With each passing year, the meaning of the phrase “Lest we forget” evolves. How to remember those we never knew? Those who left little to mark their passing?
One such man is Bill Ryall. William Alfred Ryall was born in North Bay, on May 18, 1917. His parents, William and Florence, were from England, but married in North Bay in 1914.
At the age of 20, Ryall joined the North Bay Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter. At the time, the department consisted of both full-timers and volunteers. When the Second World War broke out, Ryall was working as a truck driver. He was single and had no children. He lived on Second Avenue East, three blocks from the city’s first fire station at McIntyre and Ferguson.
In July 1940, Fire Chief George Brady granted Ryall a leave of absence so that he could join the army. On the night of his departure, Chief Brady presented Ryall with a pen and pencil set. Mayor Arthur Beattie witnessed the ceremony.
Ryall trained at Borden and was posted to the Regina Rifles, “A” Company, in April 1941. He completed training in Scotland in 1943. His battalion then began preparations for Operation Overlord. This was the invasion of Western Europe via the beaches of Normandy. Perhaps because of his experience as a firefighter, Rifleman Ryall would serve as a jeep orderly, today known as a combat medic.
As a member of “A” Company, Ryall was likely in the very first wave of soldiers to land on Juno Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Somehow, he survived that day unscathed.
In the following days, Ryall made over a hundred runs into No Man’s Land without injury. Twice his jeep was shot out from under him. Once it was destroyed by a mortar. Yet another time, machine gun fire cut the stretcher rack off his jeep.
By June 15, the Regina Rifles had advanced about 20 km, to the outskirts of the city of Caen. After nine days of intense fighting, that night proved unusually quiet. Quiet, that is, until 4 a.m. on the 16th, when an enemy plane dropped a bomb on Ryall’s trench. The plane was shot down. Rifleman William Ryall lay dead. He was 27 years old.
Sargent J. Allen remembered Ryall like this: “He was always the first man to run with his jeep when stretcher-bearers were needed. Day after day and night after night, Bill would go out without thinking how heavy the fire might be. He probably had more machine guns and sniper rifle shots directed at him than anyone else in the battalion.”
Writing for the Telegram newspaper, Allan Kent said Ryall “built up a reputation and a record of courage which today sets an example for all other stretcher-bearers in the Regina Rifles.”
Rifleman William Ryall is buried at Beny-Sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery in France.
This June marks the 81st anniversary of D-Day and Bill Ryall's passing. Despite the passage of time, we can honour his memory by remembering his service with the North Bay Fire Department.
We can also remember his sacrifice for the liberation of Europe.
Robert Olajos
Platoon 01, Station 1 | North Bay Fire and Emergency Services