Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Five: attributed to Colonel E. Ward, Royal Tank Regiment and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, a pioneer of Second War Tank innovation, and nuclear power stations in Great Britain and overseas

1939-45 Star, with additional decorative suspension; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Efficiency Decoration, G.VI.R., 2nd issue, reverse officially dated ‘1950’, with integral top ‘Territorial’ riband bar, with related miniature awards, rank insignia, and cap badges for the Sheffield University O.T.C., the Royal Tank Regiment and the R.E.M.E., all framed and glazed with other regimental items, good very fine (lot) £120-£160

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals from the Rob Campbell Collection relating to Clevedon, Somerset.

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Eric Ward was ‘a structural and mechanical engineer who pioneered the design of tanks and nuclear power stations, and was also the innovator of the Queen’s Award for Industry.

During the 1939-45 War he rose to the rank of Lt.-Col., serving first with the Royal Tank Regiment and then with the newly-formed Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, having been a keen member of the Territorial Army since his days in the Sheffield University OTC.

War began his connection with tanks as an assistant superintendent of tank design and ended up with responsibility for testing armoured fighting vehicles for battle readiness.

His investigation into the cause of burning tank casualties in North Africa resulted in the invention of the armoured ammunition bin, later incorporated into all tanks. He also pioneered the military application of infrared detection.

Eric Ward was born in Sheffield in 1904 and educated at local schools before university. After the war, he joined the Bristol engineering firm of Strachan and Henshaw, eventually becoming its managing director and chairman. He was also a director of its parent company, E. S. and A. Robinson.

As a director of the Nuclear Power Group until his retirement in 1970, Ward took a leading role in the design and construction of the earliest nuclear power stations in Britain, at Bradwell and Dungeness, and overseas.

He was also responsible for the development in England of the giant bucket wheel, used mainly for reclaiming coal for power station and steelworks stock piles.

A freemason, Ward was a founder member and early master of Brunel Lodge 7356, and a past master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge in London. Appointed a Prestonian lecturer by the Grand Lodge he was awarded the Preston Jewel by the Grand Master, the Duke of Kent. He was a prolific write of masonic history, published mainly by the Quatuor Coronati Correspondence Circle, of which he was the first chairman.

War was known internationally as a collector of old prints, specialising in 16th century engravings, particularly Dutch and Flemish.’ (Obituary from The Daily Telegraph, dated 13 August 1987, refers)

Sold with an original group photograph including recipient, copied images of recipient from various stages of his career, and copied research.