Name
Charles Wood
1887
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
11/11/1918
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Corporal
51123
Royal Air Force
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 (Mons) Star (with Clasp & Roses), British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
GREAT BERKHAMSTED (ST. PETER) CHURCH CEMETERY
Row 7.
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Berkhamsted Town Memorial, St Peter's Church Memorial, Berkhamsted
Pre War
Charles Wood was born in Berkhamsted, Herts in 1887, the son of Alfred and Elizabeth Wood and baptised on 12 May 1887 at Great Berkhamsted. He was one of four children and on the 1901 Census the family were living at 206 High Street where his father ran a tobacconist shop.
He joined the army on 10 January 1907 but it is not known how long he served.
He married Rose Grover on 23 January 1912 in Islington, London and they had three children, Alfred (1914), Arthur (1916) and Alice (1918). Charles worked as a chauffer prior to the war.
The family were living at 39 Gossoms End, Berkhamsted at the time of Charles's death.
Wartime Service
When war broke out Charles was mobilised, either as a serving soldier or as a reservist, and went to France on 16 August 1914 as a driver with the 26th Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery.
It is possible he was wounded and sent back to England but medal index card states he was discharged as T of E (time expired) on 12 May 1916. He then joined the Royal Flying Corps as 2nd class air mechanic on 27 October 1916, and RFC papers state that he had a wound to his left forearm. On 1 April 1917 he was promoted to 1st class air mechanic and transferred to the Royal Air Force when it was formed on 1 April 1918.
He was admitted to Hounslow Military Hospital, London, and died on 11 November 1918 from pneumonia following influenza, aged 31. He is buried in Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted.
Additional Information
His widow received a war gratuity of £21 and pay owing of £25 12s 4d. Although pension cards exist, no pension amount is shown, neither are the three children listed, although a £7 grant was paid on 18 August 1919.
Charles is buried in a family plot in Berkhamsted Cemetery with his older sister Alice Jordan who died in 1920, aged 44, and her son William who died in 1923, aged 22.
Brother to Arthur Wood who joined the machine gun corps on 30 November 1915 and survived the war, having been awarded the military medal on 14 January 1918.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.rectorylanecemetery.org.uk
