WOOD, Charles Victor
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 2 September 1939 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant Commander |
| Last Unit: | HMAS Penguin (IV) 1939-1940/HMAS Brisbane 1940-1942/HMAS Moreton (I) 1942-1994 (Depot) |
| Born: | England, 28 June 1886 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 2 Sep 1939: | Enlisted Royal Australian Navy, Lieutenant Commander, HMAS Penguin (IV) 1939-1940/HMAS Brisbane 1940-1942/HMAS Moreton (I) 1942-1994 (Depot) | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Oct 1940: | Involvement Royal Australian Navy, Lieutenant Commander, Commanded HMAS FALIE as tender to HMAS RUSHCUTTER, the shore based naval station at Rushcutters Bay. Her Commanding Officer was Lt-Cdr Wood of the RAN Reserve (seagoing), then aged 54 years. He was to retain this post throughout the war. Her compliment was four officers and twenty-four sailors. HMAS FALIE assumed duties as Examination Ship at Sydney on 14 October, to check, in conjunction with shore observers, the bona fides of ships approaching port.(sharing the role with HMAS ADELE). He was on duty on the night of 31 May 1942 when Japanese submarines attempted an attack in Sydney Harbour and Woods reported hitting something submerged, possibly one of the submarines. | |
| 17 Jul 1943: | Involvement HMAS FALIE, refitted as armed stores supply vessel, left Sydney for Milne Bay via Townsville under the command of Lt-Cdr Wood who had spent his last years at sea in command of Lever Bros. ships trading around the Pacific Islands. The ship was to move supplies and personnel around the 'advanced areas' until the end of the Pacific War. | |
| 13 Dec 1945: | Discharged Royal Australian Navy, Lieutenant Commander, HMAS Penguin (IV) 1939-1940/HMAS Brisbane 1940-1942/HMAS Moreton (I) 1942-1994 (Depot) |
Help us honour Charles Victor Wood's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by LYN O'GRADY
Lieutenant Alistair Templeton wrote: Charley Wood was a retired Merchant Service captain who had spent his last years at sea in command of Lever Brothers ships trading around the Pacific Islands. What he didn't know aobut taking a ship safely through reff-studded and poorly charted or even uncharted waters was not worthy knowing. he was one of the very rare species of mariner, a species which today is almost certianly extinct. he had an Extra-Master's Certificate in sail and Master's Certificate in steam.
After Wood left the sea and settled in Sydney, he became the secretary of the Marchante Service Guild, an organisation which could more effectively described as the trade union of merchant service officers. In that capacity, he knew virtually every captain, and perhaps every officer, of every Australian merchant ship. Possibly that knowledge appealed to the Navy or to security conscious officialdom of the day for he was offered the rank of Lieutenant-commander to captain Falie and serve as 'sea-level examiner' of all ships entering Sydney. Although in advanced years, he loyally and without complaint he, his officers, the ship's cre, and a constantly rotating gaggle of signalmen bobbed up and down outside Sydney Heads to scrutinise by lamp, flag and eye any vessel which may have fooled the vigilant keepers of the secret codes in the Port War Signal Station way up on the cliff.
In 1943 HMAS Falie was sent North to advanced areas in the near Pacific to act as stores supply vessel, relocating port control personnel and equipment, lay marine buoys on the danger spots, complete with mooring chains and all the trappings that such things required. First based at Milne Bay, in 1944 was based at Madang as a terminal unloading port.