Wilfred Wood

Wilfred Wood VC (2 February 1897 – 3 January 1982) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. The VC was awarded for his actions on the Italian front against Austro-Hungarian forces in the First World War.

Details Wood worked as a railway shed cleaner when the First World War broke out. He enlisted with the Cheshire Regiment, British Army, and became a stretcher bearer.

He was 21 years old, and a private, transferred to the 10th Battalion, The Northumberland Fusiliers, when the following deed took place at the battle of Vittorio Veneto for which he was awarded the VC:

After the war, he returned to his pre-war job on the railways, qualifying first as a fireman, then as an engine driver. He retired in 1960 as a supervisor. He died on 3 January 1982, aged 84, and was cremated at Stockport Crematorium five days later. After withdrawal, the nameplate resided inside Norbury Primary School in Hazel Grove until it was donated to the Fusiliers Museum of Northumberland.

He is commemorated by a plaque outside Stockport railway station and is the subject of a BBC Manchester radio programme. The JD Wetherspoon pub in Hazel Grove is named after him.

His VC medal is owned privately.