National Reserve Suffolk lapel badge : British: First Officer J T Woods, St John's Ambulance

Oval brass and enamel lapel badge featuring 'NATIONAL RESERVE SUFFOLK' in brass on a blue enamel background, surrounding a depiction of a castle in brass, voided top and bottom. The reverse is fitted with a half-moon brass lapel slide, soldered to the badge, and is impressed with the maker's name.

Associated with the service of John Thomas Woods, St John Ambulance and Red Cross. Woods was born 23 December 1872 in Suffolk, England and joined the St John Ambulance Brigade (SJAB) in 1895, quickly gaining certificates in First Aid and Nursing and Hygiene. He gained his First Aid Voucher in April 1896 and First Aid Medallion in May 1897. In that same year he was awarded the St John Ambulance Medallion for Service in London, having been appointed First Officer, Stores. In 1902 Woods volunteered for six months service in the Boer War, in his capacity as Stores Officer and was attached to the Ipswich Corps. Some sixty members of the approximately 1,800 SJAB members who volunteered died on service in South Africa between 1899 and 1902, most of disease, usually typhoid. In 1902, Woods was awarded the King Edward Medal for Ambulance Service in London and served as the Ambulance and First Aid Officer for King Edward’s funeral in May 1910. At the outbreak of the Second Balkan War in 1913, Woods volunteered for service with the Red Cross, assisting the Greek Medical Corps at Salonika. In 1916, Woods and his wife emigrated to Queensland, Australia where Woods gained employment with the permanent staff of the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade (QATB), serving as Deputy Superintendent with various ambulance stations (Kidstone, St Lawrence, Landsborough) until his wife’s ill-health forced a move to Brisbane in 1924. He remained with the QATB’s main office in Brisbane until he retired in February 1941, aged 68.