www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, July 31, 2014 | 6 Nieces proud as Valour Road hero uncle is honoured by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff Spotlight "Connected to your Community" P ine Street in Winnipeg was renamed Valour Road in honour of a trio of soldiers who lived on that street and showed the ultimate in heroism in the First World War. One of the three was Sgt.-Maj. Frederick William Hall -- and his Oakville nieces are proud to be travelling back to Manitoba to see their late uncle honoured again this August. Gail Cargo, 89, and Joan Hall-Paulseth, 85, will journey to Winnipeg Wednesday, Aug. 6, where Hall's sacri ce, which saw the Canadian soldier posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War, will be commemorated. It's part of national efforts marking the centennial of the First World War. Hall served with the 8th (Winnipeg Ri es) Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. On April 24, 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium, the soldier heard a wounded comrade calling for help in `no man's land' -- the area between opposing armies. According to a biography provided by Canada's National Defence website, Hall and two other soldiers tried to get to the man under heavy re from the German trenches. The rst attempt failed and the two other soldiers were wounded in the process. A few minutes later, Hall made a second try on his own, even though he knew the enemy was waiting. He got to the soldier and was lifting him up to take him back to his trench when he was shot in the head and killed. He was only 30 years old. The fate of the soldier Hall Sgt.-Maj. Frederick William Hall tried to help is unclear although some reports indicate he was also fatally injured. Hall posthumously received the Victoria Cross, Canada's highest military decoration, for his actions that day. Cargo told the Oakville Beaver while she never knew her uncle, she is proud of what he did and glad he is being recognized in his home city. "We're very excited about what is going on," she said. "For years there wasn't much said about it, but with the 100th anniversary (of the beginning of the First World War) coming up, there's more interest." Cargo said not much information about her uncle has survived to present day. She said he was born in Kilkenny, Ireland and joined the British Army serving in India before immigrating to Canada. He enlisted in the Canadian Army following the outbreak of the First World War. Gail Cargo (left) and Joan Hall-Paulseth's uncle Frederick William Hall received the Victoria Cross during the First World War. There will be a ceremony for him in Winnipeg Wednesday (Aug. 6) as part of Canada's commemoration of the centennial of the First World War. Below, a news clipping regarding the Victoria Cross presentation. | photos by Eric Riehl Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) Cargo said she and her sister inherited Hall's Victoria Cross upon the death of her father. However, while she said it was nice to hold such an important piece of Canadian history in her hands, she decided to donate it to the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. Hall's Victoria Cross along with those of two other Winnipeg First World War soldiers will be making their way to that Manitoba city for the commemoration ceremony. Cargo said all three Victoria Cross recipients lived on the same street. "It had been called Pine Street, but it was renamed Valour Road," she said. "This ceremony in August will recognize all three of these men." The other two soldiers were Leo Clarke and Robert Shankland. Only Shankland survived the war. Cargo, a former schoolteacher, who has taught young people about the First World War, said it is essential for people to remember this destructive con ict and those who fought and died in it. "I think it is important young people realize what other generations have gone through to keep our country the way it is and to keep them safe," she said. Hall's actions were reenacted during part of a Heritage Minute lm, which ran on Canadian television stations and in cinemas during the previews, beginning in 1991. The lm, which does not include Hall's death, can be seen at www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage-minutes/valour-road. NEIL OLIVER VicePresident and Group Publisher DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Halton Region Editor in Chief Volume 52 | Number 91 447 Speers Road, Oakville ON (905) 845-3824 Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. 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