| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Harry Blanchard Wood was awarded both the Military Medal and the Victoria Cross. Harry was born in 1882 at Newton upon Derwent to parents John and Maria nee Dey. With four sisters, he was their only son and he was baptised at Wilberfoss Parish Church. The 1891 and 1901 Census show the family living at Strensall, York, with father John, an agricultural labourer.
His first work was as a cleaner at York Railway Station but in 1903 he joined the Scots Guards enlisting in London. After 5 years service he became an Army Reservist and as such, at the age of 32, he was recalled to the Guards on the same day that Britain declared war on Germany, 5 August 1914. By October Harry was in the trenches in France, and a year later he took part in the Battle of Loos as part of the newly formed Guards Division.
In 1916 Harry had completed 13 years of army service and was discharged as having done his duty, only to be recalled in 1917. And in March 1918, the demands of the German Spring Offensive against the Allies found him once again in France. For his actions around the Boyelles railway station near to Arras that August he was awarded the Military Medal. Two months later Harry's further bravery resulted in his nomination for the Victoria Cross. Under heavy fire he provided cover for himself and his platoon to cross the River Selle at the village of St Python by dragging a large piece of masonry onto the bridle. King George V presenting him with the medal at Buckingham Palace on the 22 February 1919.
The city of York honoured him with a Civic Reception and the Freedom of the City but already his health was poor and he spent some time in hospital "suffering the effects of his arduous service" according to one newspaper account.
Harry married Georgina Dorothy Naylor at St James Church, Plumstead, in the borough of Greenwich on 28 July 1920 but the couple set up home at 14 Windsor Terrace, Totterdown, Bristol where Harry worked as a commissionaire for the Anglo-American Oil Company. He had worked for them before in Gloucester. The company presented him with an engraved gold watch "in appreciation of winning the Victoria Cross". On 11 November 1920, Harry was present when King George V unveiled the cenotaph in Whitehall and was chosen to be part of the VC Guard at the grave of the Unknown Warrior following the burial service in Westminster Abbey.
Harry died on the 15 August 1924 at Bristol Mental Hospital, Fishponds whilst reportedly on holiday with his wife. See the research folder for more information.
Includes information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |