Forbes Wood

The Wood family is sad to announce the death of Forbes Wood. Forbes passed away peacefully at home on Monday, 7th November, after a short illness. He was 90 years old. 

 

Forbes was born in Glasgow on 10th May, 1932. He met Betty while on National Service with the RAF. They were married on 28th March 1953. 

 

On leaving the RAF in 1952 Forbes joined the Met. Following training at Hendon, he was stationed at Marylebone Lane, D Division. His shoulder number was D410. 

 

Forbes enjoyed football and played for many years at sub-divisional and occasionally divisional level. He was a Rangers supporter, so much so that he skipped school in order to watch them play Moscow Dynamo on their 1945 tour of Britain. And when he was a young copper, just a year into the job and on point duty at Oxford Circus, he was approached by a very smartly dressed lady who handed him an envelope. She said she thought a policeman would “find the contents useful” and promptly walked away. When he had a chance to look inside he found two tickets for that afternoon's match at Wembley between England and Hungary. Forbes handed the envelope to the desk sergeant who said, "Get your coat on lad - we haven't got much time!" Being a Scot, Forbes was one of the few people in the crowd that day who enjoyed watching The Mighty Magyars beat England 6-3. 

 

Forbes lived in a police section house - Elliott House - for the first two years of his service while Betty remained at home with her parents in Yorkshire. Following the birth of their first child, Forbes and Betty were able to set up home at Macready House, Crawford St, in the then highly unfashionable West End of London. A year later they moved to Bridge House, a brand new block of police flats in Chalk Farm, NW3. Ten years later (1966) Forbes and Betty, with their now three sons, moved to police accommodation in Fordington Road, midway between East Finchley and Muswell Hill. 

 

Forbes became a Class One Firearms Officer while at "The Lane". He also began to develop a deep interest in First Aid. 

 

Having passed the exams to become a sergeant, Forbes transferred to S Division in 1973 and spent the rest of his career at Whetstone Police Station. (Shoulder number S31). While at Whetstone he became a First Aid trainer. He was later awarded membership of the Order of St John, of which the St John's Ambulance Service is affiliated. The award was in recognition of Forbes' work in promoting First Aid training within the Metropolitan Police. 

 

Forbes retired from the Met in March 1983 having completed just over 30 years' service. During his police career he received three commendations from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner. 

 

Following Forbes' retirement from the Met, he and Betty moved to Swindon, where Forbes subsequently worked as a fines enforcement officer at Cheltenham Crown Court. After five enjoyable years there he got a job working for Swindon Borough Council. Forbes finally retired from work in 1997. 

 

During retirement Forbes and Betty enjoyed holidaying in Europe, particularly around the Mediterranean and the Italian Lakes. 

 

His funeral took place on 7th December 2022 at Kingsdown Crematorium, Swindon. It was well attended by friends and family. 

 

Forbes is survived by his wife Betty, his sister, three sons, nine grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. One brother and a great-grandson predeceased him.