S54281
WOODS, Stanley Stuart
| Service Numbers: | 968, R968, VX63973 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 February 1915, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/10th Ordnance Field Park |
| Born: | Gawler, South Australia, 11 April 1894 |
| Home Town: | Broadmeadows, Hume, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Gawler Public School |
| Occupation: | Clerk/Accountant |
| Died: | Natural causes (cancer), Victor Harbor, South Australia, 9 February 1982, aged 87 years |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Hamley Bridge District WW1 Roll of Honor, Owen District Roll of Honor WW1, South Australian Garden of Remembrance |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Feb 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 968, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 May 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Corporal, 968, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Geelong, Adelaide | |
| 31 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Corporal, 968, 27th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Geelong embarkation_ship_number: A2 public_note: '' | |
| 12 Sep 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 968, 27th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 11 Apr 1916: | Embarked Corporal, R968, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Adelaide | |
| 11 Apr 1916: | Involvement Corporal, R968, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 7 Apr 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 968, 27th Infantry Battalion | |
| 3 May 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 27th Infantry Battalion, Bullecourt (Second) | |
| 31 Jul 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 27th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres | |
| 4 Oct 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 27th Infantry Battalion, Broodseinde Ridge | |
| 23 Apr 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 27th Infantry Battalion |
World War 2 Service
| 26 Sep 1941: | Enlisted VX63973 | |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Sep 1941: | Enlisted Captain, VX63973, 2nd/3rd Ordnance Stores Company, Royal Park, Victoria | |
| 7 Dec 1941: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, VX63973, 2nd/10th Ordnance Field Park, Malaya/Singapore | |
| 16 Feb 1942: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, VX63973, 2nd/10th Ordnance Field Park, Prisoners of War | |
| 27 Nov 1945: | Discharged VX63973 | |
| 27 Nov 1945: | Discharged Captain, VX63973, 2nd/10th Ordnance Field Park |
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Add my storyBiography
Served in WW1 and WW2
16 May 1916 - Promoted to Corporal
15 November 1916 - Promoted to Sergeant
4 July 1917 - Promted to 2 Lt.
1 January 1918 - Awarded Military Cross. Citation reads:
On ther 4 October 1917 at Zonnebek this young officer found himself in charge of 'C' Company, all of his senior officers having become casulties. Single handed he lead his Company throughout the operations from 4 October to the 9 October and his skill and determination inspired the men with confidence. His leadship was of high order and his cheerfulness and courage was beyond al praise
During the Great War Corporal Woods returned to Australia on 21 January 1916 but then on 11 April 1916 re-embarked at Adelaide, South Australia aboard HMAT Aeneas as R968, Corporal, 27th Bn, 12th Reinforcement.
16 January 1919 - Returned to Australia
Medals: Military Cross, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Note: Stanley served in Great War as Stanley Stewart Woods, then in Second World War as Stanley Stuart Woods MC
5 June 1920 - Married Irene Constance Wright in the Methodist Church, Walkerville; Irene died on 11 April 1948 at Northfield, SA
WW2
29 September 1941 - Promoted to Captain
16 May 1942 - Prisoner of War in Borneo
RSL Information
10 April 1919 - Joined RSL while liveing in Walkerville Terrace, Walkerville, SA.
30 April 1929 - Transferred to Walkerville Sub Branch, while residing in Collingrove Avenue, Broadview
1 March 1946 Transferred to Burnside Sub Branch;address was 7 Lynington Street, Tusmore then 61 Linden Avenue, Hazelwood Paek, SA
23 November 1961 - Awarded Life Membership
11 March 1980 - Transferred to Victor Harbor Sub Branch;Victor harbor addresses were 8/12Newland Street, Victor Harbor and 19 Lord Hobart Crescent, Victor Haarbor
Biography contributed by Claire Woods
Stuart divorced Irene Wright in 1947. He married Nursing Sister VX61333 Lieut. Belinda Rosalind Skeat of the 2/13th Australian General Hospital later that year.
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Stanley Stuart Woods, was born in Gawler, on 11 April 1894, the son of Charles Edgar Woods, of Hamley Bridge, South Australia. He left School at age 15 and began as a clerk with Elders Company, in Balaklava. Later he returned to help in his father's General Store, first at Balaklava and later at Hamley Bridge.
He enlisted with the 27th Battalion, in February 1915 and embarked with the Battalion on 31 May 1915. His younger brother Douglas Coath Woods enlisted in 1918 but was at Mitcham Camp South Australia when hostilities ceased.
The Battalion entered the Gallipoli campaign in September with the 2nd Divison AIF. Stan was evacuated off in October, with enteric typhoid and after months in hospital in Heliopolis was shipped home in February 1916.
He had leave for 5 1/2 weeks and then rejoined the Battalion with the 12th Reinforcements. He sailed for England in April 1916. There at Rolleston Camp on Salisbury Plain he was engaged in Training Brigades. He rejoined his Battalion again in November 1916 at Flers. After that he was in and out of the Front line until the end of the war. He was promoted to 2nd Lt. in April 1917 at Bullecourt. In October 1917 he led his Company during the October Battle of Broodseinde after the other officers were put out of action. For this he was awarded the Military Cross.
He returned to Australia in February 1919. After the War he was on the Reserve of Officers.
When WW2 was declared he was called up to Training Brigades in Victoria. In 1941 he applied to be transferred to active service with the 2nd AIF.( hence a VX Service Number, although his home town was Adelaide). As Captain, AAOC, he left Australia with 2/3 Ordnance Store Company which he had raised in Queensland. Once in Singapore he was transferred as OC 2/10th Ordnance Field Park.
During the Battle for Singapore, he led a Company in the hastily created Ordnance Battalion. Captured, he was held in Changi, then moved to Sandakan with B Force. He was Adjutant to the CO B Force Sandakan and Kuching, then moved after the Underground was discovered at Sandakan, with the Australian Officers to Kuching,Borneo. He was liberated from the POW camp in September 1945.
He married a nurse, Sister Belinda Skeat, from 2/13th AGH who had also been in Singapore before she was evacuated on the Empire Star before Singapore fell.
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