MOORE, Marta Eugene Sybelle
Age at Death: 53
Rank Private
Unit Canadian Women’s Army Corps
Service Number W3510
Place of Burial Halifax Memorial, NS
Date of Birth 1891.01.08
Place of Birth Owen Sound ON
Enlistment
Date of Death 1944.10.03
Mother of Mr. E. Evans Moore, of Ottawa, ON
Marta was an accomplished writer, who had been published in newspapers and magazines and seen one of her plays produced. She also did editorial and publicity work for newspapers and radio. She was married and had a son, with whom she moved around the country; her husband died in 1940. The following year, she was riding on a train that collided head-on with another in Northern Ontario; her assistance with the rescue work saw her dubbed “the Heroine of the Wreck” by local newspapers. She was also involved in organizing women’s auxiliaries for volunteering in the war effort prior to the formation of the CWAC.
Upon her enlistment she gave her age as six years younger; an evaluation stated perceptively, “This woman looks considerably older than the stated age,” and concluded that she “undoubtedly possesses high ability, but her lack of physical stamina suggests that she will not be able to undergo the usual course of training… Referred for medical consultation in view of inability to adjust to Army conditions.” A later memo counters that she was enlisted for unspecified “special duties” and that putting her in basic training was a mistake. A medical report also references “catty vindictiveness on the part of a superior – formerly her subordinate”. Regardless, she was discharged in April 1943; a year and a half later, she died in Victoria of myocarditis and mitral stenosis. The Army was unable to contact her son to determine a burial place, and so it was eventually decided that her name would be inscribed on the Halifax Memorial, in Point Pleasant Park.
