John Thomas Hall (Royal Air Force officer)

Squadron Leader John Thomas Hall, (19 February 1898 – 18 October 1987), was an officer in the Royal Air Force during the world wars.^[1]

Early life[edit]

John Thomas Hall was born in Bath, Somerset on February 19, 1898, as the illegitimate son of Ada Ellen Hall (1874–1958) and John Thomas Stride (1879–1912). Ada Ellen Hall was the daughter of William Hall (1836–1893), a Wiltshire farmer, and John Stride was the son of Thomas Stride (1851–1927), a Somerset brewer. Ada Hall married William Thomas Ford in 1905, and in 1911 the family immigrated to Canada, settling on a farm in Ingersoll, Ontario.^[1]

Hall had many relatives who had served in the military; his maternal uncle, Edward John Hall (1875–1944), fought with the North Somerset Yeomanry in the Second Boer War, his paternal grandmother's cousin, James Thomas Stride (1846–1910), fought with the 210th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War, and two of his mother's first cousins, Percy H. Harris (1890–1917) and Herbert G. Harris (1888–1917) were both killed during the Battle of Passchendaele, so when Hall came of age he enlisted to fight in World War I.^[1]

First World War[edit]

On July 23, 1917, he enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps in Ottawa, and during August-September 1917 he attended flight training at CFB Borden. In November, Hall was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps Canada and was sent to Fort Worth, Texas during the winter of 1917–18 to train American pilots. On January 1, 1918, he was appointed a Second Lieutenant at the School of Aerial Gunnery, Camp Taliaferro, and during January-February served as a gunnery instructor, once crashing his Curtiss JN Jenny into a barn during a training accident. With the formation of the Royal Air Force on April 1, 1918, Hall was promoted to Lieutenant and served as a training instructor in Canada until September, when he proceeded to England and then France where he served on the Western Front (World War I) until the Armistice of 11 November 1918.^[2] From December 1918 to August 1919, Hall served with the British forces Occupation of the Rhineland Germany and in September 1919 he was demobilized, transferring to the reserve lists in Canada.

Iraq and Kurdistan[edit]

On June 16, 1921, Hall was appointed Flight Officer on a four-year special service contract with the Royal Air Force. At that time, the British Army and the RAF were conducting RAF Iraq Command and Kurdistan, and the RAF would prove to be pivotal in a British victory against the rebels. From March 28, 1922, to October 20, 1924, he served at RAF bases in Egypt and Iraq, including commanding the fuel depot at Ramadi, where he met T. E. Lawrence of Arabia.^[1]

During his time in the RAF in the 1920s, Hall married Norma R. Macbeth (1903–1994), daughter of Robert Walker Macbeth, but they divorced after only a few years.^[1]

Inter-War years[edit]

When he returned to Canada from Iraq in 1924, Hall joined the Canadian Air Force (1920–1924), serving 1924–1925. He had applied for a homestead grant in Alberta in 1920 following his service in the First World War, and his mother moved to Clyde, Alberta, where she would live until her death. Hall returned to England, where he began an short acting career, perhaps due to his former sister-in-law being Lydia Bilbrook. Hall played the Vicar in the 1928 movie, A Little Bit of Fluff (1928 film).^[1]

In 1930, Hall began working for Imperial Airways flying passenger and cargo planes before going to South Africa to manage the Kimberley, Northern Cape. On April 13, 1933, while working for Imperial Airways in South Africa, he was appointed an Officer in the South African Air Force Reserve. Hall also staked mining claims in Southern Rhodesia, Tanganyika Territory and Kenya during 1932-34.^[1] Hall returned to England in 1936, transferring back to the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

Second World War[edit]

When World War II was declared on September 1, 1939, Hall was appointed Flight Lieutenant in the RAF Reserve and posted to RAF Leuchars to join RAF Coastal Command. He served there during the Battle of Britain and until November 1940, when he was transferred to No. 18 Group RAF at Wick Airport, supervising regional patrols of the North Sea during the Battle of the Atlantic. On December 1, 1941, he was promoted to Squadron Leader and in September 1942 was posted to RAF Thorney Island.^[2]

On June 16, 1943, Hall was posted to Northwest African Air Forces serving at Setif during the end of the North African Campaign. On June 4, 1944, he was posted to Annaba Bone and in September was transferred to the headquarters command of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces conducting bombing runs and patrols over the Mediterranean during the Italian Campaign (World War II). From January to March 1945, he served in Italy with No. 338 Wing RAF, No. 323 Wing from April to July, and No. 236 Wing from August 1945 to February 1946, when he was transferred to No. 114 Squadron RAF.^[2]

On September 14, 1946, Hall was posted to Fighter Command HQ, RAF Bentley Priory, and on November 4, 1947, was appointed Retired Acting Squadron Leader. On November 24, 1947, he was posted to No. 101 Personnel Despatch Centre, and to Unit Traffic Control on January 5, 1948. On March 2, 1948, he transferred to the RAF reserve with a commission for Flight Lieutenant, and on October 11, 1949 he relinquished his commission on cessation of duties. Hall was placed on the retired list with rank of Squadron Leader (Retd) on October 15, 1954.^[2]

Post-war[edit]

Following the war, Hall established a RV park in Middlesex, before moving to Snettisham and purchasing an old POW Camp where he established a larger park. Hall and his wife operated Diglea Holiday Camp in Snettisham until the late 1980s.^[1]

John Thomas Hall died in Snettisham on October 18, 1987.^[1]

Family[edit]

On September 21, 1939, Hall married Winifred Joan Lear (1912–1997), in Dundee, Scotland while he was posted to RAF Leuchars. She was the daughter of Walter Thomas Lear (1879–1951), a dairy farmer and former Trooper (rank) in the Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry, and Helen Elizabeth Bowden Harris (1886–1960), daughter of Henry Harris Sr. (1843–1914), a prominent Dorset farmer who was related to Benjamin Randell Harris. Helen Harris had three brothers who also served in the Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry, Allan Harris (1877–1962) during the Second Boer War, Henry Harris Jr. (1888–1961) during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, and George W. Harris (1890–1971) who was severely wounded at the Battle of Scimitar Hill.^[1]

The couple had five children:

• Brenda – immigrated to Australia
• Michael – died March 2, 2022
• Shelagh – immigrated to Chesterville, Ontario, Canada
• Valerie – lives in Snettisham, married to Lorne Green
• Linda – lives in King's Lynn

Honours[edit]

• British War Medal
• Victory Medal (United Kingdom)
• General Service Medal (1918) Kurdistan Clasp
• 1939–1945 Star
• Italy Star
• Defence Medal (United Kingdom)
• War Medal 1939–1945

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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