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General Sir Alfred Dudley Ward GCB, KBE, DSO
General Alfred Dudley Ward was our most distinguished old boy.
His career is quite closely followed in the Old Winburnian. We first meet him whilst still at school. In 1919 he was part of a team shooting for the Lucas-
At the end of the summer term 1923 he left school and joined the Eastern Telegraph Co in Hampstead. Posted to their office in Gibraltar, he sent a light-
In August 44 he sends his best wishes to all O.W.s, whilst the following appears in the Daily Telegraph ( as reported in the Winburnian ) "the 4th British Infantry Division commanded by Major-
No 100 of the Winburnian in 1946, which also neatly coincides with the 450th anniversary of the school, hails the General himself, who visits the school to distribute the prizes. By this time Chief of Staff of the Mediterranean Theatre, he stresses the importance of activities rather than just academic work in the school. The person most needed in a difficult situation is the stout-
His next visit to the school comes in Autumn 1950 when he carried out an inspection of the Cadet Corps, as is shown in the picture above. Afterwards he took the Chair at the annual dinner of the OWA. The Toast to the Chairman was proposed by Mr Mottram who gave a rollicking account of artillery bombardments of the fives courts and flanking attacks around Big School, leading to the important educational work being carried out by the Army, influenced greatly by the powerful personality of the General, as intelligent, thorough and efficient as he had shown himself at school. In replying he said that in some respects the army resembled a school, the value a boy got from school depended not so much on what the school did for him, as on what he gave to the school.
In no. 114 Spring 51 we send congratulations on being made Commander 1st Army Corps, British Army of the Rhine with the rank of Lieutenant-
In the same year he came to present the prizes on Speech Day, an outstanding event for the school. After the presentation he addressed us as an old boy familiar with the school song which told of the foundation of this old school. At the sight of girls, some old boys might wonder if the good Lady Meg was turning in her grave! The traditions of the school were enshrined in the school song. He listed three outward and visible signs of a good school. First was academic achievement, the second was the conduct and bearing of the pupils, and the third their keenness to devote time and labour to activities of the school unconnected with the classroom. He concluded by giving two pieces of advice: each should put into the life of the school as much as he could: to those leaving he advised that they should go for what they really wanted to do and not be afraid to change their occupation if they found it did not suit them.
Such is the career which we can follow in the school mag, but it doesn't do justice to the whole story. He served in pretty well all the hot spots during and after the Second World War. Under his command the 17th Brigade advanced up through Italy in 1943-
After this the division was ordered back to Cairo for rest and re-
His career continued after the war with command of the 1st British Corps in Germany. Then came the problems of Suez. Later he was Commander-
Finally he was appointed Governor of Gibraltar 1962-