Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Edward Allan Wood, (6 May 1865 – 20 May 1930) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer. He saw service in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

, the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and was briefly Commandant of the

Auxiliary Division The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC), generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary unit of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. It was founded in July 1920 by Major ...

during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

Early life

Wood was born in India. He was the ninth son of Oswald Wood, a civil servant who later became a judge. Family resources were limited, and Wood joined the British Army as a private soldier in 1892, first enlisting in the 2nd Dragoon Guards and later transferring to the

17th Lancers The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1759 and notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The regiment was amalgamated with the 21st Lanc ...

. He served as an officer in the Bechuanaland Border Police (

Botswana Police Service The Botswana Police Service is the police service of Botswana. History Colonial era The service has its origins in the ''Bechuanaland Mounted Police'', which was formed on 1 July 1884. The ''Bechuanaland Border Police'' were formed on 4 Aug 1885. ...

), the Matabeleland Mounted Police and the

British South Africa Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, from ...

, in the 1890s. He joined the Bechuanaland Border Police column in the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched Raid (military), raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson, under the emplo ...

in 1895–96 and was captured in the

Transvaal Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

. He served with the Matabeleland Relief Force during the rebellion in 1896. He later served in the

in 1899–1902 and was present at the

relief of Mafeking The siege of Mafeking was a 217-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking (now called Mafikeng) in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900. The siege received considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of ...

in 1900. He resigned from British South Africa Police in March 1906.

First World War

On the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Wood rejoined the British Army and became a company commander in 6th Battalion of the

King's Shropshire Light Infantry The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in the Childers Reforms of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. In 19 ...

. He became a temporary lieutenant colonel in 1917, and won the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(DSO) and a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

while commanding the 6th Battalion, the first announced in the January 1917 New Year Honours, and the second announced on 26 September 1917 (with the citation published on 9 January 1918). Grave of Brigadier General Edward Wood in Highgate Cemetery

Grave of Brigadier General Edward Wood in Highgate Cemetery

Wood was promoted to brigadier general to command the 55th Infantry Brigade (in the

18th (Eastern) Division The 18th (Eastern) Division was an infantry division of the British Army formed in September 1914 during the First World War as part of the K2 Army Group, part of Lord Kitchener's New Armies. From its creation the division trained in England u ...

) on 9 November 1917, and commanded the brigade until he went sick on 24 October 1918. A second Bar to his DSO was announced on 16 September 1918, and third Bar on 12 December 1919. He was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in the January 1919 New Year's Honours List and also received the French

Croix de guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

Later life

Wood was demobilised in early 1919, and he joined the

of the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

in October 1919. He was deputy commander under Frank Percy Crozier, and took command in February 1921 after Crozier resigned. He was bankrupted in 1921. He had married Myra Cotterell in 1898 and they had a son. He remarried in 1916, to Marguerite Dawson, widow of Joseph Gillott. He died 20 May 1930, from

cirrhosis of the liver Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

, and was buried on the eastern side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

. He was survived by his second wife and son from his first marriage."Brigadier-General E. A. Wood." The Times, 21 May 1930
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Edward Allan 1872 births 1930 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British military personnel of the Second Boer War British Army generals of World War I People of the Irish War of Independence King's Shropshire Light Infantry officers Royal Irish Constabulary officers Deaths from cirrhosis British South Africa Police officers British Army brigadiers Military personnel of British India