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Moving from Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) to Category:British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) using Cat-a-lot

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{{More citations needed|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=David Wood
|image=
|caption=
|birth_date=23 February 1923
|death_date=12 March 2009 (aged 86)
|placeofburial_label=
|placeofburial=
|birth_place=[[Corsham]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]]
|death_place=[[Devon]]shire, England
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch={{army|United Kingdom}}
|serviceyears=1941−1978
|servicenumber=228639
|rank=[[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]]
|unit=[[Royal Fusiliers]]<br>[[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]]
|commands=
|battles=[[World War II]]
|awards=[[Member of the Order of the British Empire]]<br>[[Mentioned in dispatches]]
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
[[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]] '''David James Wood''' [[Member of the Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (23 February 1923 – 12 March 2009) was the last surviving officer of the [[coup de main]] operation carried out by [[Glider (aircraft)|glider borne]] troops of the 2nd [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]] (the 52nd), on [[D Day]], 6 June 1944, tasked with capturing [[Pegasus Bridge]] and [[Horsa Bridge]] before the main assault on the [[Normandy]] beaches began.

==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 (United Kingdom)|6th Airlanding Brigade]], [[6th Airborne Division (United Kingdom)|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 [[Major John Howard]]. The objective was to seize Benouville Bridge, now known as [[Pegasus Bridge]], over the [[Caen]] canal and Ranville Bridge, now known as [[Horsa Bridge]], over the [[River Orne]]. The original plan was for Wood to lead the first platoon across the bridge at Benouville; however, shortly before D Day, Howard changed the order of landing and Lieutenant [[Den Brotheridge]] was selected to lead the first platoon across Pegasus Bridge. On D Day, Wood and his No 24 platoon were in the second glider to land at Pegasus Bridge, touching down at 00.17 hours, one minute after the first glider. Wood's platoon's objective was to clear trenches, machine-gun nests and the anti-tank gun pit along the east bank of Pegasus Bridge. By 00.26 hours on D Day both bridges had been secured. Along with his '[[Batman (military)|Batman]]' Pvt [[Albert Chatfield]] he was shot in the leg by a burst from a [[Machine Pistol]] whilst leading his platoon. He was evacuated to a divisional aid post in [[Ranville]] and eventually back to England.

The capture of the bridges was portrayed in the film ''[[The Longest Day (film)|The Longest Day]]'' (1962).

==Post World War II==
Following the Second World War, Wood served in [[Greece]], the [[Suez Canal Zone]], [[BAOR]], [[Cyprus]], [[Federation of Malaya|Malaya]], [[Northern Ireland]], and [[Aden]]. Wood was second-in-command of the [[1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd)]] in [[Penang]], during the insurgency in [[Brunei]] and the [[Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation|Confrontation with Indonesia]]. He was mentioned in despatches in Brunei, 1962. He was Military Assistant to the C-in-C [[British Army of the Rhine]] and was appointed [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] (MBE).

The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry became the [[1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd)]] on 7 November 1958 and the 1st Battalion [[The Royal Green Jackets]] on 1 January 1966.

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 of Honour|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.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/army-obituaries/5232132/Colonel-David-Wood.html Colonel David Wood—Colonel David Wood, who has died aged 86, commanded one of the glider-borne platoons which crash-landed into France in the opening minutes of D-Day. ], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 28 April 2009.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==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.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100523215229/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5982413.ece 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==
*[http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_W02.html#Wood_DJ British Army Officers 1939−1945]

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2014}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, David}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Corsham]]
[[Category:People educated at Monkton Combe School]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers]]
[[Category:British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)]]
[[Category:Royal Fusiliers soldiers]]
[[Category:Royal Green Jackets officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Wiltshire]]

David Wood (British Army officer) - Revision history

imported>Jevansen: Moving from Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) to Category:British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) using Cat-a-lot