Patrick Wall - Education and Military Career

Education and Military Career

The son of Henry Benedict Wall, Patrick Wall was educated at Downside School. He was commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1935 and qualified as a naval gunnery instructor. During the Second World War, he served in the Iron Duke, Valiant, and Malaya, followed by a spell at HMS Turtle, the landing craft base. In 1945, he was patrol officer and second-in-command 48 Commando RM in the British Army on the Rhine, where he was wounded. Wall's exploits in action drew the highest commendation: "An outstanding character whose industry and devotion to duty are beyond praise. He is a very devout man, and draws real inspiration from his Roman Catholic religion. In battle and behind the line, he is an example of energy and the aggressive spirit. His aim appears to be to do as much as possible", stated his report.

He was awarded the Military Cross in the North-West Europe campaign, and was awarded the US Legion of Merit the same year, for his services during the invasion operations in northern Italy and the south of France. He taught at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in 1946, and the Joint Services Staff College from 1947 to 1948. He spent a further two years on the staff of the Commandant-General, RM. He was promoted to the rank of Major in 1949, and decided to leave the Royal marines the following year in order to enter politics.

He continued his naval connection as Commander of 47 Commando Royal Marines Voluntary reserve from 1951 to 1957, and from 1950 to 1966, was Commissioner of the Sea Scouts for London.

In 1953, Patrick Wall married Sheila Elizabeth, daughter of James Putnam, of Broadstone, Dorset.

Read more about this topic:  Patrick Wall

Famous quotes containing the words military career, education and, education, military and/or career:

    The domestic career is no more natural to all women than the military career is natural to all men.
    George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)

    ... many of the things which we deplore, the prevalence of tuberculosis, the mounting record of crime in certain sections of the country, are not due just to lack of education and to physical differences, but are due in great part to the basic fact of segregation which we have set up in this country and which warps and twists the lives not only of our Negro population, but sometimes of foreign born or even of religious groups.
    Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)

    A good education is another name for happiness.
    Ann Plato (1820–?)

    In politics, it seems, retreat is honorable if dictated by military considerations and shameful if even suggested for ethical reasons.
    Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)

    From a hasty glance through the various tests I figure it out that I would be classified in Group B, indicating “Low Average Ability,” reserved usually for those just learning to speak the English Language and preparing for a career of holding a spike while another man hits it.
    Robert Benchley (1889–1945)