Husband of Ruby

Cenotaph record initially prepared with the serviceman in 1999

Leading Seaman Walter (Wally) Ware (1919–2011) served in the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II. Raised in Taranaki, his interest in the sea began close to home, from the waterways around Eltham to early adventures that tested his confidence and strengthened his resolve. In June 1940 he signed on at HMNZS Philomel, beginning six years of naval service that took him across the North Sea and the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Wally served aboard HMNZS Achilles and later HMNZS Gambia, participating in major operations in both European and Pacific theatres, including the closing stages of the war in Japan. His recollections describe the routines of shipboard work, the demands of active service, and the camaraderie of sailors living in close quarters. While training in Brighton, he encountered singer Vera Lynn, whose performances sustained the morale of servicemen far from home. Decades later, he and Dame Vera reflected on their wartime experiences during a Fresh FM broadcast in Nelson, arranged by Wally’s son, journalist Darryl Ware.

Among his most distinctive contributions was an ingenious family “enigma code”, devised to maintain connection through censored wartime mail. By embedding latitude and longitude within everyday sentences, he enabled his family to trace his movements without revealing locations directly.

After the war, Wally returned to civilian life, becoming a farmer and active member of his community. He died in 2011, leaving a record of service preserved through his own reminiscences that can be read on Online Cenotaph (Profile written for “A Flight to Remember”, an Anzac Day 2026 initiative by Online Cenotaph and Air New Zealand). AWMM