Generations of war

A welcome home celebration at the end of WWI.
Hilton Law, seated left, and Bruce Ward, back row - 2nd
from right, both feature in the WWI list in this post.

As I was researching the children of Manasseh and Madeline Ward I was struck by the regular discovery of connections to the two World Wars. At first it was just the odd army hat in a group photo, or a mention of Manasseh's support for the returned soldiers. As I progressed, I started to look for evidence and slowly a picture emerged.

First World War

The only one of Manasseh and Madeline's children to enlisted for WWI was the youngest, Bruce. But that is not the whole picture. Two of Manasseh's nephews and three of Madeline's nephews also served. Then there was one grandson, one son-in-law and the husband of a granddaughter. In the following list, I have indicated the relationship to Manasseh and Madeline in brackets.

• Private Bruce Ward (son) served in the the Light Horse and was wounded in action in the middle-east campaign. He was repatriated to Australia and discharged from the army as medically unfit.
• Sergeant Henry Lambert (grandson) served in France.
• Private Hilton Law (married granddaughter Marjory Lambert) had served in France and served much of the war as a POW in Germany.
• Private Fred Pearce (married daughter Doris Ward) served in the Light Horse in Egypt.  Fred also served in Australia in WWII.
• Lance Corporal Manasseh Ward (Manasseh's nephew) served in France with the Army Service Corps (Railway Supply Detachment).
• Private Ephraim Ward (Manasseh's nephew) served in France with the Army Service Corps (also in railway supply).
• Captain Rupert Henderson (Madeline's nephew) joined towards the end of the war and was on a troopship recalled to Australia when the war ended.
• Private Ernest Henderson (Madeline's nephew) served with the lLight Horse towards the end of the war and probably did not see action.
• Private Harold Henderson (Madeline's nephew) served in France before being discharged with heart problems.

Amy Ward (and probably  many others) worked in the Red Cross and with the patriot's society, sending packages and corresponding with the soldiers serving overseas.

Second World War

Madeline and Manasseh's children were mostly too old for WWII, but many of their grandchildren's generation served in some capacity. Doris Ward's husband, Fred Pearce, was the only one to serve in both wars as far as I have found so far. The grandchildren of Manasseh and Madeline that served in WWII included the following.

• Private John (Jack) Ward, Service Number N286154, served in Australia.
• Leading Aircraftman Bruce G Ward, RAAF Service Number 137129, served in Borneo.
• Private Harold Ward, AIF Service Number NX43298, served in the middle-east, PNG and Borneo.
• Private Eric M Ward, Service Number N151441, served in Darwin and islands off northern Australia.
• Private Lawrence (Laurie) Ward, AIF Service Number N151441, served in PNG and Borneo.
• lance Corporal Wallace Ward, AIF Service Number NX116211, served in the 1st Australian Field Coy.
• Private Allen Ward, AIF Service Number NX194978, service file not available.
• Private Marjorie Ward Jardine (nee Lambert), Service Number R47077, served 3 months in AWAF before being medically discharged.

Then there were those who had married into the Ward family:

• William Jardine (married Marjory Lambert), Service Number 70085, Served at RAAF Bradfield but other details are not available.
• Private George Fuller (married Madeline Ward), AIF Service Number NX48279, service details not available.
• Private Ernest Hubbard (married Ena Ward) – AIF Service Number NX45481
• Private Sidney Frewin (married Agnes Ward) – AIF Service Number NX52142
• Private Donald Claydon, (married Eileen Ward), AIF Service Number NX5748, service details not available.
• Private William Robinson (married Doris Mary Ward), AIF Service Number NX30224, served in PNG with 2/14 Field Coy
• Private Reginald Burbury (married Ethel Ward) AIF Service No NX56719 – POW in Thailand.
• Private Raymond Back (married Nell Ward) – AIF Service Number NX79096, Served in PNG with Army Service Corps.
• Private Arthur Gavenlock (married Daphne Ward) – Service Number N286166. Assigned to AA Battery, but discharged after a few months being required for essential occupation.
• Leading Aircraftman William Corner (married Betty Pearce) Service Number 32019. Transferred to reserve list shortly after enlistment and worked in aircraft manufacturing.

I am sure that the women of the family don't get the recognition they deserve in this discussion and I probably missed some service records because of the changes in name that traditionally went with getting married. There were also volunteer roles that are not so easily identified, such as the Land Army and the Coast Watch service (which Amy Ward was a member of).

A difficult legacy

The effects of war service on a family are difficult to measure. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is better understood today than it was when these people went away to war. The service records (where they are available) sometimes record the physical injuries, but more often just record admissions to field hospitals and the like. It is probably no coincidence that of the first four men listed in the WWI list above (being those most closely linked to Manasseh and Madeline Ward, we know that three went on to broken marriages and deserted children. 

The legacy is not so clear in those who served in WWII, but I know from several that there is evidence of PTSD there as well.

Disclaimer

This is not the result of specific research, but more a side product of my research into the children and grandchildren of Manasseh and Madeline Ward of Gosford. I do not claim that the above lists are complete of definitive.