MEMORIES
AND INFORMATION - STAFFORDSHIRE
23rd
(WOLVERHAMPTON) BATTN.
and
2/LT.
C. N. WOOD
(1910 - 1992)
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Some information on the life and service
of 2/Lt. Cecil N. Wood, an officer within the 23rd Staffordshire
(Wolverhampton) Battalion, has been made available to staffshomeguard
through the generosity of his family and especially of Mrs.
Tessa Wood of Walsall to whom we offer our grateful thanks.
2/Lt. C.N. Wood volunteered for service
in the Home Guard in the very earliest days of its existence
and served within the 23rd Battalion until its stand-down
in early December 1944. He was a member of "B" Coy. and by the time of stand-down was its Quartermaster.
Cecil Wood was born in Powlett Street, Wolverhampton in
1910, the son of William Wood, a Master Tailor. The Wood
family had a sweet shop in Cleveland Street in the late
1920s-1930s. He married Irene Roberts in 1951, worked as
a compositor at the Express and Star and the Walsall
Observer and died in 1992.
An undated photograph shows Cecil Wood and
all his 23rd Battalion officer comrades.
Click for a
higher definition, fully captioned version of
this picture.
Cecil Wood is in the fourth row (the back
row but one) and second from the right.
A further image of members of the 23rd Battalion
is shown below. All ranks are included and whilst the precise
group is not definitely identified it is almost certainly
"B" Coy., photographed at a wet Wolverhampton
location. Cecil Wood is in the front row, sixth in from
the right.
To celebrate the Home Guard's stand-down
in early December 1944, celebratory dinners were held in
many units and the 23rd Battalion was no exception. Cecil
Wood obviously attended at least two, and evidence of these
events survive.
An Officers and Ladies evening was held
at the Black Horse, Thompson Avenue on the evening of Saturday,
December 2nd, 1944:
The evening was clearly a full one, with
various toasts and a programme of entertainment. Whilst
the menu might seem a little unadventurous to pampered 21st
century eyes, it was no doubt a treat to those involved,
accustomed to nearly five years of stringent rationing,
corned beef and rabbit stews.
And ten days later, on December 12th, "B"
Company held its own celebration, again at The Black Horse.
........Mainly pencilled signatures, some
in indelible pencil, the odd one produced by a treasured
pre-war fountain pen. No ballpoints or felt-tip pens then
- those were unimagined wonders still to be invented. Most
of the men who signed these menu cards can be seen on the
captioned Battalion picture.
The
Black Horse in Thompson Avenue, Wolverhampton obviously
plays a large part in the local Home Guard history. Not
many weeks before the dinners which Cecil Wood attended,
there was another, equally formal, on Saturday November
4th 1944. This was held for members of the Battalion's "D"
Company on the occasion of a presentation to its Commanding
Officer, Major H. Lockley Brodie (pictured
right), who was resigning his command as a result
of ill health.
In due course and long after these celebrations
of December 1944, Cecil Wood received his letter of thanks
and commendation from H.M. King George VIth.
All images on this page are
© The Wood Family 2006
