Anchors, Armor, and Duty: Two Generations of the Balls Lineage Across Three Wars
As we continue our daily Remembrance Day tribute, we turn back the pages of our family tree to honor a remarkable multi-generational thread of Canadian military service. Spanning two generations across three major global conflicts; the First World War, the Second World War, and the Korean War, this story highlights four men connected by blood, marriage, and an unbroken tradition of duty: Ebenezer "Eber" Cornelius Balls, his brother George Russell Balls, George’s son Earl Russell Balls, and Harold Newton Darling, George's son-in-law.
Genealogy reminds us that service ripples through generations and family branches in astounding ways. Eber and George Russell Balls were brothers, born and raised in Perth County, who both stepped forward during the Great War.
In the next generation, wartime service bound four siblings of the Balls family directly into the effort: eldest sister Elsie married WWII veteran Harold Newton Darling; sister Bernice married WWII veteran John "Jack" Fletcher; sister Hazel married WWII veteran Allan Coddington; and their brother Earl Russell Ball stepped forward to serve in Korea.
Though their service spanned the muddy trenches of 1917, the armored recovery trails of Western Europe, and the cold ridges of Korea, these four men shared a profound common bond: answering the call of duty without hesitation and bringing their steadfast resilience back to the soil, shops, and factories of Southwestern Ontario and St. Marys.
Private Ebenezer "Eber" Cornelius Balls (1892–1969)
1st Depot Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment | Canadian Expeditionary Force
Born on April 23, 1892, in Donegal, Elma Township, Ontario, to Cornelius Balls and Eunice Sabina Lewis, Ebenezer "Eber" Cornelius Balls grew up grounded in the rich agricultural landscape of Perth County. As the Great War dragged into its third brutal year and Canada expanded its mobilization effort to sustain frontline strength, Eber stepped forward, enlisting in the Canadian Army on October 10, 1917.
Assigned to the 1st Depot Battalion, Western Ontario Regiment, Eber entered a military world defined by intense training, troop assembly, and constant movement. The Western Ontario Regiment was tasked with receiving recruits from across Southwestern Ontario, drilling them in tactical discipline, weapons handling, and trench survival before sending reinforcements across the Atlantic to bolster units on the Western Front.
The fall of 1917 was a sobering time to put on the uniform. Reports of heavy casualties at Passchendaele filled local newspapers, and military camps were filled with the cold mud and grueling routines of autumn training. Eber served with the steady, quiet resolve typical of rural Ontario farm boys of his era.
Following his service, Eber returned to Southwestern Ontario, marrying Evelyn May Keightley and building a steady civilian life rooted in family and hard work. Passing away on October 30, 1969, Eber left behind a proud legacy as our family’s link to the Great War generation; a pioneer of service whose example echoed down through his nephew Earl and the generations that followed.
Magically, after we placed flags for the Veterans this past Saturday, I realized that we always place the flag for Eber at the cenotaph. Well, curiosity got to me this year and I started searching the records and I found him! Turns our Eber is buried in an unmarked grave within the St. Marys Cemetery, listed as B19. With a little more work, I will happily place Eber's flag with him next year, and keep you posted when I do locate his place.
Private George Russell Balls (1896–1972)
Canadian Expeditionary Force | World War I
Born in 1896 in Elma Township, George Russell Balls; brother to Eber, was another true Perth County son who answered his country's call. Standing just under five-foot-eight with a fair complexion and sharp grey eyes, George enlisted in London, Ontario, in May 1918.
Since G. Russell fought in WW1, all of the records are available online for no cost. Here is a copy of the Particulars of his Recruitment. These records can be found at https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home If they fought in WW1 and were Canadian you will find them here.
These records are amazing providing dental, embarkment, recruitment details, their last paystub from service and of course their discharge info. I encourage you to check it out if you are interested of have a Veteran that served.
George was part of the vital wave of late-war reinforcements called up during the final, decisive months of the First World War. As Allied forces prepared for what would become the legendary Hundred Days Offensive, Canada worked tirelessly to mobilize every available man to sustain the push overseas. Drilling under the watchful eyes of veteran instructors, George learned the demanding realities of infantry life, drill discipline, and field craft.
