Identity
Title
Forenames
Claude Hern AWMM
Surname
Baigent AWMM
Ingoa
Also known as
- Claude Hereward Hern Baigent AWMM
- Jim AWMM
Service number
Gender
Iwi
Hapū
Waka
Rohe
Religion
Civilian life
Birth
Date of birth
Place of birth
Birth notes
Address before enlistment
Pre 24 November 1939 AWMM RD, Gisborne, New Zealand AWMM
Post war occupation
Next of kin on embarkation
Mrs M.A. Baigent (wife), RD, Gisborne, New Zealand AWMM
Relationship status
Pre 1943
AWMM Married AWMM Married, 1 child
AWMM
Service
Capture details
Days interned
Liberation date
Liberation Repatriation
POW liberation details
POW serial number
Medical notes
- Height, Unknown Period AWMM
5 feet 8 3/4 inches AWMM - Hair colour, Unknown Period AWMM
Medium AWMM - Eye colour, Unknown Period AWMM
Blue AWMM - Complexion, Unknown Period AWMM
Fair AWMM - Died of Disease, Cause of Death AWMM
Died Coronary Occlusion AWMM
Biographical information
Son of Amelia Bertha Baigent and Leon Hern Baigent.
Returned to Gisborne in 1944, where he worked as an accountant and farmer while also running an agricultural contracting business.
Later moved to New Plymouth, where he worked as an accountant with Ivon Watkins.
Obtained a commercial pilot's licence in the 1950s and became Chief Flying Instructor at the New Plymouth Aero Club. Baigent also operated his own aerial topdressing and spraying company, McReady/Baigent Aviation.
Baigent later moved into dairy farming.
In 1963 he moved to Auckland and started a photographic studio on the North Shore. Baigent died suddenly later that same year.
The Auckland Museum's manuscripts collection holds copies of Baigent's RNZAF identity card, Air Observers School graduation dinner menu, and several photographs (MS 2006/28).
Listed by BDM as Claude Hereward Hern Baigent AWMM
Death
Death
Date of death
Age at death
Place of death
Cause of death
Death notes
Cemetery
Birkenhead-Glenfield Cemetery, corner Eskdale and Glenfield Roads, Birkenhead, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM Public Lawn Row P Plot 67 AWMM
Cemetery name
Grave reference
Obituary
Death notice: New Zealand Herald, September, 1963 AWMM
Memorial name
Memorial reference
Memorials
Memorial name
Memorial paver, NZ Quadrant of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. AWMM
Roll of Honour
Remember Claude Hern Baigent by laying a poppy.
Leave a note
Leave a tribute or memory of
Claude Hern Baigent
Processing
Sources
External links
Documents
- Baigent, Claude Hern. Papers relating to war service, 1943-1944. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2006/28. AWMM
- Martyn, E. (1998-2008). For Your Tomorrow (Vols. 1-3). Christchurch, N.Z.: Volplane Press. AWMM
- The New Zealand Herald AWMM
Death notice: September, 1963 AWMM - 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. AWMM
The development of the Online Cenotaph is an ongoing process; updates, new images and records are added weekly. In some cases, records have yet to be confirmed by Museum staff, and there could be mistakes or omissions in the information provided.