Memories of Dr Paddy Ward, Police Surgeon and GP

by Wendy Ward

Based on an interview carried out by Noreen Cunningham with Wendy Ward in December 2019.

My husband Paddy Ward was born in Dublin in 1925 and attended The Royal School in Armagh. He ran away at the age of fifteen to join the Merchant Navy during the Second World War and served in the Naval Convoys which protected vital supplies of food, equipment and raw materials to the British Isles. Goods were transported in thousands of merchant ships which were grouped into convoys with naval escorts, protecting them from German submarine attacks.

After he left the Navy, he did what was called a ‘grind’, and studied to pass exams into the College of Surgeons in Dublin. He set up practice in Bangor, and then in 1959 moved to Bessbrook in county Armagh where he was GP. In the early years he was by himself in the surgery but was later joined by Dr McKnight and they worked together for thirty years.

It was also around this time he became a Police Surgeon and would have examined victims of assault, rape, man-slaughter as well as suicides or murders. He was also Staff Medical Officer for Daisy Hill Hospital and would have carried out annual medicals for staff, similar to what we now know as Occupational Health. He was also Staff Medical Officer for Dromalane House and was also the Medical Officer for the Bacon Factory, and much later, Norbrook Laboratory.

One of the most high-profile murder cases he was involved in was the infamous McGladdery case. Robert McGladdery was the last man to be hanged in Northern Ireland, in Crumlin Road Prison in December 1961.

Robert McGladdery had brutally murdered Pearl Gamble on 28th January 1961 after a dance at the Henry Thomson Memorial Orange Hall in Newry. Paddy had to examine the poor victim, Pearl Gamble, and in came this little man wearing rubber boots and a flat cap. Thinking he may have been a relative of the victim, Paddy said, ‘I must warn you this is not a pleasant sight’, the man said, ‘Get out of my way, I am County Police Inspector Ferris!’

McGladdery was taken in for questioning and later released, but the police were convinced that he would soon lead them to the hiding place of items missing from the murder scene. I remember going on the bus to school in Newry and seeing crowds around the Waldorf Bar (Hill Street), were he frequented. Seemingly, he was being constantly followed by the police and this was creating a sensation for local people, who also followed him around the town.

I married Paddy in 1971 and we lived on the Green Road, near Bessbrook. As the Troubles intensified, and with the helicopters landing nearby, Paddy decided it was time to move. A building site became available and we built a house in 1971.

At that time Paddy was still working as a GP, but his Police Surgeon duties were increasing due to the Troubles. He would have been called out sometimes two to three times a night. There were so many horrible incidents during the Troubles that my husband had to deal with around the Newry and south Armagh area. Some of them stick out in my mind.

One of them was The Miami Showband Murders which took place on 31st July 1975 on the A1 road at Buskhill in county Down. Five people were killed, including three members of The Miami Showband, one of Ireland’s most popular show bands. I remember that day as we were supposed to have been going to our holiday cottage in Donegal. At about 2 am that morning Paddy got a call to go in to the police station in Newry as the survivor had come in to report the attack. He then had to go out to a scene of desolation to examine those who had been killed.

Other awful incidents he had to deal with were the murders of the Reavey brothers and the Kingsmill Massacre, both of which occurred near Whitecross within a day or two each other in January 1976. Paddy was called to sedate one of the survivors of the Kingsmill Massacre who was a patient of his and suffering from severe shock. He then went to the hospital and was told to go to the scene of the crime to offer medical help. Eight of the ten men who were murdered were his own patients.

Paddy was a committed smoker, and at one point he was asked to go to the police station in Corry Square to examine two people for drugs. Before he went, he asked our daughter to fetch his packet of cigarettes from the surgery in Bessbrook. This short delay almost certainly saved his life as a few minutes later he was going up Catherine Street in Newry, when a massive explosion went off at the Police Station. When he got there, there was total mayhem and carnage, and one of the police women said to him that she had hurt her leg, but it had been blown off. This was in February 1985 and the mortar which had been fired killed nine RUC officers and injured many others.

There were also many other incidents my husband had to deal with. I remember him getting calls at night, and one comes to mind when I was awoken during the night by the sound of a vehicle revving. I got up and saw a hearse in our driveway, the undertaker got out and opened the back doors and I could see my husband ducking his head down and looking into the hearse. As it turned out some poor person had committed suicide and as the mortuary at Daisy Hill was on strike, rather than bring the body to the morgue in Craigavon which would have caused further distress to the family, they had brought it to Paddy to certify death.

Another incident I remember is a policeman who had shot himself in the foot being brought into our kitchen for Paddy to examine. I remember bringing a bowl for him to be sick into and a stool to support his foot.

It is true to say that during the Troubles the abnormal became normal. Throughout it all, assisted by Dr Michael McVerry, he undertook his role as a Police Surgeon in an unbiased and honest way. His role was to examine suspects on arrival and after they were questioned. He was unfailingly truthful in his reports and recorded any marks or injuries.

For Paddy, the surgery doors never closed, and even in the evening if he was worried about a patient he would contact them. Patients would also come to the house if the surgery was closed and he would never turn them away. As a GP’s wife you were very housebound, and you could not leave the house for any length of time as you had to answer the phone and there were a lot of house calls. In the afternoon it was not as busy, as the phone could be diverted to the surgery in Bessbrook.

Paddy was very caring to his patients, and around Christmas time he would have taken presents to some of them. I remember one Christmas morning he visited a patient with a gift, but she was at church and did not see him. Around 1.00 pm or 2.00 pm when I was getting the Christmas dinner ready for the family, the doorbell rang, and who was it only the patient he had visited. She came in and said, ‘I heard you were at my house, doctor, I am here for my Christmas dinner!’ After dinner was over, we went to the sitting room and Paddy switched the television over, and she said, ‘Oh doctor, you have turned off the Generation Game!’ It was amusing incidents like this that you remember as well as the terrible tragedies.

In 1985 Paddy was awarded the MBE, he was also Deputy Lieutenant of County Armagh and a Justice of the Peace, and I remember him having to sign a lot of paperwork in that role.

At the age of 70 my husband retired, but he went back to work the next day on a parttime basis as a GP and was still working in some capacity for Daisy Hill Hospital. He completely retired at 83 and died at the age of 86 in 2012.