Daniel Joseph Clifford
I whānau mai i te 5 Nov 1918 - I mate atu i te 18 Jan 1942
- Nama Hōia
- WWII NZ401753 AWMM
- WWII 401753 AWMM
- Ingoa kārangaranga
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- Te Ope o Tū / te peka
- Air Force AWMM
- Te tūnga whakamutunga
- Pilot Officer AWMM Royal Air Force, No. 142 Squadron AWMM
- Pakanga
- World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
E pā ana ki
- Taitara
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- Ngā ingoa tuatahi
- Daniel Joseph AWMM
- Ingoa whānau
- Clifford AWMM
- Ingoa
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- Ingoa kārangaranga
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- Nama Hōia
- WWII NZ401753 AWMM
- WWII 401753 AWMM
- Ira tangata
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
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- Pono
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Mātātuhi
Ngā tuhinga
Te whānautanga
- Whānautanga mai
- 5 Nov 1918 RNZAF Biographies (R17845608)
- Rā i whānau mai ai
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- Wāhi Whānau
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- Tuhinga mō te whānautanga
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- Wāhi noho i mua i te whakaurunga
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- Mahi whai muri i te pakanga
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- Uri kiritahi
- WW2 Wife: Mrs. J. M. Corry, William Street, Cambridge AWMM
- WW2 Parents: Mr. & Mrs. D. J. Clifford of Helensville AWMM
- Mēnā he hoa rangatira tōna
- Married/WWII AWMM
Ngā pakanga me ngā whawhai
- Pakanga
- World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM
- Kauhanga riri
- Europe (Air) AWMM
- Europe (Air) AWMM
- Te Ope o Tū / te peka
- Air Force AWMM
- Nama Hōia
- WWII NZ401753 AWMM
- WWII 401753 AWMM
- Urunga ki te ope taua
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- Whakapikinga / Tukunga / Whakawhitinga
- Royal Air Force, No. 142 Squadron AWMM
Ngā tohu taumata rau ope taua
- Mētara me ngā Tohu
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Te Whakangungu me te Urunga atu
- Whakangungu ope taua
- British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, No. 4 Air Observer School, London, Ontario, Canada AWMM
Course 1: Class 14. Graduation Date: 26/04/1941. AWMM - British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School, Fingal, Ontario, Canada AWMM
- British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, No. 1 Air Navigation School, Rivers, Manitoba, Canada AWMM
- British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, No. 4 Air Observer School, London, Ontario, Canada AWMM
- Branch Trade Proficiency
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- Te urunga
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- Pakeke i te whakaurunga
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- Mahi i mua i te ekenga waka
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Te maha o ngā ekenga waka
- Taipitopito ekenga waka
- WW2 Vessel was Aorangi AWMM Royal New Zealand Air Force AWMM
Mauhere o te pakanga
- Kia mau ki ngā taipitopito
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- Ngā rā i mauherehia ai
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- Rā i puta ai
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- Ngā kōrero mō te puta i te mauhere pakanga
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- Te rā i whakahokia atu ngā hōia i mauherehia ai
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- Nama motuhake mō te mauhere pakanga
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Whakapapa hauora
- Tuhinga hauora
- Killed in Action, Cause of Death AWMM
Te tūnga whakamutunga e mōhiotia ana
- Te tūnga whakamutunga
- Pilot Officer AWMM
Royal Air Force, No. 142 Squadron AWMM - Te tūnga whakamutunga
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Kōrero taurongo
Pilot Officer Daniel Joseph Clifford (NZ401753) was born in Napier on 5 November 1918 and later lived in Helensville. He enlisted in the RNZAF soon after the outbreak of World War II and trained in New Zealand before travelling to Canada under the Empire Air Training Scheme. His training took him through several Canadian schools before he was commissioned and posted to No. 142 Squadron, Royal Air Force, flying Bomber Command operations from Lincolnshire.
Daniel married Jean Wemyss shortly before he left New Zealand. Their daughter, Margaret Josephine Clifford, was born on 4 August 1941. Daniel received a photograph of his baby daughter, but he never met her. On 18 January 1942, his aircraft failed to return from a bombing mission and he was killed, aged 23. With no known grave, he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
In recent years, sound historian Sarah Johnston traced a wartime recording that captured Daniel’s message home. Through Online Cenotaph connections, the recording reached his whānau, and Margaret heard her father’s voice for the first time, more than 80 years after it was recorded.
Daniel Clifford was the son of Daniel Joseph and Theresa Clifford. He was the husband of Jean Margaret Clifford of Cambridge, New Zealand.
Details of 142 Squadron's activities are also contained in W.R. Chorley's Royal Air Force Bomber Command Lossess of the Second World War 1942 - refer to page 22 for details of Daniel Clifford. Three of the crew on his final mission were members of the RAF, two were from the Royal Canadian Air Force and Clifford was the only Royal New Zealand Air Force member. The account records that having left Grimsby at 1740 the plane is believed to have crashed in the sea off Bridlington, Yorkshire, north east of Spurn Head.
Helensville District High School Memorial is displayed in the hall of Kaipara High School. Helensville. Barrass, M.B. (2001- 2008). Web site: Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation. "Squadrons numbered in the 400 series were technically units of the RCAF, RAAF and RNZAF, but their members were placed under the operational control of the RAF and are usually considered to be part of the RAF's organisational structure". URL: http://www.rafweb.org/Sqn485-490.html
Attended Sacred Heart College (Source: RNZAF Biographies (R17845608))
Pilot Officer Daniel Joseph Clifford (NZ401753) was born in Napier on 5 November 1918 and later lived in Helensville. He enlisted in the Royal New Zealand Air Force soon after the outbreak of World War II and trained in New Zealand before travelling to Canada under the Empire Air Training Scheme.
