Lieutenant Peter Ward is an acclaimed retired journalist, military editor, war correspondent, broadcaster, author and wine columnist who served as a Public Information Officer with the Naval Reserve Division HMCS York (1962-1978). Recipient of the Peacekeeping Medal for deployments to Cyprus and the Vietnam Decoration for seeing action as an embedded journalist and side gunner with a US Army helicopter unit, his poignant photography and objective reporting from the front lines were published in major newspapers worldwide. As one of the original five founding members of HAIDA Inc, he is being recognized inter alia for his critical role in the acquisition and the preservation of HMCS Haida, a famous Second World War Tribal-class destroyer, now a National Historical Site and the ceremonial Flagship for the Royal Canadian Navy, berthed in Hamilton, Ontario.

At the Naval Association of Canada’s Monthly Speaker’s Evening on 4 October 2021 we were very fortunate to have this distinguished guest as our speaker. Peter regaled Naval Association members and other invited guests with his story of how he and four other colleagues developed and executed a cunning plan in 1964 to save Canada’s Ceremonial Flagship HMCS HAIDA from the scrapheap. His presentation was both touching and inspirational. Those in virtual attendance that evening included Commander RCN, Vice Admiral Craig Baines, Senator Dianne Griffin of Prince Edward Island and Mr Ron Hallman, President and CEO of Parks Canada as well as members of Peter’s family and that of WWII naval hero, Vice Admiral Harry DeWolf. There were just shy of 100 on board for a very special evening which culminated with Peter being presented the Admirals’ Medal for 2021 for his foresight and heroic efforts.

A video of Peter's presentation is available at https://youtu.be/3-Ta9B4kYkg