Remembering Peter Wood (1922-1974)

Signalman Peter Wood
 Royal Navy   250372
[Photo taken in 1953. 'Destroyer' is on Peter's cap band. He served on
HMS Rocket, an R-Class Destroyer in 1953]

Peter Wood was born on the 21st of January, 1922 at Swinton. His birth was registered at Barton-upon-Irwell.  Peter, the son of John Wood and Emma Platt [1], was named in memory of his paternal uncle, who fell at Hulluch in the First World War.  He had five sisters: Edna, Alice [2], Nellie [3] Emma and Lily [4], and a brother, John [5].

(l to r) Lily, Peter, Emma and Edna
click on images to enlarge

Marian and Peter (1969)

In 1945, while on leave, Peter married Marian Robb,  They had six children:

• Christine Wood
• Michael J Wood
• Alison J Wood
• Martin D Wood
• Russell Peter Wood
• Anthony M Wood

Before Peter volunteered to serve in the Royal Navy on the 30th of April 1941, he was employed as a joiner.  Upon enlistment, at the age of 19, he was assigned to the Chatham Division (HMS Pembroke), Kent until 6 February, 1942,  HMS Pembroke was a shore establishment, where Peter received his training in communications and signals. Following his training, military records indicate that Peter was posted to President II (May Island). HMS President II was an accounting base used by numerous naval ships and establishments that were not self-accounting (i.e. had no paymaster). The place in brackets is the ship or establishment at which a person was actually stationed. So, Peter was garrisoned on the Isle of May, located strategically at the mouth of the Firth of Forth in Scotland. The Isle of May was used as the control centre of anti-submarine defences designed to protect the Home Fleet.  The Royal Naval Dockyard at Rosyth was near the head of the Firth, and became the base of the Home Fleet after the humiliating destruction of the HMS Royal Oak by a German U-Boat in Scapa Flow in 1939.  

. 

Isle of May Signal Station taken in 1980 prior to demolition
source: Dr Richard Walding

Peter spent just over thirteen months on the desolate and windswept island before being relieved and returned to HMS Pembroke. He was at Chatham for about a month before being assigned to HMS Wildfire, Sheerness, part of Nore Command.  One of the principal duties of Nore Command was to guard the east coast convoys supplying the ports of North Eastern England. HMS Wildfire was a shore base, from which Peter joined the HMS Queen Eagle, an anti-aircraft escort ship.

HMS Queen Eagle
source: Wikimedia Commons

HMS Queen Eagle was one six 'Eagle Ships', all stationed at Sheerness. Launched on 29th February 1940 as the passenger vessel, Empress Queen, she was quickly requisitioned by the Admiralty, and equipped with anti-aircraft guns, long-ranged fuel tanks, and camouflaged before being put to work on escort duty as part of the Thames Special Service Flotilla. Peter served on the HMS Queen Eagle from 5 April 1943 until September 1943, when she was transferred to the Merchant Navy and used as a troop transport.  On the 1 October, Peter found himself once again at HMS Pembroke, until he joined the HMS Pursuer on 12 October 1943.

HMS Pursuer

B a t t l e   H o n o u r s

Atlantic  1943-45 - Norway 1944 - Normandy  1944 -  South France  1944 - Aegean 1944

Norway 1945 - Arctic 1945
Photo credit: Gordon Smith, Naval-History.Net

HMS Pursuer in Belfast Lough by Stephen Bone
source: BBC - Your Paintings

If life had been dull on the Isle of May, service aboard the HMS Pursuer made up for it. This American-built ship joined the Royal Navy as part of the Lend-Lease programme in June 1943.
HMS Pursuer was an Attacker Class escort carrier whose primary role was to provide protection for convoys. Upon receipt, the ship underwent extensive modifications, including the installation of radar, before she was ready for operational service.  During November 1943, she embarked 12 Grumman Wildcat V aircraft of 881 squadron (Canada) and 10 Wildcat Vs, of 896 squadron, both part of 7th Naval Fighter Wing. HMS Pursuer was under the command of Acting Captain Harry Robert Graham, former captain of HMS Zulu, which fought at the last battle of the German battleship, Bismarck.


In January 1944, HMS Pursuer was deployed to the Western Approaches, and by February was operating as an escort on the Gibraltar convoy route. At 18.44 hours, eight minutes after sunset, on 12 February, an alert was received from the Admiralty of an impending attack on Convoy KMS.40. In the early days of Atlantic convoys, its sixty-nine ships would have been easy pickings, but under the protection of HMS Pursuer, this was no longer the case. 500 km. west of Cape Finisterre, the convoy was attacked by nine He 177 aircraft of Gruppe II / Kampfgeschwader 40.  As the Heinkel bombers flashed across the radar screens, Wildcats were launched to incercept them. In the engagement, Gruppe II lost its commander, the attack was repulsed, and no ships were hit.  

