Frederick Cecil Ward

Born: 28th April 1888

Died: 3 September 1918

Rank and Regiment: Lance Corporal 65954 in the 63rd Battalion of the Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)

Resting Place: Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery and Memorial, Haucourt, Departement du Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France

Memorials: St. Mary’s, Cranworth, United Kingdom

Frederick was born in Letton Green on 28 April 1888 and baptised at Southburgh on 3 June 1888. He was the son of Charles Ward, agricultural labourer, and Harriett (née Garner). In the 1891 Census the family is living in Letton, next door but one to the parents of Lionel and Frederick Green.

In 1891, the family were living in Southborough with William, Alice, Frederick and Ethel. By 1911, Frederick had moved to Nottingham and was a boarder with the Brooks family in Basford, Nottingham. He was 23 and worked as a baker.

In mid-1915, Frederick married Catherine Emily Whitworth (b. 8 January 1890 in Basford, Nottinghamshire). He then enlisted there as a Private in the Notts and Derby Regiment, before transferring to the 63rd Battalion of the Machine Gun Corps Infantry. He was posted to France where he was tragically killed in action on 3rd September 1918 aged 31. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial, near Arras in France.

His effects worth £12. 19s. 6d. were left to Catherine (Park View, Buthall, Nottinghamshire).

Catherine remarried in 1938 to Horace Milward. In the 1939 census, Horace was working as a labourer whilst Catherine maintained the home. She lived a long life before passing away in October 1977.

Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery and Memorial, France