Ball, Harvey A

Service highlights

  • Born August 2, 1921, in St. Marys, Ontario.
  • Enlisted in the Canadian Army on June 23, 1942.
  • Served in England with the Central Mechanization Depot of the Canadian Ordnance Corps as a blacksmith.
  • Awarded the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Clasp.
  • Member of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 236 (St. Marys) for over 40 years.
  • Passed away December 18, 1992.

A Life and Service Remembered

Harvey A. Ball was born in St. Marys in 1921, and when Canada needed people to step forward, he joined up in the summer of 1942.

His wartime work was not the kind that makes headlines, but it was the kind the Army could not do without. In England he served with the Central Mechanization Depot of the Canadian Ordnance Corps as a blacksmith, a trade built around keeping metalwork strong, serviceable, and safe. In a mechanized war where vehicles and equipment had to be ready day after day, the Ordnance Corps carried the responsibility of supplying and sustaining the Army’s material needs, including mechanical transport.

The Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Clasp recognizes that his service took him beyond Canada’s borders. And when his years in uniform were done, he kept showing up for decades, staying part of St. Marys Legion Branch 236 for more than forty years.

Major battles and operations

No specific battles or named operations are listed in the available sources for Harvey’s service.

What is clear is the kind of war work he was tied to: sustaining the Army’s equipment and mechanical transport overseas through Ordnance Corps service in England, the behind the scenes effort that helped keep forces equipped and moving.

Learn More

Royal Canadian Legion, Ontario Command, Military Service Recognition Book, Volume XI, entry for “BALL, Harvey A.” https://fenety.com/epubs/ONCL-23/37/

Royal Canadian Legion, Ontario Command, Military Service Recognition Book (earlier volume), entry for “BALL, Harvey A.” https://fenety.com/epubs/ONCL-14/31/

Find a grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/177876704/harvey-alfred-ball

Juno Beach Centre, overview of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps role in supplying and sustaining the Army overseas. https://www.junobeach.org/canada-in-wwii/articles/supplying-canadas-field-army-overseas/the-royal-canadian-ordnance-corps/