Wood, William John (Captain, b.1905 - d.?)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of Captain William J Wood, RASC, British Army. Collection consists of "A wartime log" kept by Captain Wood, whilst a prisoner of war in Oflaf IX A/Z camp in Germany. The camp was located at Rotenburg an der Fulda, Hesse and Wood was POW number 265. The first few pages describe travel after his unit's surrender at Kalamata Greece, through Austria, Bavaria and into Germany to the camp. He also recorded exchange rates between German Marks and Pounds Sterling over several months, and kept track of his weight over the same period.

Stuck towards the back of the log is a letter from the War Prisoner's Aid of the YMCA describing how the logbook might be used. In the following pages, Captain Wood describes the events from December 1939 to February 1941, culminating in his capture in Greece. He is sceptical of the actions of British Officers at this time, and implies HQ were more concerned about Naval vessels than the 10000 men who were captured. In the last few pages he records the approximate establishment of a Support Group Company, a list of books, names and addresses, moon phases, pay rates, and other sundry informaton.

The middle section of the diary contains photographs, including a wedding, portraits of a woman, the internment camp, a German funeral, and the performances put on by the prisoners. Tucked into the back cover of the log is a photograph of Wood, an address label, two news clippings regarding the death Lieutenant Hermann Wolff, two notifications of entitlement to rank, and a signed POW declaration promising not to escape.