Patrick Michael Ward likeness

Patrick Michael Ward cap badgePrivate Patrick Michael Ward

30th Battalion Australian Imperial Forces
Service No: 1010

Patrick Michael Ward grave

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Click here for a frameable A4 print
Personal details

Family Information

Son of Patrick and Sarah Jane Boyle Ward (09/12/1865 - 15/09/1899) of 26 Sunnyside Rd, Coatbridge. Father Patrick lived at 6d Douglas St, Coatbridge when his son fell. From the 1901 Census - Address - Kilnow Cottages, Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire - Francis Campbell aged 38, Margaret Campbell aged 36, Catherine Campbell aged 18, Sarah J Campbell aged 13, Margaret Campbell aged 10, Hannah Campbell aged 8, Mary Campbell aged 6, Nellie Campbell aged 3, Francis' niece Mary Ward aged 7, Francis' nephew Patrick Ward aged 3. Patrick's father remarried Annie O'Donnell. They had 2 children, Patrick's half-sisters Susan (17/12/1912 - 22/01/1990) and Josephine (12/02/1915 - ).

Born / Resided

Coatbridge / Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia previously 26 Sunnyside Rd, Coatbridge.

Died

Killed in Action on the 20/07/1916 near Armientieres during the attack at Fromelles (part of the Battles of the Somme)

Enlisted

Liverpool, New South Wales 20/07/1915

Employed

Labourer

Age

19 / DOB - 03/11/1896

Buried / Remembered

Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery (I. K. 33), Pas de Calais, France

Cemetery / Memorial Information

British soldiers began burying their fallen comrades at Rue Pétillon in December 1914 and the cemetery was used by fighting units until it fell into German hands during the Spring Offensive of 1918. The Allies recaptured this sector of the front in September 1918 and when the war ended in November the cemetery was the site of twelve Battalion burial grounds. Many of those laid to rest here had died of wounds in a dressing station that was located in the buildings adjoining the cemetery, which were known as "Eaton Hall" during the war. The cemetery was enlarged in the years after the Armistice when graves were concentrated here from the battlefields around Fleurbaix and a number of smaller burial grounds. Over 1,500 war dead of the First World War are buried or commemorated here.

Additional Information

Patrick enlisted on the 20/07/1915 at Liverpool, New South Wales and embarked for Egypt from Sydney on the 09/11/1915. Disembarked at Suez aboard the H.M.A.T "Beltana" on the 11/12/1915. Found guilty of disobedience of orders on the 05/05/1916 and received 1 days punishment drill. Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force on the 16/06/1916 aboard the H.M.A.T "Hororata". Disembarked in Marseilles 7 days later. The Battalion was part of the 8th Australian Brigade, 5th Australian Division. PATRICK WAS KILLED IN ACTION EXACTLY 1 YEAR AFTER ENLISTING near Armientieres during the attack at Fromelles on the 19th and 20th July 1916. Fromelles was the first major battle fought by Australian troops on the Western Front. Directed against a strong German position known as the Sugar Loaf salient, the attack was intended primarily as a feint to draw German troops away from the Somme offensive then being pursued further to the south. A seven-hour preparatory bombardment deprived the attack of any hope of surprise, and ultimately proved ineffective in subduing the well-entrenched defenders. When the troops of the 5th Australian and 61st British Divisions attacked at 6pm on the 19th July 1916, they suffered heavily at the hands of German machine-gunners. Small parts of the German trenches were captured by the 8th and 14th Australian Brigades, but, devoid of flanking support and subjected to fierce counterattacks, they were forced to withdraw. By 8am on the 20th July 1916, the battle was over. The 5th Australian Division suffered 5,533 casualties, rendering it incapable of offensive action for many months; the 61st British Division suffered 1,547. The German casualties were little more than 1,000. The attack was a complete failure as the Germans realised within a few hours it was merely a feint. It therefore had no impact whatsoever upon the progress of the Somme offensive. This attack was part of the Battles of the Somme, 1st July - 18th November 1916 : A Franco-British offensive that was undertaken after Allied strategic conferences in late 1915, but which changed its nature due to the German attack against the French in the epic Battle of Verdun, which lasted from late February to November. Huge British losses on the first day and a series of fiercely contested steps that became attritional in nature. For all armies on the Western Front it was becoming what the Germans would call "materialschlacht" : a war not of morale, will or even manpower, but of sheer industrial material might. The 15th September 1916 saw the first-ever use of tanks in the step known as the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The British army in France is now approaching its maximum strength in numbers but is still developing in terms of tactics, technology, command and control. A huge thank you to Catherine Stevenson for all her help regarding Patrick's family and the photos attached. Patrick is also remembered on the St. Augustine's Parish (book) and St Patrick's Church Rolls of Honour. See photos for another 2 photos of Patrick, his father and mother, his sister Mary with husband John and son Joseph, his half-sister Susan, his half-sister Josephine, his CWGC Grave Registration x 3, his Headstone Report, another photo of Patrick's Grave, Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery, Patrick's half-sisters Birth Certificates, his Service Records x 22 (courtesy of the National Archives Australia - lots of information on Patrick) and the Australian Commonwealth Military Forces Cap Badge.

Photos
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Comments
Never forgotten Digger.
Warren Melling, Australia, 21/05/2025 10:18AM

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