Robert Walls (admiral)

Vice Admiral Robert Andrew Kevin Walls, (15 March 1941 – 28 August 2023) was a senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). In 42 years of service, Walls commanded HMA Ships Tobruk, Moreton and Brisbane, and served as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff and Maritime Commander Australia, before his career culminated in his appointment as Vice Chief of the Defence Force from April 1995 until his retirement in March 1997.

Early life

Walls was born in Colac, Victoria, on 15 March 1941, the eldest of four sons to Andrew Nowell Walls, a local government official who served as a cypher officer in the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War, and Hilda Margaret (née Thompson). Initially educated at Colac High School, Walls joined the Royal Australian Naval College at HMAS Cerberus as a cadet midshipman in January 1955; his class was the last intake of 13-year-olds to be accepted by the college. Mid-way through Walls' training, the college relocated to HMAS Creswell in Jervis Bay.

Naval career

Walls graduated in late 1958 and, following service at sea in HMAS Swan, was sent to the Britannia Royal Naval College in the United Kingdom for further training from April 1959. Promoted to acting sub-lieutenant, he returned to Australia in September 1960, served in HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Quiberon, then completed the Destroyer Gunnery Officer’s course at HMAS Cerberus in 1962. His next posting was to HMAS Quickmatch, during which he was promoted to lieutenant in February 1963. Following further specialist training at Cerberus later that year, Walls joined HMAS Derwent as part of the ship's commissioning crew in 1964. He remained on the Derwent for just over a year, which included service in the waters off Malaysia and Borneo as part of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.