John Ward (RAF officer)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

John George Ward
Krzyż Walecznych
Polish Radio broadcast in English
A news programme on the daily fights in Warsaw, featuring the voice of John Ward
Problems playing this file? See media help.

John Ward,

SS
controlled German forces.

Early life

Ward was born in December 1918 the Kings Norton district of Birmingham and grew up in the nearby suburb of Ward End where he was educated at the local council school.[1]

Royal Air Force service

He joined the

Rheims.[3]

Prisoner of war

RAF Fairey Battle light bombers over France, 1940

Ward was an

Fall of France.[4]

Tasked to bomb German troop convoys as they advanced south-west of

Luxemburg, four aircraft from the squadron took off at 17:00 hours GMT from Rheims, Champagne. After locating a column of 30 to 40 vehicles they made several dive bombing attacks in the face of heavy defensive fire. They suffered one aircraft shot down in flames (K9183) and another which crashed after being badly shot up.[5] All three crew of Ward's crew were taken prisoner wounded, although the fatally injured pilot died three days later.[6]

Ward was captured and held as a prisoner of war. He was at Stalag Luft I near Barth, Western Pomerania in December 1940 before being moved to an unnamed labour camp in Upper Silesia in January 1941. At the end of March 1941 he was sent to a labour camp near Lissa in Poland.[7]

Escape and the Polish resistance

Polish Cross of Valour.
Polish Cross of Valour.

On 17 April 1941, Ward was with a working party of twenty prisoners supervised by two German soldiers when he hid, changed into civilian clothes and escaped. At

Polish Home Army. On 30 April 1941, he was taken by train to Łódź. At the end of May Ward was taken by bus to Warsaw. The plan had been to get Ward across the border to the Soviet Union but when the Germans invaded it in June 1941 that became impractical. Ward met Otto Gordzialowski, a lawyer who ran an underground newspaper called Dzien, and worked for him transcribing British Broadcasting Company (BBC) radio broadcasts for translation into Polish for the newspaper. In September 1941, the Gestapo located the newspaper and captured the printers and distributors but failed to catch Gordzialowski or Ward. During 1942 Ward began to build wireless receivers and transmitters which were supplied to Polish resistance groups. In June 1942, he opened his own newspaper, the Echo, and after building it up passed it to the ZWZ organisation in February 1943. During this period he trained a number of Poles as radio operators.[8][9]

Operating with the Polish resistance, he was tasked with facilitating communication between the British government and the Polish underground. From 1941 to 1945 Ward was the communications liaison between the British government and the

London Times including over two years in occupied Warsaw.[10][11][12]

Warsaw uprising

Home Army soldiers fighting on Kredytowa-Królewska Street, 3 October 1944

He joined the Polish Resistance in August 1944 when the

Polish Home Army. He was wounded in action in the thigh by mortar shrapnel; the Polish force decorated him with the Cross of Valour for his bravery,[17][18][19] awarded personally by General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski.[20]

Ward fought with the Polish resistance after the uprising[

Bor-Komorowski arranged for his movement from Warsaw to Kielce for evacuation by air as the uprising ended on 4 October 1944 with the Polish Home Army survivors going into German captivity. He maintained contact with Major Michael Pickles, the Head of SOE Polish Section.[22]

The British Military Cross
The British Military Cross

After the uprising

Ward left

Odessa. He sailed from there aboard the Duchess of Bedford on 14 March 1945.[23][24][25]

For his continued bravery serving with the Polish Home Army he was awarded the

Krzyż Walecznych. His detailed despatches are available online.[27]

Post-war

Ward was commissioned

Flying Officer.[29] He was promoted Flying Officer on 1 November 1947.[30]

He died on 29 August 1995 in London.[31][32]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ England & Wales, Birth Registrations, 1918
  2. ^ Williamson (2012), p. 220
  3. ^ Franks (1994), pp. 13–19
  4. ^ Chorley (1992), p. 49
  5. ^ Franks (1994), pp. 86–87
  6. ^ Chorley (1992), p. 49
  7. ^ British Escapers - John G Ward (Poland)
  8. ^ British Escapers - John G Ward (Poland)
  9. ^ Williamson (2012), p. 220
  10. ^ "Warsaw Uprising.com - John Ward's Despatches". Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  11. ^ Bor-Komarowski (2010), p. 351
  12. ^ Hanson (1982), Introduction
  13. ^ Davies (2004), p. 325
  14. ^ Krakow Post - John Ward
  15. ^ Warsaw Insider - J G Ward
  16. ^ Williamson (2012), p. 220
  17. ^ Warsaw Uprising - John Ward
  18. ^ Borowiec (2015), various
  19. ^ prisonerofwar.org - John Ward
  20. ^ Bor-Komarowski (2010), p. 351
  21. ^ Dallas (2005), p. 166
  22. ^ Walker (2010), Chapter 9
  23. ^ prisonerofwar.org - John Ward
  24. ^ Williamson (2012), p. 220
  25. ^ British Escapers - John G Ward (Poland)
  26. ^ "No. 37246". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 August 1945. p. 4385.
  27. ^ Warsaw Uprising - Despatches 7 Aug 1944 to 29 Sept 1944
  28. ^ "No. 37489". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 March 1946. p. 1235.
  29. ^ "No. 37666". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 July 1946. p. 3834.
  30. ^ "No. 38188". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 January 1948. p. 649.
  31. ^ England & Wales, Registry of Deaths, 1995
  32. ^ Birmingham Mail - J G Ward
  33. ^ "No. 37246". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 August 1945. p. 4385.
  34. ^ 9peakschallenge - John Ward
  35. ^ Bor-Komorowski (2010), p. 351

Bibliography

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Ward_(RAF_officer)&oldid=1194495328"