Captain William Herbert Hunter (224892) served in the Royal Ulster Rifles during World War Two. Known as Wilber, he was the only son of the late Herbert Charles Hunter and Ellen Hunter of 730 Antrim Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim. Ellen later lived at Pebble Cottage, Ballygally, Co. Antrim.
Before the outbreak of the Second World War, William attended Belfast Royal Academy, Belfast, Co. Antrim. On 1st March 1938, he joined the staff of the Northern Bank at their head office in Belfast, Co. Antrim. He briefly transferred to a branch in Whitehead, Co. Antrim in 1939 before returning to Head Office before enlisting in the British Army on 15th December 1939.
He first joined the Royal Artillery receiving his call up as a Gunner on 13th January 1940. He rose quickly through the ranks, promoted to Lance Bombardier, then 2nd Lieutenant by 1942 and finally as a Captain with Royal Ulster Rifles.
Death in Germany
William died in a motoring accident near Bad Oeynhausen, Germany on 11th October 1945 aged 30 years old. Having served since 1940, Hunter was due to demobilise a short time after his untimely death. Around 5 weeks before the motoring accident, he visited Whitehead, Co. Antrim and expressed his desire to return to the Northern Bank.
William Herbert Hunter’s grave is in Section 2, Row B, Grave 7 of Munster Heath War Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. His headstone bears the inscription:
I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me shall never die.