Joseph Wright was born on the 21st June 1909, the 1911 census shows him living at 150 Victoria Road, Kirkby in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. His father, George was a Coal Miner and his mother was Rebecca Wright.
Joseph became a painter and decorator and married Gertrude Blow in 1934.
With the outbreak of war Joseph volunteered to join the Auxiliary Fire Service.
The AFS was formed as a result of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Act 1937 which placed a responsibility on Local Authorities, to host and manage an ‘Emergency Fire Service’, Government funded through the Home Office and established to assist “Regular’ Local Authority Fire Brigades in dealing with fires caused by air raids. All uniform and equipment was issued under Government contract by the ‘Fire Department’ of the Home Office. Recruitment of men and women into the AFS picked up from mid-1938 onwards. Some spent periods as full-time paid members but the vast majority were part-time volunteers.
Joseph was based at his local fire station in Kirkby in Ashfield but along with hundreds of other volunteer firemen from across Northern England was sent to assist during the 'Manchester Blitz' of December 1940 in which nearly 700 people were killed.
Joseph died in Piccadilly alongside two colleagues, Alan Day and Ralph Burrows.
The CWGC records the names of all the 67,000 civilians killed during WWII on its Roll of Honour in Westminster Abbey. Unlike military deaths there is no record of the burial site, simply the details of the casualty, next of kin and crucially the district where they died not the actual grave.
Joseph Wright's death is recorded in Manchester County Borough but he was actually buried in his home town of Kirkby in Ashfield.
As civilians, AFS volunteers were not entitled to be buried with a CWGC headstone but a similar looking one was used. Joseph Wright is buried alongside his two colleagues in a plot that also includes military deaths with CWGC headstones.
He is also commemorated on the Nottinghamshire Firefighters Memorial in the grounds of St Mary's church, Nottingham.
Support Our Charitable Foundation
Your donation helps us deliver projects like For Evermore, which educate and inspire future generations to remember those who gave their lives in the two World Wars. With your support, we can keep their stories alive and ensure they are never forgotten.
As well as making a donation today, you might also consider leaving a gift in your will to the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation. Legacy gifts, large or small, help us preserve this vital heritage for generations to come.
Thank you for helping us honour their memory so we can tell Every Story. For evermore.
