Francis Ryce Wood, son of James Arrol and Annie Wood, of Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, enlisted into the General Service Corps and volunteered for airborne forces in 1945.Private Wood undertook parachute training course B175 from 5 to 28 August 1945 at RAF Ringway. He went to the Holding Battalion and was later posted to the 2nd Parachute Battalion.

Pte Wood died, aged 21 years in Palestine on 25 October 1947 when the lorry he was travelling in collided with another military vehicle, killing fourteen military personnel. He is now buried in Khayat Beach War Cemetery, Israel.