Following the Armistice and his military discharge, George returned home to the soil of Perth County to build his life. He farmed near Science Hill, raising six children alongside his wife while working dedicatedly at Maxwells in St. Marys.
George passed away in 1972, leaving behind a profound legacy of quiet hard work, family devotion, and patriotic duty, a mantle that his son, Earl, would proudly pick up a generation later.
Craftsman Harold Newton Darling (1912–1992)
Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RCEME) | No. 1 Army Field Workshop
Born on December 29, 1912, in Oliver Corners, Ontario, Harold Newton Darling was a man whose mechanical mind and steady hands would be tested in the most demanding theaters of the Second World War. Enlisting in the Canadian Army in 1940 as the nation mobilized for total war, Harold embarked on an extraordinary journey that would keep him overseas for four years and ten months.
Serving as a driver and mechanic with the No. 1 Army Field Workshop, RCEME, Craftsman Darling was stationed directly at the mechanical nerve center of Allied armored operations. His wartime world was defined by the heavy smell of diesel fuel, grease, hot steel, and mud, mixed with the thunder of artillery. Harold saw extensive action across Italy, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Holland.
Behind the wheel of massive General Grant tanks and heavy recovery vehicles, Harold’s primary duty was as dangerous as it was essential: driving right up into active or recently fought-over battlefields to perform salvage work, hooking up heavy tow lines to pull out shattered and disabled Allied tanks under extreme conditions. It was high-stakes, heavy-handed work that required unflappable nerves, mechanical genius, and sheer physical grit to keep Canada's armored push moving forward.
Discharged in 1945 following the Allied victory, Harold returned home to Ontario, marrying Elsie Balls and connecting his post-war life directly into the Balls family circle. He carried with him not only the weight of nearly five years overseas, but also the deep camaraderie of veterans who had rebuilt the engines of liberation. Harold passed away on September 11, 1992, at the age of 79, resting under a stone that proudly records his trade as a Craftsman in the RCEME.
Private Earl Russell Ball (1928–1974)
Canadian Army | Korean War
Born on September 5, 1928, in Blanshard Township, Ontario, Earl Russell Ball grew up in the shadow of the Second World War, watching his family members and neighbors answer the call to arms. Carrying forward the quiet strength of his father George and uncle Eber, Earl stepped forward to take up his family’s tradition of service when global conflict erupted on the Korean Peninsula, enlisting in the Canadian Army on May 18, 1951.
Serving as a Private during the Korean War, Earl deployed into a harsh, mountainous combat environment. The Korean theater presented grueling conditions: freezing winters, scorched summer heat, monsoon rains, and intense trench warfare fought across rugged ridges against determined opposition. Armed with steady discipline, Canadian infantrymen held vital defense lines, patrolled dangerous no-man's-land sectors, and endured heavy artillery barrages.
For his honorable service on the front lines, Earl was awarded the United Nations Service Medal. Following his discharge on July 10, 1953, he returned home to St. Marys, where he seamlessly integrated back into the community workforce.
Earl dedicated 15 years of hard work to Maxwell's St. Marys; working where his father had also worked, and another 9 years to DeLong Scovill Limited. Deeply rooted in local veteran fellowship, he was an active member of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 236 in St. Marys, sharing quiet comradeship with the veterans of World War I and World War II who walked the same streets. Tragically, Earl passed away far too young on October 24, 1974, at just 46 years of age, leaving behind a proud legacy of wartime duty and devoted local craftsmanship.
From the draft halls of 1917 and 1918 in Western Ontario, to the mud-choked tank retrieval trails of wartime Europe, to the cold ridges of Korea, two generations of the Balls family line held an essential link in a grand chain of service.
Uncles inspired nephews, brothers stood alongside brothers, and marriage bound four siblings of one remarkable family into a shared tapestry of honor. They did not seek glory; they simply answered when their country called, brought their technical skills and quiet strength to the front, and returned home to St. Marys and Perth County to build our community with those same steady hands.
We will remember them.
Comments