Ward, Allen

Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE ALLEN WARD 11/936. Born in Canning Town, Middlesex in 1890, Allen was the son of Ellen Ward. A Labourer by trade, he travelled north after the death of his mother, settling in Hull. When war came he enlisted at City Hall, on 10th September 1914, joining the 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, 2nd Hull Pals. Sometimes when doing this research a tiny detail jumps out at me that takes on a poignancy all its own. During training Allen was twice disciplined for absence. One of these periods was the day of 25th October 1915. On that day he had jumped town, travelled back to Hull from Ripon and married Eva Evelyn Goforth. There was no time for a honeymoon, though perhaps they had taken that early as Allen Ward Jnr was born on 26th April 1916 and those with a background in mathematics can piece that one together. By the time of his son’s birth, Allen was in the trenches on the Somme where he fought throughout that year. Whether he got leave to meet his son I don’t know. There’s no record to say as much. Allen was killed in action on 3rd May 1917 as the Pals attacked Oppy Wood; his body was never recovered and his name is commemorated on the Arras Memorial. His widow, Eva Evelyn Goforth, moved to several addresses – 9, Blanch Street, Plaistow, London, 70, Crawford Street, Leeds and Cornwall Street, Hull (War pension records).