James Park Woods
James Park Woods VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in September 1916 and joined his unit, the 48th Battalion, in France in September 1917. During the First Battle of Passchendaele, he participated in the attack on the Hindenburg Outpost Line during the Hundred Days Offensive. His actions during this assault and subsequent defence of the captured post resulted in him being awarded the Victoriacross. Woods survived the war, returned to Australia and operated a vineyard and orchard in Western Australia. He retired early due to ill health and died in 1963. His medals are displayed in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial.
About James Park Woods in brief
James Park Woods VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross during World War I. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in September 1916 and, after training in Australia and the United Kingdom, joined his unit, the 48th Battalion, in France in September 1917. During the First Battle of Passchendaele, he participated in the attack on the Hindenburg Outpost Line during the Hundred Days Offensive. His actions during this assault and subsequent defence of the captured post resulted in him being awarded the Victoriacross. Woods survived the war, returned to Australia and operated a vineyard and orchard in Western Australia. He retired early due to ill health and died in 1963. His medals are displayed in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial. He was the son of a blacksmith, James Woods, and his wife Ester née Johnson. After his mother’s death when he was seven, Woods was raised by a stepsister and worked in a Vineyard alongside his brothers. He and his brother Will then moved to Western Australia and for the next two years worked in cartage and fencing in the Kantanning district before James became a viticulturist at Caversham in the Swan Valley wine region near Perth.
After further unsuccessful attempts to join the AIF, he was eventually successful on 29 September 1916, after height requirements had been lowered. Following his enlistment as a private, Woods was allotted as a reinforcement to the 48st Battalion, a mixed South Australian-Western Australian unit, part of the 12th Brigade, 4th Division. On 21 September, the battalion was collected by buses and transported over several days via Steenvoorde to the vicinity of Ypres in Belgium. On 1 October, Woods’ battalion occupied Westhoek Ridge overnight before returning to the trenches at Abevoorde. After a week in the trenches, Woods and his unit entrained for Ypres on 10 October, where it received orders for a major attack by the division. On 12 October Woods’ unit suffered 370 casualties from its original complement of 621, which left the unit exposed. The first German counterattack was beaten off, but left the left flank of the battalion exposed, leaving the first German attack off, with its unprotected flank beaten off. The battalion was relieved from these positions on 1 October and occupied the Westhoeks Ridge overnight. On 10 October the battalion marched to Abevoord and then to Ypres.
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