- SURNAME
Wood
- FORENAME
Frederick William
- UNIT
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
- RANK
Warrant Officer First Class
- NUMBER
10596503
- AWARD
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
- PLACE
Wales 1968
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
educated Linwood Lane School
1944 joined R.A.O.C.
married
1 son, 1 daughter
London Gazette 44713, 12th November 1968, Page 12117
CITATION:
Member of the Order of the British Empire : On 20th May 1968, Warrant Officer Wood, art Ammunition Technician, attached to Headquarters
Western Command, accompanied Major C. M. Jefferies, Senior Ammunition Technical Officer at Command Headquarters, to the Nuclear Power
Station, Trawsfynydd, where certain explosives had been discovered.
The explosives, estimated to be approximately two pounds of polar ammonol, were located in a bore hole in a rock at the bottom of a water-filled trench beneath power lines carrying 275,000 volts into the National Grid. It seemed that they had been in the bore hole for approximately six years and they were in an advanced state of decomposition and thus were extremely sensitive.
It was not possible to destroy the explosives conventionally, in situ, without also destroying the power lines and causing damage to nearby buildings. At the same time manual removal involved the risk that any electric detonators might be fired by induction of current from the overhead cables. It also involved an inherent risk of explosion in the moving of decomposing polar ammonol.
It was decided to remove the explosives by hand, but because of the delicate nature of the work it was not possible to use protective gloves, thus headache and vomiting were expected, and experienced, by both Major Jefferies and Warrant Officer Wood, who worked in shifts and alone under very difficult conditions to effect the clearance.
The work was completed in approximately five hours and a total of six pounds of polar ammonol together with associated electric detonators and wiring was finally removed from the seven-foot bore hole. During the periods when he was working on the task Warrant Officer Wood showed courage, coolness and resource of a high order. It was an operation where any mistake could have detonated the extremely volatile explosive and he was fully aware of the risks he was taking and the results of any miscalculation.
Western Command, accompanied Major C. M. Jefferies, Senior Ammunition Technical Officer at Command Headquarters, to the Nuclear Power
Station, Trawsfynydd, where certain explosives had been discovered.
The explosives, estimated to be approximately two pounds of polar ammonol, were located in a bore hole in a rock at the bottom of a water-filled trench beneath power lines carrying 275,000 volts into the National Grid. It seemed that they had been in the bore hole for approximately six years and they were in an advanced state of decomposition and thus were extremely sensitive.
It was not possible to destroy the explosives conventionally, in situ, without also destroying the power lines and causing damage to nearby buildings. At the same time manual removal involved the risk that any electric detonators might be fired by induction of current from the overhead cables. It also involved an inherent risk of explosion in the moving of decomposing polar ammonol.
It was decided to remove the explosives by hand, but because of the delicate nature of the work it was not possible to use protective gloves, thus headache and vomiting were expected, and experienced, by both Major Jefferies and Warrant Officer Wood, who worked in shifts and alone under very difficult conditions to effect the clearance.
The work was completed in approximately five hours and a total of six pounds of polar ammonol together with associated electric detonators and wiring was finally removed from the seven-foot bore hole. During the periods when he was working on the task Warrant Officer Wood showed courage, coolness and resource of a high order. It was an operation where any mistake could have detonated the extremely volatile explosive and he was fully aware of the risks he was taking and the results of any miscalculation.
WEB LINKS:
• https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/44713/supplement/12117
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