Major Richard Fowler Ward (41352) served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War Two. He was the son of Frank Fowler Ward and Florence Emily Ward (néeKing) of 40 Berners Street, Ipswich, Suffolk.
Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Frank Fowler Ward operated a medical practice from his home. Richard has 3 younger siblings; John Fowler Ward, May Elizabeth Ward, and Dorothy Fowler Ward.
In 1931, Richard married Mary Lilian Turner in Ipswich, Suffolk. Mary was born in 1905 and worked as a physiotherapist. Richard was a member of the Fellowship of Royal Colleges of Surgeons as well as an honorary surgeon at East Suffolk Hospital.
He died on 5th May 1941 aged 39 years old when Campbell College, Belfast, Co. Down came under Luftwaffe attack during The Fire Raid of the Belfast Blitz. He was Mentioned in Dispatches during the war.
On the night of 4th-5th May 1941, a total of 19 people died when bombs hit No. 24 British General Hospital based at the East Belfast grammar school.
Richard Fowler Ward’s grave is in Glenalina Extension, Section AS, Grave 99 of Belfast City Cemetery, Belfast, Co. Antrim. His name features on the town war memorial in Ipswich and the Ipswich School Chapel memorial. His headstone in Belfast bears the inscription:
Dick, beloved husband of Mary, father of John and Elizabeth. Honorary Surgeon, East Suffolk Hospital, Ipswich.