Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Coronation 1937 (2614780 L/Cpl. J. Wood. 3rd. G. Gds.) contemporarily engraved naming, contact marks, polished and worn, therefore fine, the reverse better £50-£70

D.C.M. London Gazette 22 October 1940.

The original recommendation states: ‘On 28 May 1940 on the Lys Canal, this N.C.O. was in command of the Company, when all the officers and Warrant Officers had become casualties. Inspired by his fine leadership, the Company resisted repeated enemy attacks and held fast to the position for 13 hours until ordered to withdraw at dusk. He showed high courage throughout the operation.’

John William Wood, who was originally from Warrington, Lancashire, attested for the Grenadier Guards in March 1936, aged 19 years. Posted to the 3rd Battalion, he was awarded the Coronation Medal in 1937 (official roll refers), and was advanced to Sergeant in January 1940, in which month his battalion joined 5th Division, British Expeditionary Force.

He served with the British Expeditionary Force during the Second World War, and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his exploits on 28 May 1940, when the Division’s staunch defence of the Comines-Lys Canal front against three German Divisions saved II Corps, but it was a costly stand which left the 3rd Grenadiers with just nine officers and 270 other ranks standing. For his own part, Wood served in No. 1 Company under Lieutenant R. Crompton-Roberts, M.C., which unit was all but annihilated, latterly having charged with fixed bayonets to clear their side of the Lys Canal of the enemy, the whole front lit up by tracer bullets.

Among those to be evacuated from Dunkirk on 2 June 1940, Wood was next appointed a C.Q.M.S. in the 4th (Heavy Tank) Battalion, but was serving as a C.S.M. in the 6th Battalion by the time of his participation in the Salerno landings in September 1944. Later still, his unit was merged with the 3rd and 5th Battalions, and it was in this latter capacity that he was seriously wounded on 24 July 1944.

Note: The recipient’s D.C.M. and Second World War campaign medals, together with an unnamed Coronation Medal, were sold in these rooms in June 2014.