Major-General Sir Elliott Wood, (5 May 1844 – 7 September 1931)WOOD, Sir Elliott’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016 was a British

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

officer, who served in the

Anglo-Egyptian War The British conquest of Egypt, also known as the Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. It ...

, the

Sudan Campaign The Mahdist War (; 1881–1899) was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese, led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later th ...

and the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

Military career

Wood was born in 1844, the son of Dr. Miles Astman Wood, of

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of Tudor style timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane a ...

. He was commissioned a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

on 15 January 1864, and was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 30 September 1877. He served in the

in 1882, and was present at the

Battle of Tell El Kebir The Battle of Tel El Kebir (often spelled Tel-El-Kebir) was fought on 13 September 1882 at Tell El Kebir in Egypt, 110 km north-north-east of Cairo. An entrenched Egyptian force under the command of Ahmed ʻUrabi was defeated by a British ...

(September 1882), for which he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

, received the medal with clasps, the 4th class of the Order of Medjidie, the Khedive's star, and a brevet promotion to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 18 November 1882. Two years later, he took part in the Sudan expedition of 1884 (twice mentioned in despatches), for which he received a brevet promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 21 May 1884. He continued in the

of 1885, for which he was also mentioned in despatches, and appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(CB).Hart′s Army list, 1903 Following promotion to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

on 21 May 1888, Wood was from 1889 to 1894 A.G.G. at Headquarters, and from 1894 to 1899 he was in command of the Royal Engineers at

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. On 1 April 1899 he was appointed Commanding Royal Engineer at

Aldershot Garrison Aldershot Garrison is a major garrison in South East England, between Aldershot and Farnborough, Hampshire, Farnborough in Hampshire. The garrison was established when the War Department bought a large area of land near the village of Aldershot, ...

. After the

broke out in October 1899, he was asked to accompany Sir

Redvers Buller General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, (7 December 1839 – 2 June 1908) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He served as Commander-in-Chief ...

and the 1st Army Corps as they went to South Africa. On arrival he was appointed Chief Engineer in South Africa, with local rank of major-general, and continued as such until the war ended in June 1902. For his war service he was thrice mentioned in despatches, received the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

with five clasps and the

King's South Africa Medal The King's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to all British and Colonial military personnel who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa, and who were in the theatre on or after 1 January 1902 and who had completed 18 m ...

with two clasps, and was promoted to a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 1901 South Africa Honours list (the order was dated to 29 November 1900). He returned to the United Kingdom on the SS ''Dunvegan Castle'', which arrived in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in early September 1902, and was invested with the KCB by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

at Buckingham Palace on 24 October 1902. Wood was appointed in command of the Royal Engineers, 1st Army Corps based at

, on 8 September 1902, and received the substantive rank of major-general on the same day (this was later dated back to 22 August 1902 as he was promoted for Distinguished service in the Field in the October 1902 South Africa Honours list). He retired from the army in 1906. In 1924 he published ''Life and Adventure in Peace and War''.

Family

Wood married, in 1906, Annie Beatrice Bourne, daughter of Colonel Robert Bourne and widow of Horace R. Dugmore. They lived at Holmer Park, Hereford, and he died on 7 September 1931.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Elliott 1844 births 1931 deaths British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War Royal Engineers officers Military personnel from Herefordshire British Army major generals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People from Ledbury