While training in Ontario in early 1941, like many New Zealand airmen far from home, Daniel recorded a brief radio message to his family. The recording was made for broadcast back in New Zealand as part of wartime programmes connecting servicemen with their loved ones.
After completing further training in Canada, he was commissioned and posted to No. 142 Squadron, Royal Air Force, flying Bomber Command operations from Lincolnshire.
Daniel had married Jean Wemyss shortly before leaving New Zealand. Their daughter, Margaret Josephine Clifford, was born on 4 August 1941. He received a photograph of his baby daughter, but he never met her.
On 18 January 1942, his aircraft failed to return from a bombing mission to Bremen and he was killed, aged 23. With no known grave, he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
In recent years, sound historian Sarah Johnston identified Daniel’s wartime recording within RNZ Sound Archives. Through Online Cenotaph connections, the message was shared with his whānau, and Margaret heard her father’s voice for the first time, more than 80 years after it was recorded (Profile written for “A Flight to Remember”, an Anzac Day 2026 initiative by Online Cenotaph and Air New Zealand). AWMM- Daniel and Jean Clifford had a daughter, Margaret Josephine Clifford. She was born on 4 August 1941, a few months before Daniel was killed. He saw a photo of her before he died, but never met her.Public - Rochelle Ann - Direct descendant - 25 April 2016 - I am Margaret Josephine Clifford's youngest daughter. She Married William Hooton, they had four children, Larry, Jeffrey, Vicki and Rochelle.
Te matenga
- Matenga
- 18 Jan 1942 AWMM
Age 23 AWMM - Rā i mate ai
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- Pakeke i te matenga
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- Wāhi Mate
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- Te momo matenga
- Killed in Action AWMM
- Tuhipoka mō te matenga
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- Urupā
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- Ingoa o te urupā
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- Tohutoro kōhatu urupā
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- Pānui Matenga
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- Ingoa maumaharatanga
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- Tohutoro maumaharatanga
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Maumaharatanga
- Ingoa maumaharatanga
- Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, United Kingdom AWMM
- Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 2 Hall of Memories AWMM
- Helensville District High School (Kaipara College) Roll of Honour, Helensville, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
- Cambridge Cenotaph, Victoria St, Cambridge 3434 AWMM
- Cambridge Cenotaph, Victoria St, Cambridge 3434 AWMM
- Cambridge World War Two War Memorials AWMM
- Cambridge World War Two War Memorials AWMM
Mea e whai hononga ai
Ngā mātāwai
- Hononga ki waho
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1084587
Sources Used - RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939 - 1945 (Bound Volumes) - Bo - Cl. Archives New Zealand (R17845608)
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R17845608
Sources Used - List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - List of Personnel Killed or Missing in Various Theatres, 1940 - 1945. Archives New Zealand (R17845747)
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R17845747
Sources Used - Johnston, S. (2024, September 27). Her father’s voice: The travels of a wartime sound disc. World War Voices.
https://worldwarvoices.wordpress.com/2024/09/27/her-fathers-voice-the-travels-of-a-wartime-sound-disc/
Further Reference - Johnston, S. (2024, October 10). Her father’s voice: Connecting whānau through sound archives. Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.
https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/explore-stories/stories/sound/her-fathers-voice/
Further Reference - Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. (1941). Greetings from NZ troops in Canada [Audio recording]. RNZ Collection.
https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/12245/
Further Reference
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
- Ngā tuhinga
- The New Zealand Herald
The New Zealand Herald of 22 January 1942 reported that Pilot Officer Daniel J. Clifford was missing (possibly includes a biography). - Martyn, E. (1998-2008). For Your Tomorrow (Vols. 1-3). Christchurch, N.Z.: Volplane Press.
- This record is a work in progress and was partially compiled from the “Database of New Zealand Airmen who took part in Advanced Air Training in Canada during WW2”. Researched by Ivan and Lorna Lindsey of Tauranga. N.Z. 2003 – 2012. Reproduced with permission.
- RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939 - 1945 (Bound Volumes) - Bo - Cl. Archives New Zealand (R17845608) - Former archives reference: AIR118
- List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - List of Personnel Killed or Missing in Various Theatres, 1940 - 1945. [Missing - But Presumed Dead on Lapse of Time - Officers, Airmen]. Archives New Zealand (R17845743)
- Please note that the 11 volumes of the "RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Biographies of Deceased Personnel 1939-1945" held at Archives NZ (formerly known as AIR118) should be used in conjunction with Errol Martyn's "For Your Tomorrow". FYT reflects detailed examination of all of the AIR118 bios which contain many inaccuracies and omissions.
- List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - List of Personnel Killed or Missing in Various Theatres, 1940 - 1945. [List of Missing]. Archives New Zealand (R17845747)
- List of RNZAF [Royal New Zealand Air Force] Personnel - Embarkation Lists, November 1940 - July 1942. Archives New Zealand, Wellington (R17845762).
- Auckland Museum. Roll of Honour, Auckland Province, 1939 - 1945. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 93/139.
- This record was part of “A Flight to Remember”, an Anzac Day 2026 commemorative partnership between Online Cenotaph and Air New Zealand, where service stories were shared onboard a dawn flight from Auckland to Sydney.
- The New Zealand Herald
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