Private Norman Osborne Herbert Gall Memorial Tablet, Port Macquarie

About

The memorial is a marble tablet located on the northern wall within St Thomas Anglican Church, Port Macquarie. The tablet is Gothic shaped and mounted on a timber board with the dedication inscribed in black lettering. The tablet is dedicated to both Norman Osborne Herbert Gall, who was killed in action at Flers in France on 16 November 1916, and to his grandmother, Emma Kemp, formerly the widow of Isaac Gall and widow of the late Frederick Richard Kemp, Vicar of Port Macquarie. The tablet was erected on 4 September 1918 at St Thomas Church by Mrs Stewart, daughter of the late Mrs Kemp, and unveiled by William Kemp, a grandson of the deceased (The Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate, 7 September 1918).  Norman was born in 1894 in Wagga Wagga, NSW, and moved with his family to Orange in the late 1890s. On 8 March 1915 he enlisted as a Private in the 20th Battalion, A Company, and embarked with his unit from Sydney on board HMAT A35 Berrima on 25 June. Norman joined the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in Gallipoli in August 1915 and fought through the Gallipoli campaign; he was reportedly one of the last men to leave the peninsula. Private Gall proceeded to France in February 1916 and fought in the battle of the Somme. He was appointed Lance Corporal in June, Temporary Sergeant in August, and Sergeant on 6 November. He was due to receive a promotion to Lieutenant when, on 16 November, he was killed in action.  The memorial tablet can be viewed when the church is open for public services.