HMS Pursuer (1944)

Operation Tungsten

The Bismarck and her sister-ship, the Tirpitz, were the only two battleships in their class, and the largest vessels in the German navy. In 1941, the Bismarck was sunk about 560 km west of Brest, leaving the Tirpitz, stationed in Norway, which was considered a danger to Allied Arctic convoys. The British had attacked Tirpitz several times during 1942 and 1943, and Operation Tungsten was organized to finish the job.  The Royal Navy assembled a powerful force. In the vanguard were the carriers HMS Furious and Victorious, with escort carriers HMS Pursuer, Searcher, Emperor and Fencer in support. The Allied attack was divided into two groups, and HMS Pursuer was in Force 2 under the command of Rear Admiral Arthur La Touche Bisset. Peter and his ship left Scapa Flow on 30 March, and rendezvoused with Force One on in the afternoon of 2 April.

The combined force launched an air attack during the early hours of 3 April, while the fleet were 190 km from their target. Tirpitz was moored in Kaafjord in northern Norway, and well protected by anti-ancraft guns.  Flying only 15 m above the sea to avoid detection by German radar, the crew of the Tirpitz were taken by surprise. The first wave of fighters severely damaged the enemy's anti-aircraft capabilities, and carried out a bombing run against the vessel, wreaking havoc among the crew and wounding the ship's captain. A second wave added to the misery. However, the heavy armour of the Tirpitz, and bombing from too low an altititude, saved the vessel from destruction, but she was unfit for duty for months afterwards.

In the Thick of It

Within weeks, the HMS Pursuer, along with the Victorious, Furious, Searcher, Emperor and Striker attacked a south-bound convoy off Bödö, Norway, damaging all four merchant ships and an escort vessel.  In June 1944, Peter and his shipmates found themselves in the south west approaches of the English Channel, protecting the D-Day fleet against the threat of U-boat attack from the French Atlantic ports. The following month, HMS Pursuer set sail for the Mediterranean and Malta, where she formed part of Task Force 88.1 in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France on 15 August 1944.  In early September, HMS Pursuer docked at Alexandria, Egypt for repairs and replenishment, and joined the British Aegean Force, and was briefly engaged in operations against German garrisons in the Aegean and Dodecanese before returning to the UK for a refit.  By, October she was back in action along the coast of Norway, and involved in Operation Counterblast, the destruction of enemy shipping along the Norwegian coast.  After mine-laying duties (Operation Hardfast), HMS Pursuer sailed for Milford Haven to escort Convoy UC.48B across the Atlantic to New York, and then went to Norfolk, Virginia for repairs.  By March 1945, the European theatre was winding down, and Peter and his ship were transferred to the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron, East Indies Fleet based at Trincomalee, where they prepared to support British landings in Malaya (Operation Zipper).  The captain of HMS Pursuer, after docking at Port Swettenham (Penang), went ashore with 200 marines and received the surrender of the Japanese garrison there.

In a short time, Peter and HMS Pursuer saw action in three theatres of war: the European, Mediterranean and Far East. They had crossed the North Atlantic to America, and virtually circumnavigated Africa, docking at Cape Town and Durban.  In November 1945, the ship was released from service, departing Colombo for the Clyde, where all British equipment and personnel were removed. HMS Pursuer sailed from Portsmouth on 16th January 1946, and the ship was officially handed back to the US Navy on 2nd February 1946. Shortly after she was scrapped.  Four days before HMS Pursuer left Portsmouth, Peter was dispersed and returned to HMS Pembroke 1.  On 26 March 1946, he received a Class A Release (an individual released from the forces in prority of age and length of war service).

Peter Wood (front 2nd from right) with shipmates
taken in Durban 1945

Peter Wood (standing far left) with shipmates
taken in Durban 1945 on HMS Pursuer

Returning home, Peter faced the post-war housing shortage. He and his wife first lived with his mother until they learned that the Royal Artillery Camp on Bank Lane, Pendlebury had been vacated. Several families were allowed to live there.  Peter and Marian spent several years in Hut no. 2, where they had their first two children.  Marian persuaded Peter to join the reserves, since the stipend would supplement the income of their growing family. It had unexpected consequences.

