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R/660 Anson Battalion, Royal Naval Division, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Walter Ward was born on 27 June 1880 in Ballingdon, the son of John and Mary Ann Ward (née Gardner). His father John was employed as a carman and the family lived in Ballingdon Street before moving to 26 Plough Lane, where Walter lived with his widowed father, sister Florence and three brothers; Francis, Bertie and Ernest.
His father married Harriet Ann Lumley in 1893 but he died in 1900. The family moved to 53 Church Street and Walter’s widowed stepmother worked as a fishmonger to support the family. Walter was employed as a foreman at one of the local silk factories and by 1911 had moved in with his sister Florence Bear and her family at 9 New Street.
Walter enlisted with the Army Reserve in December 1915 and joined the Royal Naval Division in February 1917. He is described as being 5ft 4¾ ins in height with a fresh complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. He was mobilised in April 1917 joining the Anson Battalion with 63rd (Royal Naval) Division in Flanders in June 1917.
The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division saw action during the Third Battle of Ypres at the Second Battle of Passchendaele (26 October - 10 November). Walter received a shrapnel wound to his right thigh on 26 October 1917 and was invalided back to the UK.
Walter died aged 37 on 17 November 1917 at the Temporary Military Hospital, Woolleston House, Newportman West, near Cardiff. He was buried in Sudbury Cemetery (Plot QQ 64) on 24 November 1917. A Cross of remembrance is laid by his grave each year at Remembrancetide.
Walter’s nephew Frank Bear lost his life as a prisoner of war in the Second World War and lies buried in Florence, Italy. He is also remembered on the Sudbury War Memorial
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