Background
Greenwood was born in Victoria Barracks, Windsor Castle, the eldest of nine children to Charles Greenwood and Margaret Abernethy.
Greenwood was born in Victoria Barracks, Windsor Castle, the eldest of nine children to Charles Greenwood and Margaret Abernethy.
On 23 October 1918 at Ovillers, France, when the advance of the battalion was checked by enemy machine gun fire, Lieutenant-Colonel Greenwood single-handedly rushed the position and killed the crew. Subsequently, accompanied by two runners, he took another machine-gun post, but then found that his command was almost surrounded by the enemy, who started to attack. Repulsing this attack, the colonel led his troops forward, capturing the last objective with 150 prisoners, eight machine guns, and one field gun.
On 24 October he again inspired his men to such a degree that the last objective was captured and the line held in spite of heavy casualties.
Greenwood died in Wimbledon, aged 66 and is buried at Putney Vale Cemetery. His medal is held at the King"s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Museum in Doncaster.