Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War II (1939-1945)

Date of Enlistment

21/11/1942

Place of Enlistment

Bunnoo NSW

Gender

Male

Other Name(s)

Nicknamed 'Pecki'

Date of Birth

04/02/1922

Place of Birth

Quirindi NSW

Address (at enlistment)

'Rose Glen', Woden ACT

Occupation

Bus conductor

Next of Kin

Son of Martin Woods, farmer and labourer, and Mavis Grace Woods, of 'Rose Glen', Woden ACT, brother of Kevin Martin Woods (RAAF - O23095).

Burial Place

Lae War Cemetery, grave 1.B.A.7

Service Number

NX137331 (N5001)

Final Rank

Lance Corporal

Final Unit

2/10 Infantry Battalion AIF

Died 22 January 1944, killed in action in New Guinea

AWM Roll of Honour, Canberra ACT: Panel 35.
Roll of Honour Queanbeyan NSW (corner of Farrer Place and Lowe Street)
2/10 Battalion Memorial, Eddison Park, Phillip ACT

Though born in Quirindi in 1922, Woods came from two pioneering families in the Canberra district (his mother was a Sheedy). The family returned to the Canberra district in the mid 1920s and after leaving school Woods worked as a transport driver with the ACT Transport Commission and on a farm, 'Rose Glen' at Woden where his parents lived. When the war began, Woods initially joined the 7th Motor Regiment (formerly the 7th Light Horse Regiment) with other men from the Canberra/ Queanbeyan district. Many of them, including Woods, also went on to join the AIF in September 1942 and to serve with the 2/10 Battalion.

In September 1943 the 2/10 Battalion were sent to New Guinea and participated in the hard-fought Markham-Ramu Valley and Shaggy Ridge campaign, living and fighting in the low-lying jungle and the kunai-grass covered razorback ridges of the Finisterre Range. In January 1944 they attacked Japanese positions along a narrow spur above the Faria River. It was successful and forced the Japanese to retreat to their main base at Kankiryo but Woods was killed during the action on 22 January 1944. He is buried in Lae War Cemetery, grave 1.B.A.7.

Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. World War 2 nominal roll. <http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/>
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Debt of Honour Register. <http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search/>
AWM Roll of Honour and Roll of Honour Circulars <http://www.awm.gov.au/database/roh.asp>
ACT Electoral Roll - 1941
Phillip Bradley, 'On Shaggy Ridge', 2006
Peter Procter, 'Biographical Register of Canberra and Queanbeyan', Canberra, Heraldry and Genealogy Society of Canberra, 2001 (p.346)