224083 F/Lt. John "Jo" Ward Royal New Zealand Airforce 90 Sqd. from:Heriot, West Otago, New Zealand (d.30th Nov 1944) Jo Ward had amassed 42 operations as the pilot of Lancaster PD 269. He was then given a desk job. The first night PD 269 was going out without him he wondered who was taking his place. When he found out who it was he changed the crew and put himself back in. The reason being he knew his replacement, and also knew he was married with a number of children. They took off on operation Bottrop. A following aircraft saw PD 269 hit by anti air craft fire directly in the bomb bay with a full load of bombs still on board. The crew on the following Lancaster said PD 269 simply disappeared in a ball of flame. Nothing left.
The pilot Jo replaced wrote to Jo's mother at Christmas every year until 1963, when she died. They always thanked her for her son and his sacrifice for them. Jo was 23 when he died. Jo's parents, and brothers and sister never knew if there was anything found of Jo. All have now passed away.
In the last two years two NZ university students who spent two years in Europe identifying, cleaning, and photographing each of NZ's war dead from WW1 and WW2. About 18 months ago I put Jo's ID into the internet and out it popped. Now I know in a small German Forest lays Jo. I still have my Father's ashes and hopefully one day I can put them together so they both won't be alone again.
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