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Rosa Ward
OBE
Rosa Ward OBE
	Ward from a 1939 issue of The Guider
Born	Rosa Cliff Ward; 10 April 1893; Bengal, India
Died	17 August 1984 (aged 91); Dorset, England
Occupation	Girl Guide leader

Rosa Ward OBE, JP (10 April 1893 – 17 August 1984) was a pioneer of the Girl Guide movement. She was chair of the Guide International Service from 1942 to 1954. She was a recipient of the Silver Fish Award, the movement's highest adult honour.

Girl Guides

Ward formed 1st Denbigh Guide Company, North Wales’ first Guide company, in 1912.^[1] Four years later she organised what is likely to have been the first Guide camp in Wales at Segrwyd, Denbigh.^[2] Between 1917-1946 she was Denbighshire’s first County Commissioner.^[3] In the 1930s she was Guide Commissioner for Camping.^[4] From 1939-1944 she was Chief Commissioner for Wales^[5] and from 1946-1956 Denbighshire County President.^[6] From 1961 to her death in 1984 she was vice-president of the Girl Guides Association.^[7]

Guide International Service

The Guide International Service (GIS) was formed in April 1942. It was one of 11 societies forming the Council of British Societies for Relief Abroad (COBSRA). It provided 50 teams of volunteer adult Girl Guide leaders to work in close cooperation with the British government and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). Each team provided on-the-ground support in Europe after World War II, including Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp.

Ward agreed to be temporary chair of the GIS committee until “a more suitable person was found”. She held the position for 12 years, the entire duration of the organisation's existence.^[8] In this role she organised training, test camps and lectures for prospective recruits.^[9]^[10] She also oversaw a significant fundraising effort to equip teams and train volunteer leaders,^[11] with Girl Guides in the UK and across the Commonwealth raising £168,890 (equivalent to £4,600,000 in 2023)^[12] towards GIS's relief work.^[13]

Ward first travelled to the British occupation zone in Germany in November 1945,^[14] making an annual tour of every GIS team in Europe for the subsequent five years.^[15]

Awards and honours

1928 – Silver Fish Award
1948 – OBE for her work with GIS^[16]
1997 – two stained glass windows were dedicated to Ward in the main hall of Tŷ Clwyd, Girlguiding Clwyd's County House in Llanfair Talhaiarn where “the rays of light stream through to inspire the next generation of Rainbows, Brownies) and Guides.”^[17]
2017 – Ward's outstanding commitment to Guiding in Wales and the GIS was recognised in the Welsh Year of Legends^[18]

Personal life

Rosa Cliff Ward was born in Dunga Gali, Bengal, India to father Brigadier General Thomas Ward and mother Jeanette Octavia. She had a younger sister, Barbara. By 1901 she was living in Aldershot, England. During World War I she was a member of Denbigh's Voluntary Aid Detachment.^[19] In 1942 she was appointed Justice of the peace for Denbighshire.^[20] Ward died at home in Corscombe, Dorset in 1984.

References

^ "Rosa C. Ward OBE - Legend". www.peoplescollection.wales. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
^ "The Girl Guides in Camp". Denbighshire Free Press. Denbigh, Wales. 1916-08-26. p. 4.
^ "Welsh Girl Guides". Western Mail. Cardiff, Wales. 1921-05-04. p. 6.
^ "Catherine J James page 40". www.womenandwar.wales. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
^ "310 Girls to face dangerous work without glamour". Evening Standard. London, UK. 1942-11-10. p. 5.
^ National Archives: Denbighshire Record Office, GB 0209 DD/DM/1048
^ "Fewer Guides in Denbighshire". The North Wales Weekly News. Colwyn Bay, Wales. 1964-06-18. p. 9.
^ Eastick, Nancy (1996). Guides can do anything: The Guide International Service 1942-1954. Victoria, Australia: Victoria Guides. p. 2.
^ "310 Girls to face dangerous work without glamour". Evening Standard. London, UK. 1942-11-10. p. 5.
^ "Fine work for refugees". Western Mail. Cardiff, Wales. 1952-01-05. p. 2.
^ ""Green Tie Girls" are ready to go". Evening Standard. London, UK. 1944-01-24. p. 5.
^ "Inflation calculator". bankofengland.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
^ "Rosa Cliff Ward". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 1984-08-21. p. 6.
^ Rosa Ward (May 1946). "Chairman's Report on her visit to British Zone in Germany". GIS News Sheet (No. 7 ed.). London: GGA. p. 6.
^ Rosa Ward (Winter 1949). "Chairman's Visit to B.A.O.R". GIS News Sheet (No. 13 ed.). London: GGA. p. 1.
^ "Welshmen in the Honours List". Western Mail. Cardiff, Wales. 1948-06-10. p. 3.
^ "Rosa C. Ward OBE - Legend". www.peoplescollection.wales. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
^ "Rosa C. Ward OBE - Legend". www.peoplescollection.wales. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
^ "The voluntary aid detachment". Denbighshire Free Press. Denbigh, Wales. 1914-05-02. p. 5.
^ "New Denbigh J.P's". North Wales Weekly News. Colwyn Bay, Wales. 1942-07-02. p. 5.