Editing James Allen Ward

{{short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = James Allen Ward
| image         = James Allan Ward VC IWM CH 2963.jpg
| image_size    = 
| alt           = A black and white photograph of a man in a flying suit standing in the cockpit of an aircraft
| caption       = Sergeant James Allen Ward standing in the cockpit of his Vickers Wellington at Feltwell, Norfolk, July 1941
| nickname      = 
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1919|06|14|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Wanganui]], New Zealand
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1941|09|15|1919|06|14|df=yes}}
| death_place   = over [[Hamburg]], Germany
| placeofburial = Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery Ohlsdorf, Hamburg
| allegiance    = New Zealand
| branch        = [[Royal New Zealand Air Force]]
| serviceyears  = 1940–1941
| rank          = [[Sergeant|Sergeant Pilot]]
| servicenumber = 
| unit          = [[No. 75 Squadron RAF|No. 75 Squadron]]
| commands      = 
| battles       = [[Second World War]]
| awards        = [[Victoria Cross]]
| relations     = 
| laterwork     = 
}}
'''James Allen Ward''', [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (14 June 1919 – 15 September 1941) was a New Zealand aviator and a recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]] (VC), the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that could be awarded at the time to personnel of the British and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

Born in [[Wanganui]], Ward was a teacher when the [[Second World War]] began. He immediately volunteered for the [[Royal New Zealand Air Force]] and after completing flight training in New Zealand, travelled to England. In mid-1941, he was posted to [[No. 75 Squadron RAF|No. 75 Squadron]], which operated [[Vickers Wellington]] bombers. He participated in his first few bombing missions as a co-pilot, during the last of which, on 7 July 1941, he earned the VC for his feat in climbing out onto the wing of his Wellington bomber to extinguish an engine fire caused by a [[night fighter]] attack. Ward was the first of three New Zealand airmen to be awarded the VC during the Second World War. He was killed two months later commanding his own Wellington on a bombing mission to Germany.

==Early life==
James Allen Ward was born on 14 June 1919 in [[Wanganui]], New Zealand, to English immigrants, Percy and Ada Ward.<ref name=Cenotaph>{{cite web |title=Cenotaph Record: James Allen Ward |url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C18197 |website=Online Cenotaph |publisher=Auckland Museum |access-date=3 January 2020}}</ref> He was educated at [[Whanganui City College|Wanganui Technical College]] and after graduation, trained as a teacher in [[Wellington]]. Having qualified in 1939, he had just accepted a teaching position at Castlecliff School in Wanganui when the [[Second World War]] broke out. Ward immediately volunteered for the [[Royal New Zealand Air Force]] (RNZAF).{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}}

==Second World War==
===Training===
Despite being quick to enlist in the RNZAF, Ward was not called up until 1 July 1940, when he reported to [[Levin, New Zealand|Levin]] for initial training. He then proceeded to [[No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School RNZAF|No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School]] at [[RNZAF Taieri]], followed by more advanced courses at [[Wigram|Wigram Air Base]] in [[Christchurch]]. He was rated as a pilot of high average ability and of confident and reliable character.{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}} During his period of flight training, one of his classmates was [[Fraser Barron]], who went on to become a notable bomber pilot during the war.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|pp=124–125}}

Ward qualified as a pilot on 18 January 1941 and was promoted to [[sergeant]] shortly thereafter.{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}} At the end of the month he departed for England aboard the troopship ''[[MV Aorangi (1924)|Aorangi]]'', to commence service with the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF).{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=200}} On arrival, he was selected for training on [[heavy bomber]]s and posted to [[No. 20 Operational Training Unit RAF|20 Bomber Operational Training Unit]] RAF, in [[Scotland]]. Upon completion of his courses at [[RAF Lossiemouth]] in mid-1941, Ward was posted to [[No. 75 Squadron RAF|No. 75 Squadron]]. According to Hugh Kimpton, a fellow New Zealander at Lossiemouth, only one place was available at the squadron at the time. Ward was selected as a result of winning a coin toss between Kimpton and him.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|pp=124–125}}

