Notes
Recovered 31.07.2023 from https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2047103/edwin-hall-wood/
SERGEANT EDWIN HALL WOOD
Service Number: 1311885
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 76 Sqdn.
Date of Death 01 May 1943
Buried REICHSWALD FOREST WAR CEMETERY 12. C. 13. Germany
Son of Edwin Wood, and of Mary Wood, of Ventnor, Isle of Wight.
ISLE OF WIGHT MERCURY
Friday, October 29, 1943 Page 2
Ventnor and the War
"Teddy" Wood Reported Killed
Mrs. M. Wood, 6 Blendworth Terrace, Ventnor, has received official notification that according to information received through the International Red Cross Committee, her youngest son, Sergeant-Observer Edwin (Teddy) Hall Wood, R.A.F., is believed to have lost his life as the result of an operational flight. About five months ago news was received that Sergt. Wood was missing.
It will be noticed that the message is based on information received, and it is sincerely hoped that despite this intimation our young townsman may still be safe. Sergt. Wood, before joining the R.A.F., was in the employ of Messrs. Stiby and Elderfield at Ventnor.
Handley Page Halifax, DX171, MP-J, 76 Sqn, Royal Air Force.
Casualty Details :
Buried at : Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany.
Aircraft and crew information :
Aircraft : Handley Page Halifax, DX171, MP-J, 76 Sqn, Royal Air Force.
Crew
Pilot : Flt Sgt 416466 Bruce Wainwright Thomas, Royal Australian Air Force
Navigator : Sgt 1311885 Edwin Hall Wood, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Flight Engineer : Sgt 814218 Albert Hawley, Royal Air Force (Auxiliary Air Force)
Wireless Operator /Air Gunner : Sgt 1032376 Frederick John Chandler, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Air Bomber : Sgt F Norris, Royal Air Force Prisoner of War
Air Gunner : Sgt G E Testal, Royal Air Force Prisoner of War
Air Gunner : Sgt R E Hemsworth, Royal Air Force Prisoner of War
Halifax DX171 took off from RAF Linton-on-Ouse at 0040 hours on the night of 30th April/1st May 1943, detailed to bomb Essen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base.
DX171 was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at 0243 hours at Estern, 2kms west of Gescher, Germany. Four of the crew were killed and Sergeants Norris, Testal and Hemsworth were taken Prisoner of War. Reports by the three POWs stated that the Germans had confirmed that four had been killed in the crash.
Those killed are buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Locality Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. The Cemetery is 5 km south west of Kleve.