Remembering World War II

Name: Herbert Arthur Wall Rank: Able Seaman Service Number: X/61701 Service: HMCS Stadacona, Royal Canadian Navy Awards: Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, War Medal 1939-1945 Date of Birth: September 9, 1884 Place of Birth: Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England Date of Enlistment: September 3, 1939 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Halifax County, Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 54 Occupation: Seaman Marital Status: Married Religion: Church of England Next of Kin: Ethel Wall (Wife) Date of Death: August 19, 1941 Age at Death: 56 Cemetery: Camp Hill Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia Grave: Section R.107 West, Division 2 Inscription: Rest In Peace Commemorate on Page 47 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on February 4 Herbert Arthur Wall was the son of John Wall (1845-1890) and Charlotte (Sexton) Wall (b. 1856), and the husband of Ethel Mary (Pope) Wall (1888-1969), of Glassville, Carleton County, New Brunswick. Herbert and Ethel had three children, Sylvia Daphne (Wall) Black (b. 1911), Ada Mabel (Wall) Wasson (b. 1920), and Charles Herbert Wall (1923-2005). Herbert married Ethel at the Roche Parish Church in Cornwall, England in 1911. Herbert served in both the British Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy. He served in the Royal Navy from September 9, 1902, until September 24, 1924, including the entirety of the First World War. On September 25, 1924, he transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve, in which he served until September 9, 1934. He had trained and served as a Seaman Gunner. Five years later at the outbreak of WWII, Herbert enlisting in the Royal Canadian Navy the same day England declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, and seven days before Canada’s official entry in the war on September 10, 1939. He served from September 1939 until August of 1941, when he was discharged as medically unfit on August 5, 1941. Sadly, Able Seaman Hebert Arthur Wall died of stomach cancer during WWII. It was confirmed that he “died of a cause attributable to service, while serving on active Naval service or subsequent to his discharge.” A Memorial Cross was issued in remembrance. He was interred at the Camp Hill Cemetery, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Herbert Arthur Wall

Source: findagrave Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Herbert's grave, before and after cleaning by the Wartime Heritage Association, May 2024