===Service with No. 75 Squadron===
No. 75 Squadron was an RAF unit formed around a core of RNZAF flying personnel present in England prior to the outbreak of the Second World War to take delivery of 30 [[Vickers Wellington]] bombers purchased by the [[First Labour Government of New Zealand|New Zealand government]]. These personnel had set up a unit at [[RAF Marham]], in [[Norfolk]], to prepare for the transportation of the Wellingtons back to New Zealand. However, once hostilities commenced, with the permission of the New Zealand government, the fliers were transferred to the Royal Air Force. Shortly afterwards, it was arranged for the RNZAF personnel to form the cadre of 75 Squadron, the first Commonwealth squadron of [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]].{{sfn|Thompson|1953|pp=32–34}} At the time of Ward's arrival at 75 Squadron, it was based at the Royal Air Force's base at [[RAF Feltwell|Feltwell]] in Norfolk, and operating Wellington bombers.{{sfn|Thompson|1953|pp=32–34}} His first operational flight was made on 14 June, as a second pilot to [[Squadron leader|Squadron Leader]] Reuben Widdowson, a Canadian, on a bombing mission to [[Düsseldorf]] in [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]. Over the next few weeks, he flew six more bombing missions accompanying Widdowson.{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}}{{sfn|Franks|1991|pp=41–43}}

[[File:Vickers Wellington - Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. CH3223.jpg|right|thumb|225px|alt=a black and white photograph of a portion of the fuselage and wing of an aircraft with holes that served as foot and hand holds|The Wellington in which Ward flew on operations on 7 July 1941. Shown are the holes Ward made to help him climb across the wing in order to put out a fire caused by a night fighter attack]]
Widdowson and Ward flew their sixth and last mission together on 7 July during a raid on [[Münster]]. While returning home over the [[Zuiderzee|Zuider Zee]] on the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] coast, Ward's Wellington was attacked by a German [[Messerschmitt Bf 110|Bf 110]] [[night fighter]]. A fuel tank in the starboard wing was ruptured, causing a fire around the rear of the starboard engine. After initial attempts to put out the flames using fire extinguishers directed through a hole made in the fuselage failed, Widdowson ordered the crew to bail out. However, Ward proposed that he climb out and try and smother the fire using an engine cover. He crawled out through the [[Astrodome (aeronautics)|astrodome]] on the top of the fuselage, secured by a rope. Making his way down the side and along the wing of the aircraft, he kicked or tore holes in the fuselage's covering fabric with a fire axe to give himself hand-and foot-holes.{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}}{{sfn|Franks|1991|pp=41–43}}{{sfn|Thompson|1953|pp=197–198}}{{sfn|Lambert|2007|pp=122–124}}

Ward soon reached the engine and attempted to smother the flames with a canvas cover. With the fire out, he stuffed the cover into the hole from which fuel from a damaged petrol line had leaked and exacerbated the fire. Ward, now exhausted, made his way back to the astrodome with the navigator, Sergeant Joe Lawton of the RNZAF, keeping tension on the rope tethered to Ward and assisting him back into the aircraft. Although the cover shortly blew away by the [[slipstream]], the fire had burnt itself out and the plane was now safe. Instead of the crew having to bail out, the aircraft made an emergency landing, without flaps or brakes, at [[Newmarket, Suffolk|Newmarket]]. The Wellington ran into a hedge and fence at the end of the runway and was written off.{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}}{{sfn|Franks|1991|pp=41–43}}{{sfn|Thompson|1953|pp=197–198}}{{sfn|Lambert|2007|pp=122–124}}

Ward described his experience out on the wing of the aircraft, exposed to the slipstream, as "...being in a terrific gale only worse than any gale I've ever known".{{sfn|Thompson|1953|pp=197–198}} To recognise Ward's courage, the commander of 75 Squadron, [[Wing commander|Wing Commander]] [[Cyrus Kay]], recommended him for the [[Victoria Cross]] (VC).{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}} Instituted in 1856, the VC was the highest gallantry award that could be bestowed on military personnel of the [[British Empire]].{{sfn|O'Shea|2000|pp=558–559}} Kay also recommended Widdowson for the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] and Sergeant Allan Box for the [[Distinguished Flying Medal]]. Box, a New Zealander, was the tail gunner of Ward's aircraft and had shot down the night fighter. The awards for Widdowson and Box were immediately approved while Ward's VC was announced on 5 August.{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}}

