LEST WE FORGET
Lieutenant Sydney WOODROW
Service No: Not Assigned
Born: Buangor VIC, 4 March 1886
Enlisted in the Army: 6 January 1916
Unit: No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, attached to No. 54 Squadron RFC
Died: Aircraft Accident, England, 23 September 1916, Aged 30 Years
Buried: St Nicholas and St Peter Churchyard, Curdworth, Warwickshire,
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas and Emily Woodrow; husband of Ella Gertrude Woodrow, of 9 Sutherland Street, Neutral Bay, New South Wales. Born at Buangor, Victoria, Australia
Place of Association: Armidale NSW
Remembered: Panel 188, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lieutenant Woodrow had been sent from No. 1 Squadron in Egypt for training in the UK. At this time, No. 1 Squadron was the only unit in the AFC.
On 23 September 1916, Lieutenant Woodrow flying solo was killed the crash of Sopwith 2 Seater aircraft 7772 at Curdworth, Warwickshire. The aircraft is reported to have taken off normally and headed in the direction of Curdworth at about 7,000 feet. A witness saw the aircraft emerge from cloud in a nose dive and then crash, noting that the engine appeared to be running normally. The Court of Enquiry concluded no one was to blame for the fatal accident.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record B2455, WOODROW SYDNEY
Bibliography:
Lax, M. (Mark) (editor) One Man’s War: Aircraft Mechanic Joe Bull’s Personal diaries 1916-9, Banner Books, Maryborough QLD 4650, 1997
Roberts, E.G. (Eric Glendower) (250197) Box Kites and Beyond, The Hawthorn Press Melbourne VIC 3000, 1976
Sutherland, L. W. (Leslie) Aces and Kings, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1935
Williams, Sir R. (Richard) (1) These are Facts: the Autobiography of Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams KBE, CB, DSO, Australian War Memorial and Australian Government Publishing Service, 1977 – Chapters 3-9