Reginald Wood was a man of Rye whose wartime exploits have never been
recorded. Reg. died a few years ago. He had lived at 25 Cadborough
Road for many years.
Last month his medals and wartime photographs and memorabilia came up for sale at Rye Auction Galleries. This collection gave just a hint of the brave actions he had been involved in.
It seems he was a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy before moving over to the Fleet Air Arm.
His early War years were spent on HMS Norfolk and it is likely that he was involved in some capacity in the sinking of the Bismarck.
There were pictures of Fulmar and Swordfish aircraft in his collection, hinting he was connected to 801 Squadron, but there are no records of his name appearing on the internet sites, so this cannot be confirmed.
A fantastic price of £915 was reached for the medals and photographs. Auctioneer Kevin Wall claims that this is a near record price for such a collection. The buyer was a local man who hopes to keep the collection together.
From “Rye’s Own” September 2007 issue
From the Wartime Album of Reginald Wood.
There are wartime shots that have never before been published and
record the events as they happened. Reginald was undoubtedly one of
Rye’s unsung heroes who just came back from the War and carried on
where he had left off
