HAPPY GATHERING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 188, 12 August 1941, Page 6

HAPPY GATHERING

“CHRONICLE" STAFF FATHER OF V.C. AS HOST Members of the “Chronicle” staff and the management were entertained at supper at the Rendezvous last night by Mr. P. H. Ward, father of Sergeant-Pilot J. A. Ward, V.C., and a jolly-hour was spent, a short toast list being honoured. Advantage was taken of the occasion to present Mr. Ward with a fountain pen, a gift from his fellow employees, to mark the winning of the V.C. by his son. Proposing the toast of Mr. Ward, the senior member of the staff, Mr. J. Lowe, engineer, remarked that in the 26 years that he had been privileged to know Mr. Ward he had come to appreciate his many good qualities, not the least among them being the care and attention which Mr. and Mrs. Ward had bestowed on the upbringing of their children. That care had now been rewarded by the bestowal of the Victoria Cross on his son. The decoration was as much a tribute to the parents as to the son. Saying that he and the staff felt it an honour to be so closely associated with the winner of a Victoria Cross, Mr. L, C. Young, manager, added his congratulations. He also made the presentation.

Feelingly acknowledging the remarks of the speakers, Mr. Ward said that his association with the staff had ever been a happy one, and their gesture in making a presentation was a welcome as well as an unexpected surprise.

The toast of the mother of the V.C. winner, Mrs. Ward, was proposed by Mr. W. Hall, who said tnat it was characteristic of Mrs. Ward that, in an hour when she was pardonably proud of her son, she could spare a thought for those mothers whose sons had made the supreme sacrifice. "VALOUR COMMENDED" BAPTIST CHURCH TRIBUTE “Valour Commended” was the phrase which Rev. E. Nicholls took as the theme of an address delivered at the Ingestre Street Baptist Church on Sunday morning, when a tribute was paid to Sergeant-Pilot J. A. Ward's bravery in winning the V.C. Ser-geant-Pilot Ward had been a member of the Sunday School and of the Bible Class, and his parents were staunch adherents of the church, said Mr. Nicholls. With his parents, they all felt proud of him for his moral and physical courage. The knights of King Arthur had to perform their feats of valour to win a place at the Round Table, said Mr. Nicholls. Valour consisted of strength of mind in danger, and included moral as weli as physical courage. In Ser-geant-Pilot Ward they had a striking example. For the occasion the pulpit was draped with the Union Jack and a huge New Zealand ensign. “We are proud to display the liberty-loving, liberty-giving Union Jack,” said Mr. Nicholls.