L. J. Wood

Lionel John Wood was educated at Christ’s College and entered Canterbury Agricultural College in 1939, aged 25. He was Captain of the Cricket First XI and represented Ellesmere. Awarded a Diploma of Agriculture in 1941 and the Pyne Gould Guinness Cup.

Lionel enlisted in the Royal New Zealand Air Force in December 1940 and undertook pilot training at Harewood and Woodbourne, receiving his ‘wings’ in April 1941. Lionel was promoted to Sergeant and posted to No. 2 Squadron, Nelson. He embarked for service in the Pacific in January 1943 with No. 4 Squadron, Suva. He transferred to No. 9 Squadron, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides in May 1943. On 6 April 1944 with No. 9 Squadron and with the rank of Flying Officer, he was on board a Ventura aircraft on anti-submarine bombing practice when the aircraft spun into the sea off Espiritu Santo. Engine failure during a turning manoeuvre was the presumed explanation. His body was never recovered. He is commemorated on the memorial at the Bourail New Zealand War Cemetery, New Caledonia.