WOOD, Eric Thomas
| Service Numbers: | W25716, W25716, |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 March 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 7 Infantry Battalion AMF |
| Born: | Donnybrook, Western Australia, 22 February 1918 |
| Home Town: | Donnybrook, Donnybrook-Balingup, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm Labourer |
| Died: | Fremantle, Western Australia, 30 March 1969, aged 51 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Fremantle Cemetery, Western Australia https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/155117829/eric-t-wood Donnybrook Cemetery https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/181095983/eric-thomas-wood |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 14 Mar 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W25716, 7 Infantry Battalion AMF | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Jun 1944: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W25716,, 7 Infantry Battalion AMF, embarked Cairns for Lae per Duntroon | |
| 21 Aug 1944: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W25716, 7 Infantry Battalion AMF, emplaned Nadzab for mainland | |
| 10 Oct 1944: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W25716, 7 Infantry Battalion AMF, embarked Townsville for Lae per Tarooma | |
| 14 Nov 1944: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W25716,, 7 Infantry Battalion AMF, embarked Lae for Treasury Island (Solomon Islands) per Simon J Reid | |
| 12 May 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W25716, 17 Infantry Battalion AMF, emplaned Treasury Island for Torokina | |
| 5 Dec 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W25716, 7 Infantry Battalion AMF, embarked Torokina for Fauro Island - Battalion guarded 26,000 Japanese prisoners on Fauro Island, south of Bougainville | |
| 10 Jan 1946: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W25716, 7 Infantry Battalion AMF, embarked Torokina for Newcastle per Montoro | |
| 15 Jan 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W25716, 7 Infantry Battalion AMF |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Eric Thomas Wood (Service No:W25716) enlisted in the ACMF on 14 March 1941 with 25 Light Horse (Machine Gun) Battalion. Private Wood was attached to 7th Infantry Battalion on 1 June 1944 when he embarked from Cairns for Lae on board the Duntroon. Private Wood served in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands with 7th Infantry Battalion until 10 January 1946 when he embarked from Torokina for Newcastle, NSW on board the Montoro - 7th Infantry Battalion guarded 26,000 Japanese PoWs on Fauro Island. Private Wood was Discharged on 15 January 1946.
Born in 1918 in Donnybrook WA, Eric was third of eight children of Charles William Wood (b1887 in Donnybrook, WA) and Ellen (Nell) Margaret Victoria Sanford (b1895 in barwon, Victoria). Charles (a Farmer) and Nell married in 1913 in Donnybrook, WA where they settled and raised their family and Charles was a Farmer.
Eric worked as a Farm Labour/Farm Hand in Donnybrook before enlisting with the ACMF. In 1946 in Perth, Eric married Rita Helen Smith (nee Bell; b1911 in Albany, WA) - Rita was a Widow (her first husband was a Japanese PoW who died in Thailand). Eric and Rita lived in Banksiadale via Donnybrook, Treesville in Collie and Hoffman Mill in Harvey where Eric worked as a Mill Hand. In the early 1960s they moved to Armadale in Canning where Eric worked as a Dairy Hand before settling in Kwinana in the mid 1960s where Eric was a Steel Worker. Eric died in 1969 and Rita in 1981.
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