In 2012, a bust of Commander Adelaide Sinclair was unveiled at the Naval Museum of Halifax during the opening of an exhibit marking the 70th anniversary of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service. The bust was created by Christian Corbet, the Royal Canadian Navy sculptor-in-residence.
Adelaide Sinclair was born on 16 January 1900 in Toronto. She earned a degree in political science at the University of Toronto in 1922, followed by a master’s degree in economics in 1925. After the Second World War began, she took a position at the Central Volunteer Bureau and became chairman of the Women’s Salvage Committee. In 1942, she moved to Ottawa where she became an economist with the Wartime Prices and Trade Board.
In March 1943, she joined the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service. She was sent to England to train with the Women’s Royal Navy Service (WRNS) and was appointed director with the rank of commander of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service on 18 September 1943. She was director until 1946, when the service was disbanded. She was not only the first Canadian director of the service, but also the first woman to earn the rank of captain in the Royal Canadian Navy.
Following the Second World War, Adelaide was the executive assistant to the Deputy Minister of National Health and Welfare (1946–57). In 1945, she became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her “untiring zeal and outstanding ability, tact and judgment in organizing the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service into a most efficient and well-disciplined unit.” In 1967, Sinclair was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canada as director of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service and her work with UNICEF.
Christian began working with the Royal Canadian Navy in 2010, which was Canada’s Naval Centennial. He offered to donate a sculpted bust of Admiral Sir Charles Kingsmill, known as the Father of the Royal Canadian Navy. The Royal Canadian Navy’s appreciation of this gift inspired Christian to donate a second bust in 2011. This one was of Chief Petty Officer Max Bernays, a Canadian navy hero from the Second World War
Other works by Christian Corbet include: Rear-Admiral Leonard Warren Murray Bust, Midshipman William A. Palmer Bust, Vice Admiral Ralph Lucien Hennessy Bust and Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve Bust.