Wallace was born in
Queensland, the son of Charles Wallace and his wife Minnie (née Collins). He was educated at the
Mareeba and
Chillagoe primary schools before joining the
First Australian Imperial Force in 1916. He had put his age up by two years in order to enlist and saw action in France and Belgium with the 7th and 21st Machine Gun Companies. and the next year Wallace married Alice May Kiefel (died 1977). He died in October 1964 and was buried in the
Martyn Street Cemetery in Cairns. ==Public career==