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John Ward (RAF officer)
British airman / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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John Ward, MC, (15 December 1918 – 29 August 1995) was a Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant who was twice decorated for bravery. In World War II he was a member of the crew of a bomber that was shot down. He was taken POW, but escaped, and joined up with the Polish Armia Krajowa ("Home Army").
John George Ward | |
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Birth name | John George Ward |
Born | (1918-12-15)15 December 1918 Kings Norton, Birmingham |
Died | 29 August 1995(1995-08-29) (aged 76) South West London |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Air Force |
Years of service | 1937–47 |
Rank | Flight Lieutenant |
Service number | 542939 |
Unit | No. 226 Squadron RAF Polish Home Army |
Battles/wars | Second World War |
Awards | Military Cross Krzyż Walecznych |
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Ward became a clandestine journalist in occupied Poland. He founded and edited a Polish underground newspaper, was a war correspondent for The Times, translated transcripts of BBC broadcasts into Polish for the Home Army, built radio transceivers, and trained Home Army radio operators. In 1944 he served with the Home Army in the Warsaw Uprising, in which he was wounded in combat against German forces.
At the end of the War, the Red Army captured Ward, but he escaped and was repatriated to Britain. He resumed his RAF career, and was commissioned as an officer.