Profile

WRIGHT, Lionel Gordon
(Service number 6/2815)

Aliases
First Rank Corporal Last Rank 2nd Lieutenant

Birth

Date 7 November 1894 Place of Birth Ellesmere, Canterbury

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment Willowbridge, Waimate
Occupation Farm worker
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin W. R. WRIGHT (father), Willowbridge, Waimate, South Canterbury
Religion Wesleyan Methodist
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation 6th Reinforcements
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Canterbury Infantry Battalion
Date 14 August 1915
Transport Willochra
Embarked From Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With CanterburyRegiment

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date 28 April 1920 Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Synovitis left knee

Post-war Occupations

Sheepfarmer

Death

Date 10 October 1926 Age 31 years
Place of Death Dunedin Hospital, Dunedin
Cause Injuries suffered in accident on farm at Roxburgh
Notices Otago Daily Times, 11 October 1926; Press, 11 October 1926
Memorial or Cemetery Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin
Memorial Reference Services Area 7SF, Plot 2 (initially Block 62, Plot 30)
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Lionel Gordon was born on 7 November 1894 at Ellesmere, the second son of William Richard and Alice Florence (née Barnett) Wright. He was educated at Burnham, Kirwee and Weedons schools in Canterbury. He was a farm worker residing at Willowbridge, Waimate, when he enlisted. He nominated as next-of-kin, his father, W. R. Wright, Willowbridge.

L.G. Wright, of Waimate, returned to New Zealand per the ‘Awarua’ which was due at Auckland about 19 November 1919. In 1922, Lionel married Cora Evelyn Turnbull. Cora, too, had served in the war as a nurse. A famer at Roxburgh, Lionel died on 10 October 1926 at Dunedin Hospital, as the result of an accident. He had gone out to ride round his sheep. After some time his horse returned riderless, followed by his dogs. Mr Wright was found the next day, badly bruised and injured about the head. He was taken to Dunedin by ambulance and operated on, but nothing could be done. He had been flung from the horse and suffered severe injuries. Wright had suffered wounds in the war which left him with a stiff leg. Synovitis in his left knee had resulted in 60% disability. The coroner noted that it was possible that the accident was attributable to the stiff leg, though the exact cause of death could not be ascertained. After a service at St Matthew’s Church, Lionel Gordon Wright was interred at Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin. In 1946 he was disinterred and buried in soldiers’ ground. More than 57 years later, Cora died at Roxburgh. She was cremated and her ashes interred with Lionel at Andersosn Bay, her services plaque added to the site

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [01 November 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [21 December 2020]; School Admission records [21 December 2020]; Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin, burial records & headstone images (Dunedin City Council) [21 December 2002]; Timaru Herald, 30 October 1919, Otago Daily Times, 11 October 1926, Evening Star, 11 & 12 October 1926, Press, 11 October 1926, Mount Benger Mail, 20 October 1926 (Papers Past) [01 November 2020; 21 December 2020]

External Links

Related Documents

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Logo. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.

Tell us more

Do you have information that could be added to this story? Or related images that you are happy to share? Submit them here!

Your Details
Veteran Details
- you may attach an image or document up to 10MB