Gerard Henry Stacpoole Haward was born in West Tarring, Sussex on 21 May 1909, the son of William Haward, a Bank Cashier, and Ethel Alice Haward (née Nunn). He was baptised in Christ Church, Paddington, on 19 July 1909.

Gerard Haward joined the Royal Navy as Special Entry Cadet Gerald Henry Stacpoole Haward on 16 September 1927; the reason for this change of given name is unknown.  Promoted Midshipman on 1 September 1928 and appointed to the battlecruiser, HMS REPULSE, he was later further promoted to Acting Sub Lieutenant on 1 January 1931.  According to his service record, he ‘volunteered for service in Submarines’ on 18 May 1931.  In July 1931, he was studying at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich which he had joined in January 1931, ‘undergoing Courses for the Rank of Lieutenant’. In his examinations, he gained two 1st Class and three 2nd Class Passes and was awarded four months seniority.  He joined submarines as a Lieutenant in May 1932.

In August 1932, he was appointed to HMS PHOENIX in Hong Kong as the Navigating Officer. After his return home in March 1935 and a spell in the reserve group of submarines, Haward joined HMS PORPOISE as First Lieutenant in January 1937.

At some point in 1938 he appears to have reverted to using his birth name of Gerard and this was reflected in his later service records.  After completing the Commanding Officers Qualifying Course (COQC) and a very brief spell in command of HMS H43, he joined HMS STERLET in command in August 1939. He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on 1 April 1940.

The submarine was noted to be overdue on 27 April 1940 and was later listed as lost. However, it is now thought that Gerard Haward died in STERLET on 18 April 1940; HMS STERLET is believed to have been sunk with all hands on that day in the Skagerrak South of Larvik in Norway in position 58º55’N 10º10’E after an attack by the German anti-submarine trawlers UJ-125, UJ-126 and UJ-128, although it is still also possible that the submarine could have survived the attack only to be mined while returning to base.

Gerard Haward was the husband of Diana Auriol Haward (née Hay) from Seaford in Sussex.  They had been married in Christ Church in Paddington on 4 May 1935. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval War Memorial on Panel No. 36 Column No. 3.

Chichester Observer Saturday 4 May 1940

MISSING IN HMS STERLET CHICHESTER FAMILY BEREAVED

Lieut.-Commander Gerard Henry Stacpoole Haward, RN, commander of the submarine “Sterlet,” whose loss was announced by the Admiralty on Wednesday, was the son of Mr. G. Haward. of “Wherstead,” March School crossroads, Westhampnett. Mr. Haward was former manager of Lloyds Bank, Ltd., Chichester, and retired some four years ago. The Admiralty announcement stated that the Sterlet and the Tarpon, another submarine, were considerably overdue and must be considered lost and when an Observer representative asked Mr. Haward on Thursday whether there was any more news of the “Sterlet” he replied, “No, I’m afraid he has gone.” Lieut.-Commander Haward would have been thirty-one this month. He was married and was living at Bexhill, and leaves a four-year-old little girl. Making an entry from a public school into the Navy in 1928, at the age of 18, the Lieut.-Commander served a special training period in H.M.S. “Erebus.” During his course, he distinguished himself by gaining three first-class and two second-class awards. He served a further period on H.M.S. “Repulse” and other capital ships. It was in 1932 that he joined the submarine service, making that his career. He served abroad and in China, and his first command was that of “H 43.” Lieut.-Commdr. Haward was given command of the “ Sterlet ” last August. Mr. Haward told our reporter that the family had (no) knowledge of where the “Sterlet” was, or on what mission she had been sent. The daughter of the family, Miss Jill Haward, is a section-leader in the W.A.T.S. The “Sterlet” was a vessel of 670 tons, and was one of the eight Shark class completed in 1938. She carried a normal crew of forty. She was said to be capable of “crash” dive in thirty seconds, and was sister ship to the “Salmon”.

Chichester Observer Saturday 23 August 1947

WESTHAMPNETT WAR MEMORIAL EXTENSION UNVEILED

MOVING CEREMONY IN CHURCH

Brig.-General W. O. Osborne, ‘C.B., C.M.G.. D.S.O. Lavant, formerly of Westhampnett House, unveiled an extension to the 1914-18 War Memorial at Westhampnett Church on Sunday erected in memory of the men who died in the 1939-45 war. In a short address, he said that he felt it an honour to perform such a service because he knew the men who had given their lives during the last war, when they were schoolboys. The memorial takes the form of two corbel stones, placed one each side of the 1914-18 war memorial, and made to hold flowers. It has been erected by the villagers in memory of the six men of the village killed during the war. Their names – George Alfred Collin; Gordon Victor Colliss ; Gerard Henry Stacpoole Haward; Arthur James Gould; David Willoughby Kimbell and Harry Charles Simpson – have been engraved on the memorial. Buglers from the barracks sounded the Last Post and Reveille: and a wreath was laid beneath the memorial by the relatives of the fallen men. Gen. Osborne, formerly Col. of the Royal Sussex Regt., laid a wreath on behalf of the officers and men of the Regiment. The service was conducted by the Vicar of Westhampnett. the Rev. J. C. Salisbury.