The citation for Ward's VC was published in the ''[[London Gazette]]'' and read:
{{poemquote|On the night of 7 July 1941, Sergeant Ward was second pilot of a Wellington bomber returning from an attack on Munster. While flying over the Zuider Zee at 13,000 feet his aircraft was attacked from beneath by a German Bf 110, which secured hits with cannon-shell and incendiary bullets. The rear gunner was wounded in the foot but delivered a burst of fire sending the enemy fighter down, apparently out of control. Fire then broke out in the Wellington's near-starboard engine and, fed by petrol from a split pipe, quickly gained an alarming hold and threatened to spread to the entire wing. The crew forced a hole in the fuselage and made strenuous efforts to reduce the fire with extinguishers, and even coffee from their flasks, without success. They were then warned to be ready to abandon the aircraft. As a last resort Sergeant Ward volunteered to make an attempt to smother the fire with an engine cover which happened to be in use as a cushion. At first he proposed discarding his parachute to reduce wind resistance, but was finally persuaded to take it. A rope from the aircraft dingy was tied to him, though this was of little help and might have become a danger had he been blown off the aircraft.

With the help of his navigator he then climbed through the narrow astrodome and put on his parachute. The bomber was flying at a reduced speed but the wind pressure must have been sufficient to render the operation one of extreme difficulty. Breaking the fabric to make hand and foot holds where necessary and also taking advantage of existing holes in the fabric, Sergeant Ward succeeded in descending three feet to the wing and proceeding another three feet to a position behind the engine, despite the slipstream from the airscrew which nearly blew him off the wing. Lying in this precarious position he smothered the fire in the wing fabric and tried to push the engine cover into the hole in the wing and on the leaking pipe from which the fire came. As soon as he had removed his hand, however, a terrific wind blew the cover out and when he tried again it was lost. Tired as he was, he was able, with the navigator's assistance, to make a successful but perilous journey back into the aircraft. There was now no danger of fire spreading from the petrol pipe as there was no fabric left near it and in due course it burned itself out. When the aircraft was nearly home, some petrol which had collected in the wing blazed up furiously but died down quite suddenly. A safe landing was made despite the damage sustained to the aircraft. The flight home had been made possible by the gallantry of Sergeant Ward in extinguishing the fire on the wing in circumstances of the greatest difficulty and at the risk of his life.|''The London Gazette'', No. 35238, 5 August 1941<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=35238| date=5 August 1941|page=4515}}</ref>}}

Ward's VC was the first of three made to New Zealand airmen during the war;{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|p=282}} the others awarded were to Squadron Leader [[Leonard Trent]], a bomber pilot,{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=291–293}} and [[Flying Officer]] [[Lloyd Trigg]], a pilot with [[Coastal Command]].{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=296–297}} According to [[Clifton Fadiman]], a compiler of [[anecdote]]s, Ward was summoned to [[10 Downing Street]] soon after the announcement of his VC, by Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]]. The New Zealander was apparently awestruck by the experience and was unable to answer the Prime Minister's questions. Churchill regarded Ward with some compassion. "You must feel very humble and awkward in my presence," he said. "Yes, sir," managed Ward. "Then you can imagine how humble and awkward I feel in yours," said Churchill.{{sfn|Fadiman|1985|p=122}}

