David Wood (British Army officer)
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David Wood | |
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| Born | 23 February 1923 Member of the Order of the British Empire Mentioned in dispatches |
Early life and Second World War
David James Wood was born in Corsham, Wiltshire, and educated at Monkton Combe School. He was commissioned to the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and joined the 2nd (airlanding) Battalion (the 52nd) in 1942. The battalion formed part of 6th Airlanding Brigade, 6th Airborne Division in 1943.
Pegasus Bridge
Wood was a D Company platoon commander in the coup de main operation on D Day led by
The capture of the bridges was portrayed in the film The Longest Day (1962).
Post World War II
Following the Second World War, Wood served in
The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry became the
Wood retired from the Army in 1978.
Later life
Wood became President of the Exeter branch of the Normandy Veterans' Association. In June 2004, at the 60th anniversary of the Normandy landings, he was awarded the French Legion d' honneur, the highest order of France. He lived in Cullompton, Devon.
He married Alice Bindloss in 1969, a former officer of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps.
Wood died in March 2009 aged 86.[1]
References
Bibliography
- Ambrose, Stephen. (1984). Pegasus Bridge - D-Day: The Daring British Airborne Raid. Simon & Schuster: London. ISBN 0-7434-5068-X.
- Howard, John and Bates, Penny. (2006). The Pegasus Diaries: The Private Papers of Major John Howard, DSO. Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-84415-446-3.
- Ryan, Cornelius. (1959). The Longest Day. Simon & Schuster: London.
- Colonel David Wood: Pegasus bridge D-Day veteran, The Times, 27 March 2009. Retrieved on 30 March 2009.
- Massy-Beresford, Michael (2007). Gliderborne: The story of the 2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (the 52nd) in World War II.
- Barber, Neil. (2009). The Pegasus and Orne Bridges.
External links