Wood, Max Holbrook (Lieutenant, b.1918 - d.1996)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of VX3459 Lieutenant Max Holbrook Wood, 2/6 Australian Infantry Battalion, Middle East, 1941-1979.

Wallet 1 of 1 – Collection consists of letters, ephemera, and documents relating to Lieutenant Wood. The two letters were written from Lieutenant Wood to his sister, Mrs Ollie Ferguson, in c May 1941. In his letters to his sister, Lieutenant Wood writes about his experiences of service in Greece. Some of these experiences include seeing the country while travelling by train, retreating from the Germans through narrow passes and heavy traffic, being machine gunned whilst retreating, talking with wounded and exhausted Greek soldiers, hiding in a cellar with a Yugoslavian officer and his family, and being left behind by an evacuation ship. He then goes on to describe his escape from Greece, writing that, with a small group of others, he hiked through mountains, hid in a cave, dressed as a Greek civilian to conduct reconnaissance on German patrols, bought a boat, escaped to sea by night, and was picked up by an Allied destroyer. He also laments his lost possessions, but concludes by praising the brave Greeks who concealed and cared for the small group of Allied soldiers.

This wallet contains:
1x Letter from Lieutenant Woods to his sister, Mrs Ollie Ferguson, Palestine, [c. May 1941].
1x Letter from Lieutenant Woods to sister, Mrs Ollie Ferguson, Palestine, 15 May 1941.
1x Card featuring HMS Kimberly, including signatures of people thought to be the group that Lieutenant Wood escaped Greece with.
1x Telegram from Lieutenant Wood to his sister, Mrs Ollie Ferguson, 8 August 1942, informing that he had arrived safely in Australia.
1x Australian Army Certificate of Service of Lieutenant Woods, issued 11 June 1979.

Lieutenant Max Holbrook Wood enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force on 24 October 1939. He served with the 2/6 Battalion in the Middle East, Greece and Colombo, and was awarded a Military Medal for his courage and devotion during the evacuation of Greece in 1941. Lieutenant Wood later became part of Z Special Unit, serving behind Japanese lines in South East Asia. He was discharged on 9 April 1946.