Hall earned his place in the history books in 1857 for his courage under fire at Lucknow, India, becoming the first black man to be awarded the Victoria Cross, the British Empire’s highest award for bravery. An able seaman in the Royal Navy, he was the first Nova Scotian and first member of the navy to receive the honour.
It was reported last week that Veterans Affairs Canada would work “to explore new and innovative ways to enhance the Valiants Memorial and the National War Memorial site to recognize Canadians of diverse backgrounds, such as Wil-liam Hall and others.”
That Hall deserves a place among the nine busts and five statues of key military figures of pre-Confederation Canada through to the Second World War is long overdue, say people familiar with the story of the man who grew up in Kings County, not far from Hantsport.
“There’s absolutely no reason this can’t happen,” said NDP MP Peter Stoffer, pointing to a unanimous recommendation in 2011 by the House of Commons Veterans Affairs Committee that erecting a bust would be a fitting tribute, not only to Hall but to the military contributions of all African-Canadians.
Stoffer said he first broached the government about adding Hall to the memorial about three years ago. Since then he has made repeated requests and enlisted the aid of other colleagues on Parliament Hill.
Everyone he has spoken to finds Hall’s story remarkable, he said.
Hall joined the Royal Navy at a time when slavery was still a way of life in the United States. By the time the Indian Mutiny broke out in 1857, he had already received three combat medals.
He was part of a relief force sent to relieve a garrison under attack at Lucknow, India. Two gun crews were ordered to break through the walls of the Shah Najaf mosque where the rebel army was positioned, but one crew was short a man. Hall volunteered to take the position.
One crew was wiped out. Of the second, only Hall and Lt. Thomas Young, who was badly wounded, survived.
With his comrades falling around him, Hall fired and dragged the large gun — known as a 24-pounder because it fired 24-pound iron shot — advancing despite the grenades and musket balls blasting at him, until he broke through the mosque’s walls.
The significance of Hall’s achievements being honoured by Ottawa “is beyond imagination,” said Henry Bishop, curator of the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia.
Bishop is also a member of a committee that successfully recommended the commemorative postage stamp issued in Hall’s honour in 2010, the same year Hall was recognized as a person of national historic significance.
“His greatness was his courage against adversity. He volunteered for this,” Bishop said. “This is what they’d call today a suicide mission. They didn’t expect anybody to come back from this siege. They were on a mission to break the back of the rebels.”
Hall’s actions were recognized with the Victoria Cross two years after the siege, on the recommendation of Young.
A place at the Valiants Memorial would be a “permanent testament to the strength of his character, . . . his courage, his representation of his country,” Bishop said. “It took an indomitable spirit to do this.”
When Hall left the Royal Navy, he came back to his family home on Bluff Road, about 10 kilometres from Hantsport, where he lived with his mother. He later moved just across the road to live with his sisters.
When he died, he was first buried in nearby Lockhartville, but later reburied on the grounds of a Baptist Church in Hantsport where there is a plaque explaining Hall’s significant contributions.
Hall’s life story has been described as “forgotten” in Ottawa. Despite more recent recognition, Bishop said he often finds schoolchildren here aren’t aware of Hall.
But St. Clair Patterson, president of the Royal Canadian Legion branch that pays tribute to Hall’s accomplishments with its name and tends his gravesite, said there are people who have always been impressed with the man locals called Old Bill.
“That’s not really the right phrase — ‘forgotten.’ He was misplaced, rather,” said Patterson, who was among the returning Second World War veterans from Hantsport who chose the name Lucknow Branch 109 for their legion, after learning that another branch in Halifax already bore Hall’s name.
“Although (maybe) they didn’t know anything about him in Ottawa . . .. We knew about him ’round this area. ... Most of the people around here know all about him, growing up.”
Patterson said he likes the idea of some sort of monument to the local hero in the nation’s capital, even though Ottawa is far from Hall’s home.
“He should have been honoured a long while ago,” he said.
Original Article
Source: the chronicle herald
Author: KELLY SHIERS
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