Maj Thomas Percival Ward

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Maj Thomas Percival Ward

Birth
London Borough of Hackney, Greater London, England
Death
17 Apr 1944 (aged 35–36)
At Sea
Burial
Brookwood, Woking Borough, Surrey, England Add to Map
Plot
33A. A.3.
Memorial ID
View Source
1908 December Quarter birth-
Name: Ward, Thomas Percival J.
District: Hackney (Volume & Page: 1b & 354)

1944 June Quarter death registration-
Name: Ward, T. P. (Male)---Age: - (i.e.-unknown)
District: St. Austell (Volume & Page: 5c & 112)

RAF 525 Squadron's Vickers Warwick III (#BV 247) aircraft, with fourteen air crew members and passengers aboard, had taken off from RAF Station St. Mawgan, Newquay, Cornwall, on a scheduled service flight (England to Algiers Maison Blance airport, via Gibraltar), when it exploded in mid-air and crashed into Watergate Bay near Newquay Bay. All 14 on board the aircraft perished in the crash. The Warwick was thought to be carrying several top-secret agents, military advisers, linguists and top-secret documents, as well as thousands of £100 bills and possibly boxes of gold (thought to be for use in helping to finance European underground groups).
The passengers included two French officers enroute to meet with General Charles DeGaulle in Cairo; two Polish couriers enroute to Warsaw; one senior staff officer enroute to Cairo; one Greek expert enroute to Greece; one Hungarian/Canadian enroute to Hungary on an S. O. E. mission; three S. O. E. officers; and one Russian-speaking MI6 officer enroute to Yugoslavia to meet with Tito partisans.
The 525 Squadron members who perished in this accident were:
RCAF Flying Officer Harold Calven AUSTEN,
RAFVR Flying Officer Albert George Tracey GARDINER,
RCAF Flying Officer Arthur Douglas GAVEL,
RAF Pilot Officer George William LAMB,
RAFVR Flying Officer Noel Spencer NICKLIN,
RAFVR Flight Sergeant Michael Kingston ROWE and
RAF Squadron Leader William Godfrey TILEY.
The passengers were:-
Lieutenant Colonel Ivor Watkins BIRTS,
RAF Air Commodore George Lionel Seymour DAWSON-DAMER, Viscount CARLOW,
Lieutenant Colonel Stanley CASSON,
Kapitan Edmund GÓJSKI,
Kapral Józef KRÓL,
Lieutenant Stephen MAITLAND (using the alias, Lieutenant Stephen MATE)
(He is thrice listed on the CWGC: Steve Mate (Civilian), Stephen Mate (General List) and Stephen Maitland [Alias]),
Major Thomas Percival WARD and
Roger A. A. BAUDOIN/BAUDOUIN.

Military Service:-
Rank: Major
Service No: 100464
Age: 35
Service: Royal Army Medical Corps

Son of Thomas and Alice Josephine Ward; husband of Dorice Bentley (née Gunn) Ward. ( He held these degrees: M.A., M.B., B.Ch. (Cantab.). L.R.C.P., M.R.C.S.

Dr. Ward is commemorated at the St. Thomas Hospital, Kings College (London)'s War Memorial.
1908 December Quarter birth-
Name: Ward, Thomas Percival J.
District: Hackney (Volume & Page: 1b & 354)

1944 June Quarter death registration-
Name: Ward, T. P. (Male)---Age: - (i.e.-unknown)
District: St. Austell (Volume & Page: 5c & 112)

RAF 525 Squadron's Vickers Warwick III (#BV 247) aircraft, with fourteen air crew members and passengers aboard, had taken off from RAF Station St. Mawgan, Newquay, Cornwall, on a scheduled service flight (England to Algiers Maison Blance airport, via Gibraltar), when it exploded in mid-air and crashed into Watergate Bay near Newquay Bay. All 14 on board the aircraft perished in the crash. The Warwick was thought to be carrying several top-secret agents, military advisers, linguists and top-secret documents, as well as thousands of £100 bills and possibly boxes of gold (thought to be for use in helping to finance European underground groups).
The passengers included two French officers enroute to meet with General Charles DeGaulle in Cairo; two Polish couriers enroute to Warsaw; one senior staff officer enroute to Cairo; one Greek expert enroute to Greece; one Hungarian/Canadian enroute to Hungary on an S. O. E. mission; three S. O. E. officers; and one Russian-speaking MI6 officer enroute to Yugoslavia to meet with Tito partisans.
The 525 Squadron members who perished in this accident were:
RCAF Flying Officer Harold Calven AUSTEN,
RAFVR Flying Officer Albert George Tracey GARDINER,
RCAF Flying Officer Arthur Douglas GAVEL,
RAF Pilot Officer George William LAMB,
RAFVR Flying Officer Noel Spencer NICKLIN,
RAFVR Flight Sergeant Michael Kingston ROWE and
RAF Squadron Leader William Godfrey TILEY.
The passengers were:-
Lieutenant Colonel Ivor Watkins BIRTS,
RAF Air Commodore George Lionel Seymour DAWSON-DAMER, Viscount CARLOW,
Lieutenant Colonel Stanley CASSON,
Kapitan Edmund GÓJSKI,
Kapral Józef KRÓL,
Lieutenant Stephen MAITLAND (using the alias, Lieutenant Stephen MATE)
(He is thrice listed on the CWGC: Steve Mate (Civilian), Stephen Mate (General List) and Stephen Maitland [Alias]),
Major Thomas Percival WARD and
Roger A. A. BAUDOIN/BAUDOUIN.

Military Service:-
Rank: Major
Service No: 100464
Age: 35
Service: Royal Army Medical Corps

Son of Thomas and Alice Josephine Ward; husband of Dorice Bentley (née Gunn) Ward. ( He held these degrees: M.A., M.B., B.Ch. (Cantab.). L.R.C.P., M.R.C.S.

Dr. Ward is commemorated at the St. Thomas Hospital, Kings College (London)'s War Memorial.

Inscription

THERE IS A LAND OF THE LIVING
AND A LAND OF THE DEAD,
AND THE BRIDGE IS LOVE.