JOHN AUGUSTUS SAWARD 1900–1971
Born: 13th June 1900 in London, baptised St Michael’s Church, Lichfield.
Married: 1937 to Hilda J. Howkins in Oxford
Died: 1971 in Uckfield, Sussex
1901 Census
Age 1 living at Beacon Street Lichfield with mother Violet Georgina 32 née Boulton, brother Norman 2, his aunt Annie Collard 40, a nurse Annie Baxter 27, cook, Jane Walker 27 and housemaid Alice Henshaw 19. His father was serving as Chaplain to the Forces in South Africa and was later awarded the Queens South Africa medal with three clasps.
1904 moved to Bolnhurst when his father was appointed rector.
1911 Census
Age 11 living at Bolnhurst Rectory, St Neots with father William Thomas 50, clergyman, mother Georgina, brother Norman, sister Agatha 2 and a cook Minnie Sutor and housemaid Beatrice Ball.
On 30th May 1913 Rev. W. T. Saward was formally inducted as vicar of St. Edmund’s Church, Holme Pierrepont.
J. A. Saward was a pupil at Nottingham High School, where he had the nickname Seaweed. He was a prefect, then Captain of the school in 1918 and very involved with the drama group. A copy of the school magazine notes he played Jacob(?) who married the Queen of Sheba in one of the drama group’s productions.
Military Service: Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force
Rank: Flight Cadet (the rank comes between a Warrant Officer and a 2nd Lieutenant)
Service Number: 175621
Military Unit: Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force
Enlisted: 4th May 1918, 5ft 10ins tall, a student
10th May 1918 a flying cadet and sent to reception area 28th May 1918
28th August 1918 transferred to Cadet Wing Armaments
By the time of the armistice, standards of training in the flying corps had improved greatly from the early years of the war. In 1918 it took eleven months to qualify as a pilot. Training included 50 hours of solo flying. John Saward was still in training when the war ended; it is evident that he qualified afterwards as a pilot (London Gazette, 29th July 1919).
John Augustus Saward is named on the Holme Pierrepont War Memorial as a Flight Cadet, Royal Flying Corps.
1921 Census
Address: Ingoldsby Avenue, South Manchester
Employment: Wool buyer, H W Roberts Co
Household: boarder with Hena Gardner, other boarders John William Bell, bank clerk and Percival Filda, Medical Student
1939 Register
Address: Burfield Road, Witney, Oxfordshire
Occupation: textile representative. Listed as emergency services air force officer.
Household: living with wife Hilda J. Saward, born 1912
Other information
On 26th September 1940 his appointment as a pilot officer is confirmed in the London Gazette.
His father, Rev. W.T. Saward (photograph below) was a composer and author of 21 plays including the historical and ecclesiastical play ‘Glastonbury’ and the drama ‘William Shakespeare’.
