In cricket databases he is referred to as "Lancelot"; the death notice placed by his family and the obituary in The Times in 1929 both give his name as "Launcelot".
Ward joined the Oxfordshire Light Infantry from school and was commissioned a second lieutenant on 1 December 1897.
He saw active service in India, where he took part in the Tirah Campaign under Sir William Lockhart 1897–98, and was promoted a lieutenant on 28 October 1898 .
In April 1902 he was seconded for service under Foreign office,[4] and joined the King's East African Rifles in Uganda.
[3] He held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel but was made an acting brigadier-general in operations in Western Europe later in the War, being twice wounded and twice mentioned in dispatches.