John Wright enlisted on 10 January 1916 only to die of tuberculosis in early 1918. He was allocated to the 41st Battalion where he would be promoted to Corporal. His first bout of illness occurred in August 1917, leading to evacuation with abdominal pains. Wright returned to France around New Year’s Day, but was evacuated within days with diarrhoea, which was followed by a diagnosis of influenza.
Wright was later diagnosed with tuberculosis and passed away at the Military Hospital at Fovant, England on 29 March. Wright was buried with full military honours at the Fovant Churchyard, in the presence of his brother who also served. A short obituary appeared in the Brisbane Courier on 11 April 1918.
Before the war, Wright worked as a packer. Despite being a Methodist, he played soccer for the Vulture Street Baptist Church in the Brisbane lower grades. The Church had played Rugby in the previous decade but appears to have taken up soccer some years after the Rugby team folded.