Ward had a period of leave after receiving his VC. [[Hector Bolitho]], a New Zealander in the [[Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve]], spent time with him and later recounted an incident when at a dinner, Ward fainted after a fuel from a cigarette lighter was accidentally spilled onto his hand and set alight. Supposedly the event had triggered memories of the flaming wing of his Wellington bomber. A doctor treated the minor burn and gave Ward a note to give to the medical officer at No. 75 Squadron. Bolitho alleged the note stated Ward was not fit to fly but it was never passed on.{{sfn|Bolitho|1955|pp=79–81}} 
[[File:Kay gives a speech, 1941.jpg|thumb|right|alt=black and white photography of a man at a dinner table giving a speech to a room full of seated men|No. 75 Squadron's commander, [[Cyrus Kay]], standing at centre, gives a speech at a dinner held for Ward shortly after he was awarded the VC. Ward sits on Kay's right]]
On returning to his squadron, Ward was given command of his own crew and aircraft. He flew his first mission as commander to [[Brest, France|Brest]] without incident. On his second mission, a raid on [[Hamburg]] carried out on 15 September, his Wellington encountered a night fighter shortly after releasing its bombs. Set on fire by the attacking night fighter, Ward ordered his crew to bail out and held his aircraft steady enough for two of his crew to do so; they subsequently became [[prisoners of war]]. When the Wellington crashed near Hamburg, the remaining crew and Ward were still on board. It was initially reported that the Wellington had been hit and destroyed by [[flak]]. It was not until the two surviving crew members were released from their prisoner of war camp was it determined that a night fighter was involved in the destruction of Ward's aircraft.{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}}{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=121}}

Unbeknown to Ward, an official at the [[Air Ministry]] had suggested to the New Zealand government that he be returned to New Zealand. It was appreciated that Ward's profile as a result of the VC award would be useful for propaganda and recruitment purposes. He could also have served as an instructor with one of the home-based RNZAF squadrons. On 15 September 1941, the day of Ward's death, [[Group Captain]] [[Hugh Saunders (RAF officer)|Hugh Saunders]], the [[Chief of Air Force (New Zealand)|Chief of Air Staff]] of the RNZAF, approved the proposal to return him to New Zealand.{{sfn|Lambert|2007|p=120}}

Ward's body was recovered from the wreckage of his aircraft and buried by the Germans in a civilian cemetery.{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}} Initially reported in the United Kingdom and New Zealand as missing, presumed dead, at one stage Ward was believed to be a prisoner of war in Germany.<ref>{{cite news |title=V.C. May Be Safe |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19411028.2.48 |access-date=3 January 2020 |work=The New Zealand Herald |issue=24107 |date=28 October 1941|volume=78 }}</ref> Confirmation of his death was officially reported in August 1942 by the [[International Red Cross]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Sgt. Ward, V.C., Buried in Hamburg |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NA19420827.2.42 |access-date=5 January 2020 |work=Northern Advocate |date=27 August 1942}}</ref> After the war and following official identification, his remains were reinterred in the [[Hamburg Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery|Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery Ohlsdorf]] in Hamburg.{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Ward, James Allen |url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2201083/ward,-james-allen/ |publisher=Commonwealth War Graves Commission |access-date=3 January 2020}}</ref>
[[File:Grave of James Allen Ward VC.JPG|thumb|right|alt=A colour photograph of several grave headstones, with Ward's in the middle of the image|Ward's grave in Hamburg, Germany]]

==Victoria Cross and legacy==
Ward's VC was presented to his parents by the Governor General of New Zealand at Government House in Wellington on 16 October 1942.<ref>{{cite news |title=Parents Receive V.C. |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NA19421016.2.10 |access-date=5 January 2020 |work=Northern Advocate |issue=16 October 1942}}</ref> The Ward family loaned Ward's VC and other service medals to the RNZAF for several years until 2006, when they were returned. The medals were subsequently lent to the [[Auckland War Memorial Museum]] for display.{{sfn|Harper|Richardson|2007|pp=283–287}}<ref>{{cite web |title=James A Ward VC |url=http://vconline.org.uk/james-a-ward-vc/4588445324 |website=The Comprehensive Guide to the Victoria & George Cross |access-date=16 February 2020}}</ref>

