British and World Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Temporary Lieutenant C. J. Woodford, D.S.M., Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, attached Royal Naval Division, who was decorated for gallant deeds with Collingwood Battalion in Gallipoli, twice wounded in France, and ultimately killed in action while serving in Drake Battalion on Welsh Ridge in December 1917

1914-15 Star (S. Lt. C. J. Woodford, D.S.M., R.N.V.R.); British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. C. J. Woodford, R.N.V.R.), very fine and better (3) £600-800

Charles James Woodford was born in April 1884 and enlisted in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in October 1914. Appointed a Petty Officer in Collingwood Battalion, Royal Naval Division in February 1915, he landed in Gallipoli that May and quickly saw action in the Third Battle of Krithia on 3 June, a disastrous engagement for his unit in consequence of the murderous flank fire encountered during the general advance - the Battalion was virtually annihilated with no less than 14 officers killed outright. Mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 5 November 1915) and awarded the D.S.M. for his gallantry on that occasion (London Gazette 19 November 1915), Woodford received his decoration from Major-General Sir A. Paris at Mudros in February 1916, the same month in which he was embarked for England.

He had meanwhile been commissioned as a Temporary Sub. Lieutenant and, having attended a courses at Larkhill and Chelsea, proceeded to France with the Drake Battalion in December 1916. Wounded by a gunshot to his left shoulder in February 1917, he was admitted to 14th General Hospital in Boulogne and thence embarked for the U.K., but was able to rejoin his Battalion back in France that May. Again wounded in early December 1917, he remained on duty, only to be killed in action on Welsh Ridge on the 30th of the same month. Woodford, who was subsequently mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 20 May 1918 refers), left a widow, Louisa, then resident at Chale on the Isle of Wight. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.