| Some of the earliest materials in the
John Owen Ward Papers relate to his service in World War II as a member
of the Royal Artillery (1940-1946). Ward's letters home reveal a strong desire to put his considerable
language skills to good use and soon he was attached to the French
Foreign Legion as an English teacher. He served in the Intelligence
Unit at Tobruk in 1941, and in 1943 he saw the invasion of Italy. By 1945 his main job involved the interrogation of prisoners, first in Rome and then at the camp at Holsworthy, Devon. The Ward Papers contain both his African and Italian Stars. |  |
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Ward frequently corresponded with his aunt, Alice Mary Rutland, with whom he had a close relationship. She supported Ward financially as he began his musical career, purchased his cello, and often took him to operas. Letters between the two of them in the collection span from the 1930s until close to Rutland's death in 1967 at the age of 91, but perhaps the most interesting are those written by Ward during the War. |
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 Some of Ward's letters reveal a profound sense of resignation, and speak to the strong relationship he had with his "Auntie Alice." In this one from 1941, Ward writes about a friend who was recently killed, and admits that he cannot imagine picking his life back up from where it was before the war. [click on a page to view transcriptions of the letters]. 
Other letters have a more joyful tone. In this one from 1944, Ward tells his Aunt about operas and films he has recently seen in Italy. He also thanks her for sending him some music as well as a book by Percy Scholes--the man with whom he would soon apprentice.  
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