Cold War

The Malayan Emergency was already underway when the Korean War (June 1850-July 1953) broke out.  Following the reduction of military personnel after World War II, there was a shortage of manpower to deal with these new conflicts. Peter, as a member of the Royal Fleet Reserve (i.e. former full-timers) found himself back in uniform and back at HMS Pembroke on 30 December 1952. In January 1953, he was transferred to HMS Sea Eagle (formerly HMS Ferret), a strategically important shore establishment at Derry, Northern Ireland.  In the post-war period, HMS Sea Eagle was converted into a training school for anti-submarine warfare.  Peter was assigned to the ship, HMS Rocket, an R-Class destroyer of World War II vintage, which had been converted to a fast anti-submarine frigate, and was part of the Third Frigate Flotilla.  In  June1953, Peter was among the ship's compliment that took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

HMS Rocket underway

HMS Rocket

Medals

1939-1945 Star

Atlantic Star

Burma Star

France & German Star
Atlantic Clasp

Italy Star

War Medal 1939-1945

Arctic Star

Peter was finally demobbed on 20 March 1954, and settled down to family life until his death in 1974 at the age of 52.

... for we are an island race. Through all our centuries, the sea has ruled our destiny. There will always be other ships and men to sail in them. It is these men, in peace or war, to whom we owe so much. Above all victories, beyond all loss, in spite of changing values in a changing world, they give to us, their countrymen, eternal and indomitable pride." 

        -  Noel Coward

Notes

1

Marriage: 5 Jan 1907 Christ Church, Salford, Lancashire, England
John Wood - 21, Labourer, Bachelor, 32 Hanover Street
Emma Platt - 21, Weaver, Spinster, 32 Hanover Street
Groom's Father: Walter Wood, Labourer
Bride's Father: George Platt, Gardener
Witness: John Wolstenholme; Mary Jane Platt
Married by Banns by: H. Knowles
Register: Marriages 1906 - 1910, Page 11, Entry 22
Source: LDS Film 1786370

2
Baptism: 30 May 1907 St Thomas, Pendleton, Lancashire, England
Alice Wood - [Child] of John Wood & Emma
Born: 6 May 1907
Abode: 13 Burgess' Buildings
Occupation: Porter
Baptised by: J. R. Donald
Register: Baptisms 1904 - 1910, Page 173, Entry 1384
Source: Manchester Central Library
Marriage: 30 Mar 1929 St Peter, Swinton, Lancashire, England
Richard William Parton - 24, Salesman, Bachelor, 32 Stafford Rd.
Alice Wood - 21, Weaver, Spinster, 13 Long St.
Groom's Father: Richard Parton, (deceased), Miner
Bride's Father: John Wood, Labourer
Witness: John Wood; Nellie Wood
Married by Banns by: Denis Fletcher
Register: Marriages 1924 - 1931, Page 167, Entry 333
Source: Manchester Central Library

3

Baptism: 13 Jul 1911 St Thomas, Pendleton, Lancashire, England
Nellie Wood - [Child] of John Wood & Emma
Born: 30 Jun 1911
Abode: 23 Doveridge
Occupation: Labourer
Baptised by: A. Ebrey
Register: Baptisms 1910 - 1914, Entry 194
Source: Manchester Central Library

Marriage: 4 Aug 1934 St Peter, Swinton, Lancashire, England
Frank Howell - 22, Warehouse Hand, Bachelor, 19 Long Street
Nellie Wood - 23, Winder, Spinster, 13 Long Street
Groom's Father: Joseph Howell, Surface Hand
Bride's Father: John Wood, Watchman
Witness: Alfred Vernon; Lillian Davies
Married by Banns by: Philip Hussey
Notes: [Bride's age changed from 22]
Register: Marriages 1931 - 1937, Page 115, Entry 230
Source: Manchester Central Library

4
Marriage: 27 Mar 1937 St Peter, Swinton, Lancashire, England

William Henry Yates - 24, Transport Worker, Bachelor, 19 Long Street Swinton
Lily Wood - 22, Winder, Spinster, 13 Long Street Swinton
Groom's Father: William Henry Yates, (deceased), Railway Platelayer
Bride's Father: John Wood, (deceased), Labourer
Witness: William Brockbank; Emma Wood
Married by Banns by: Harold Dawson
Register: Marriages 1931 - 1937, Page 210, Entry 419
Source: Manchester Central Library

5
Baptism: 25 Mar 1909 St Thomas, Pendleton, Lancashire, England
John Wood - [Child] of John Wood & Emma
Born: 13 Mar 1909
Abode: 36 Doveridge St., Hayfield Tce.
Occupation: Railway Servant
Baptised by: Wm. Bernard Murray
Register: Baptisms 1904 - 1910, Page 259, Entry 2068
Source: Manchester Central Library