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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth W Wood, David

Colonel David J Wood MBE

Lieutenant David Wood was born on the 23rd February 1923. He was posted to D Company in 1942, and he was received with a mild degree of apprehension by the commnading officer Major John Howard, who thought the 19 year old was 'a bit too young for the toughies in my company'. Yet Wood was full of enthusiasm and so Howard gave him No.24 Platoon to command, which was blessed with experienced NCO's, and there were no problems. Lt David Wood was one of the Platoon commanders of Major Howards epic glider assault on the Orne Canal Bridge, Wood was thrown through the balsa wood wall of the Horsa glider as it crash landed at exactly 00 17 hours June 6th 1944. Rapidly assembling his platoon, he cleared the enemy from the trenches and dugouts of the inner defences with grenades and small arms fire. This was achieved with remarkably small casualties in only 10 minutes. The second bridge over the Orne was also captured intact. After hearing the success code Ham and Jam (meaning both bridges captured) radioed he was hit in the leg by a burst of Schmeiser machine carbine fire and taken out of action. Originally commissioned into the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, David Wood took a regular commission after the war and stayed in the army until retirement in 1978 rising to the rank of Colonel. David Wood died on the 12th March 2009. David Wood was the last surviving officer of the coup-de-main parties that captured the bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne in the early hours of D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Colonel David J Wood MBE - Signed Aviation Art

Normandy Veterans Association 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Print by Michael Turner. This single edition is sold out. The edition features 24 additional signatures.

Text for the above items :

Normandy Veterans Association 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Print by Michael Turner. Official limited edition print of the 60th Anniversary of the Normandy Veterans Association. The Eastern Flank of the D-Day battlefield, 1300 hours, June 6th 1944. No single picture could possibly encompass the actions of all British forces on D-Day, let alone the Allies overall, whise front stretched 60 miles along the Normandy coastline. The eastern flank of the D-Day battlefield has been chosen to symbolise the achievements of British forces on June 6th 1944 because no other part of the invasion front illustrates better the combined efforts of all three services.