In Memoriam - Barnston

Pte. Alfred Victor Ball 7th Bn., Lincolnshire Regiment who died on 23 March 1918. Age 19. Son of Mr. and Mrs. A. V. Ball, of Mill House, Barnston, Dunmow, Essex. Remembered with Honour Arras Memorial.

Pte. James Lodge ‘D’ Coy. 9th Bn., Essex Regiment who died on 20 November 1915. Age 23. Son of William James and Annie Lodge, of Shoulder Hall, Barnston, Great Dunmow, Essex. Remembered with Honour Vermelles British Cemetery.

Second Lieutenant Noel Loftus Moore Ward 3rd/5th Bn., Essex Regiment who died on 15 October 1916. Age 20. Son of the Rev. Charles James Ward, B.D., of Barnston Rectory, Dunmow, Essex, and the late Rosa Bonheur Ward. Remembered with Honour Thiepval Memorial.

His memorial plaque in St Andrews Church, Barnston has the following inscription;

TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF
NOEL LOFTUS MOORE WARD
2ND LIEUT. ESSEX REGIMENT
KILLED IN ACTION AT GUEDECOURT, FRANCE
15th OCT. 1916, AGED 20 YEARS AND 18 DAYS
THIRD SON OF THE RECTOR OF THIS PARISH.
“THE SONS OF ENGLAND WITH LIFTED SWORDS
SHALL GATHER AT THE GATES OF PARADISE”

According to the Essex Chronicle 31 December 1915 Noel Loftus Moore Ward was originally a Private in the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps before being commissioned as Temporary 2nd Lieutenant in the Essex Regiment.

He was posted to the 3rd/5th Essex at home before being posted on to the 11th Essex in France, disembarking on 30 September 1916 and joining the Battalion on 4 October 1916. He lasted just over a week before being killed in action at Guedecourt during the Battle of the Somme age 20.

Having no known grave he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial and also on a brass in Chelmsford Cathedral to ‘Clergy and the Sons of Clergy’.

Thanks to Ian Hook of Essex Regiment Museum, Chelmsford for this information.