell either in the countryside or in Wolfenbuttel and other small towns and villages to the south of Brunswick. Ten houses were reported destroyed and 14 people killed. (The Bomber Command War Diaries, An operational reference book: 1939-1945 by M. Middlebrook and C. Everitt, p. 465). The photographer of the headstone in 1999 was Mr B. Cox whose brother, Flying Officer John Grant Cox (NZ412658), is buried in the same cemetery. He described his visit to Hanover War Cemetery: 'On 29 June we left London 4 am - drove all day via the Channel Tunnel reaching the village of Rimbeck about 100 km south of Hanover by 5 pm. That was where my brother's plane actually crashed, and by 5.30 we were taken by friendly German folk to the Catholic cemetery where the crew of seven were originally interred, and then to a site on a hillside about 1 km away to the spot where the Lancaster crashed. An elderly chap who remembers the incident said that they thought the bomber was going to hit the village. and the following morning, civilians began pillaging the wreckage to get the parachutes for silk but were stopped by soldiers. We were taken back to the first house we called at where we were given a nice meal, outside under a patio, followed by several rounds of German lager, before being taken to the local hotel where we slept before an early morning start for Hanover. In the Hanover War Cemetery all graves are well tended by German gardeners employed by the British War Graves Commission and were quite friendly. There are 46 New Zealand graves in the cemetery.'
Attended Auckland Grammar School and Massey College (Source: RNZAF Biographies (R17845617))
28 Dec 1915
Single/WWII
Single
Mother: Mrs H. A. Wright, 4 Parkside, St Heliers, Auckland
Farm manager/Civilian
Europe (Air)
Pacific Theatre of War
World War 2/Wars
Boschfontein
Royal New Zealand Air Force
Flying Officer/Military
Royal Air Force, No. 115 Squadron
1939-1945 Star
Air Crew Europe Star
War Medal 1939-1945
New Zealand War Service Medal
Killed in Action/Cause of Death
14 Jan 1944
Hanover War Cemetery, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
1. F. 8.
Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 2 Hall of Memories
Roll of Honour, Warkworth RSA, 1939 - 1945, Warkworth
Roll of Honour, Warkworth RSA, 1939 - 1945, wood inlay, Warkworth
Intention to Marry Project
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHSearch URL: https://itm.howison.co.nz/search/Claude+Henry+Wright
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.304 seconds
No results found.
Kura Heritage Collections (Auckland)
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.194 seconds
No results found.
Archives NZ
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHSearch URL: https://archway.howison.co.nz/ajax/simple.php?search=%22claude+henry%22+wright&simple_view=1
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.321 seconds
Source: Archives NZ Collections Search / CC BY / via Archway
Wellington High Court > Wellington probate files [second sequence]
| Name | Scan | Year(s) | Held At | Access |
| WRIGHT Claude Henry | 1945 | Wellington | Open |
Tinui History
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 2.819 seconds
No results found.
Masterton Anglican History
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.783 seconds
No results found.
Dictionary of NZ Biography (Scholefield, 1940)
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHSearch URL: https://dict-bio.howison.co.nz/ash_search/?s=Claude+Henry+Wright
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 0.176 seconds
No results found.
NZ War Graves
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHNew Zealand Gazette Index
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHSearch URL: https://gazette.howison.co.nz/search?name=Claude+Henry+Wright
Retrieved at 10:23am, 6 June 2026 in 2.146 seconds
Transcribed and indexed with AI tools; verify important info with the original PDF sources (linked)
Source: 1840-2017 New Zealand Gazette (and related periodicals) indexed from various public sources, including VUW, NZLII, gazette.govt.nz, WCC Libraries and Papers Past. Usage/copyright varies: Public domain / Crown copyright / fair use / CC-BY 3.0 NZ
65 results for Claude Henry Wright
Full name matches (4)
Initial matches (61)
VUW
NZLII
VUW
NZLII
NZSG Kiwi Collection (non-member records)
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHSource: Kiwi Collection copyright The New Zealand Society of Genealogists / with the kind permission of the NZSG
| Name | Date | Record Type |
|---|---|---|
| WRIGHT, Claude Henry 🔍 | 14 Jan 1944 | Auckland War Memorial Museum - Cenotaph |
| WRIGHT, Claude Henry 🔍 | 07 Nov 1945 | NZ Probates |
Suggested Searches for Claude Henry Wright
Records
Wilson CollectionFamilySearchAncestryMyHeritageGoldminersDeaths
FindAGraveBillionGravesA Memory TreePapers Past
NewspapersMagazines & JournalsParliamentary PapersPassenger Lists
FamilySearchYesteryearsFamily Trees
FamilySearchGENiGeneanetWWII Military Draft Lists
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHFrom 1940-45, men aged 18-46 were selected by ballot for potential service with the Armed Forces under New Zealand's wartime conscription. Twenty-four ballot lists were published in the NZ Gazette.
NOTE: Being listed in a ballot did not necessarily mean the person served in the military. Some had already volunteered, others were found medically unfit, granted deferment or exemption on appeal, or were never called up for active service. These records document those selected for possible service, not confirmed service personnel.
Source: Indexed by Luke Howison from 24 NZ Gazette ballot lists, provided by NZLII
| Registration No | Surname | Forenames | Occupation | Address | Military District | Gazette Ref | Page No | PDF Link |
| 247530 | Wright | Claude Henry | Farm-manager | care of C. C. Ellis, Kaipara Flats, Rural Delivery | Vol 101, 2 Oct 1940 | 2458 | View Page | |
| 247530 | Wright | Claude Henry | farm-manager | care of C. C. Ellis, Kaipara Flats Rural Delivery | Whangarei | Vol 122, 4 Dec 1940 | 3540 | View Page |
The Treasury (Coromandel-Hauraki)
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHSearch URL: https://thetreasury.catalogaccess.com/api/search/advanced
Retrieved at 1:10pm, 6 June 2026 in 1.778 seconds
Sorry, there was an error retrieving this search result (404)
Discover EverAfter (NZ Cemeteries)
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 1:10pm, 6 June 2026 in 2.079 seconds
No results found.
Masterton Library Wairarapa Archive
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 1:10pm, 6 June 2026 in 2.119 seconds
No results found.
Archives Central (Manawatū-Whanganui)
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHRetrieved at 1:10pm, 6 June 2026 in 2.167 seconds
No results found.
BillionGraves (NZ cemeteries)
Claude Henry Wright 🔍 ASHSearch URL: https://billiongraves.com/api/1.3/search
Retrieved at 1:10pm, 6 June 2026 in 2.222 seconds