WOOD, George

Enlisted at Melbourne on 30 September 1915. At enlistment was 39 years 6 mnths.  5ft 11; Complexion - fresh; eyes - blue; hair - dark brown.  Next of kin was his sister:  Mary Leah Wood, Bella Vista, Woonona, NSW. Single.    Embarked:  2 October 1916 per Nestor.  Proceeded to France 10 February 1917.  He spent most of May ill in hospital and so missed the action in Bullecourt.  The next major action the Battalion saw was at Polygon Wood.  He was wounded in action on 12 October 1917.  George's army record does not specify where he was at the time, but the War Diary of the 58th Battalion has them at Westhoek Ridge on that date. He died of wounds on 26 October 1917 at No. 1 Red Cross (Duchess of Westminster Hospital) Le Touquet, from a pulmonary embolism following a gunshot wound to the chest and was buried at Etaples Military Cemetery, France.

His obituary in The Leader, 10 November 1917 reads:-

A WELL-KNOWN TEACHER.  The many friends of Lieut. George Wood will hear with regret that he has died of wounds in France.  He was for twenty years on the staff of Scotch College, Melbourne, and was well known among a large number of old boys of the public schools.  He was educated at Ipswich Grammar School, and afterwards went into residence at Ormond College, and took his degree of M.A. with final honors in classical philology at Melbourne University. Three years later he qualified for the diploma of education.  For a time he was engaged in the home mission work of the Presbyterian Church at Hamilton.  He became senior resident-master at Scotch College in 1909.  He identified himself with many of the activities of the school, being for a time in charge of the rowing.  In 1911 he initiated and subsequently orgainised and conducted the annual foundation day concert in October until his enlistment in October, 1915.  For these functions he composed the words of the songs and arranged the music.  Immediately after the successful concert of October, 1915, he went into camp at Royal Park, and afterwards at Bendigo and at Broadmeadows, and soon qualified for his commission.  He left Australia in October, 1916, and early in 1917 went to France, where he fought in most of the great battles.  The late Lieut. Wood for many years was business and general manager of the "Scotch Collegian." To him is largely due the credit of firmly instituting the Old Scotch Collegians' Association, of which he was one of the secretaries.

Scotch College created a scholarship in his name.

His name is remembered on Panel 166 in the Commemorative Area of the Australian War Memorial