There are a number of memorials to Ward, one being a painting by [[Peter McIntyre (artist)|Peter McIntyre]], entitled ''Memorial to Sergeant James Allen Ward, V.C.'' and depicting Ward's feat, hangs at the [[Sarjeant Gallery]] in Ward's hometown of Wanganui.<ref>{{cite web |title=Memorial to Sergeant James Allen Ward, V.C. |url=https://collection.sarjeant.org.nz/objects/48251/memorial-to-sergeant-james-allen-ward-vc |publisher=Serjeant Gallery |access-date=3 January 2020}}</ref> There is also a plaque honouring him in [[Queen's Gardens, Dunedin|Queen's Gardens]] in [[Dunedin, New Zealand|Dunedin]].<ref name=Cenotaph/> In November 2004, the Wellington College of Education, in preparation for merging with [[Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Education|Victoria University]], renamed one of its halls in honour of Ward.<ref>{{cite news |title=Buildings Named in Honour of Former Principals |url=http://policy.vuw.ac.nz/Amphora!~~policy.vuw.ac.nz~VUWMEDIARELEASEARCHIVES~000000000964.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724093019/http://policy.vuw.ac.nz/Amphora%21~~policy.vuw.ac.nz~VUWMEDIARELEASEARCHIVES~000000000964.pdf|archive-date=24 July 2011|access-date=5 January 2020 |publisher=Victoria University of Wellington Public Affairs |date=16 November 2004}}</ref> On 14 May 2011, the community centre at Feltwell, where Ward had flown from while serving with No. 75 Squadron, was dedicated in his honour. It had served as a sergeant's mess hall during the Second World War.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Saffell |first1=Steven N. |title=RAF Feltwell Community Activity Center Renamed After WWII Hero |url=https://www.lakenheath.af.mil/News/Commentaries/Display/Article/300312/raf-feltwell-community-activity-center-renamed-after-wwii-hero/ |website=Royal Air Force Lakenheath |publisher=United States Air Force |access-date=3 January 2020}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{Cite book|last=Bolitho|first=Hector|title=A Penguin in the Eyrie: An RAF Diary, 1939–1945|publisher=Hutchinson|year=1955|location=London|oclc= 	60101742}}
* {{cite book|last=Fadiman|first=Clifton|year=1985|title=The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|location=Boston, Massachusetts|oclc=12738295}}
* {{cite book|last=Franks|first=Norman|title=Forever Strong: The Story of 75 Squadron RNZAF 1916–1990|year=1991|publisher=Random Century|location=Auckland, New Zealand|isbn=1-86941-102-1}}
* {{cite book|last1=Harper|first1=Glyn|author-link=Glyn Harper|last2=Richardson|first2=Colin|title=In the Face of the Enemy: The Complete History of the Victoria Cross and New Zealand|year=2007|publisher=HarperCollins|location=Auckland, New Zealand|isbn=978-1-86950-650-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Lambert|first=Max|title=Night after Night: New Zealanders in Bomber Command|year=2007|publisher=HarperCollins|location=Auckland, New Zealand|isbn=978-1-86950-644-5}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=McGibbon|editor-first=Ian|author-last=O'Shea|editor-link=Ian McGibbon|author-first=Phillip|chapter=Victoria Cross|pages=558–561|title=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Auckland, New Zealand|isbn=0-19-558376-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Thompson|first=H. L.|year=1953|title=New Zealanders with the Royal Air Force|volume=I|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-1RAF.html|series=[[Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45]]|publisher=War History Branch|location=Wellington, New Zealand |via=New Zealand Electronic Text Collection |oclc=270919916}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|James Allen Ward}}
* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/valgal/valour/INF3_0435.htm Sergeant J.A. Ward] in ''The Art of War'' exhibition at the [[National Archives (UK)|UK National Archives]]
* [http://www.britishpathe.com/video/first-new-zealand-v-c Pathe News film of Ward]
* {{cite web|url= https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22485357?search%5Bi%5D%5Bname_authority_id%5D=-91829&search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject%5D=World+War%2C+1939-1945&search%5Bpath%5D=items |title= Sergeant Ward broadcasting to New Zealand troops in the Middle East from the BBC, London (1941 photo) |publisher= National Library |date= 1941}} 
* {{cite web|url= https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22593615?search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject_authority_id%5D=-32337&search%5Bpath%5D=items |title= Sergeant Ward broadcasting to New Zealand troops in the Middle East from the BBC, London (1941 photo) |publisher= National Library |date= 1941}} 

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, James Allen}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:New Zealand World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel]]
[[Category:New Zealand military personnel killed in World War II]]
[[Category:New Zealand World War II pilots]]
[[Category:New Zealand World War II bomber pilots]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Whanganui]]
[[Category:People educated at Whanganui City College]]
[[Category:Burials at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery]]