WOOD, Bert

Bert Wood was the son of Fred and Esther Wood of Albert Street, Wall Heath, and was working as a shunter on the Great Western Railway in 1914. He enlisted in the South Lancashire Regiment and was sent to the 9th Battalion, which was serving in the Salonica campaign. The front line had reached stale-mate in the difficult terrain around Doiran. Greece had been saved for the time being and there was no Anglo-French attack of any size until September 1918. The target for the attack of the 18th September was the high and dominating ridge defended by the tenacious Bulgarians. The Lancashires were to attack P ridge which was defended by the three trench lines. They took the first and second and even the third with great effort. However, there was nothing left when the enemy counter-attack came in. The remnant retreated to their original line. The losses included Private Bert Wood who is commemorated on the Doiran, Kingswinford and Wall Heath Memorials.