McNall, Trooper Robert J “Jack”

Service Highlights

Service Number: A/43054
Born February 20, 1908 in Lucknow, Ontario.
Worked as a construction worker before enlistment.
Served with the Fort Garry Horse, Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, identified in memorial records as the 10th Armoured Regiment.
Held the rank of Trooper.
Killed in action on July 25, 1944 in France at age 37.
Husband of Pearl McNall of Blyth, Ontario.
Buried in Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery, grave reference XXIII. E. 4.
Commemorated through the St. Marys Legion Veterans Banner Program.

A Life and Service Remembered

Robert John McNall, known as Jack, was born in Lucknow, Ontario in 1908. Before the Second World War he worked in construction, a trade that reflected the practical, hard-working life of many men from rural Ontario who later answered the call to serve.

During the war he served as a trooper with the Fort Garry Horse of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, the regiment identified in his memorial records as the 10th Armoured Regiment. As part of a Canadian armoured unit serving in Northwest Europe, his service placed him in the fighting that followed the Normandy landings in the summer of 1944.

Jack was killed in action in France on July 25, 1944. He was buried in Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery, one of the principal Canadian cemeteries for those who fell in the Normandy campaign. His memorial records name his wife, Pearl McNall of Blyth, Ontario, ensuring that both his service and the family who mourned him are part of the historical record.

At this time, his service records are not publicly available, so the exact details of his wartime movements have not yet been confirmed.

Today, Robert John “Jack” McNall is remembered as one of the local men who gave his life in the cause of freedom, and his story continues through acts of remembrance such as the St. Marys Legion banner program.