Thomas March HALL

Thomas Hall was born on 4 December 1892 in Castlemaine, Victoria. His parents were Thomas Sergeant (GGS 1868-77) and Eva Lucy Annie (née Hill) Hall. He attended Scotch from 1907 to 1910. He came to Scotch after four years at Camberwell Grammar School. His obituary in The Scotch Collegian said he was dux of his classes at Scotch each year until he left.

Thomas was an engineer when he enlisted on 9 June 1915 in Melbourne, Victoria. He served in the 29th Battalion with the rank of Sergeant. His Regimental Number was 1145.

Thomas died on 26 September 1917 at Polygon Wood, Ypres, Belgium. He was 24 years of age.

Service record

Initially Thomas was allotted as a Private to a group of reinforcements for the 8th Battalion in June 1915, but in September that year he was allocated to the newly-raised 29th Battalion. He embarked with the unit from Melbourne on 10 November 1915, arriving at Suez on 7 December. In March 1916, in Egypt, he was promoted to Corporal. On 23 June 1916 he disembarked with the 29th at Marseille in France.

A month later, on 23 July 1916 he became a Temporary Sergeant and on 20 October was confirmed as a full Sergeant. He was hospitalised with an injury to his left knee on 24 January 1917. As was normal in such cases where there might be any doubt as to the credibility of the injury, the battalion Commanding Officer signed a certificate saying that Thomas sustained this injury through no fault of his own while proceeding to the trenches. Another document suggested he fell on a duckboard. This injury was serious enough for Thomas to be sent to England a week later with what was officially diagnosed as ‘Internal Derangement of Left Knee.’ Not until July 1917, nearly six months later, was he able to go to a training depot at Perham Downs, preliminary to returning to France. He left for France on 8 August 1917.

He rejoined his unit, the 29th, in the field on 27 August 1917. A month later he would be dead. His brother Alec, also a Scotch Collegian, wrote a letter in October 1925 asking for news of Thomas’ grave, and saying that given that an eyewitness in the battalion saw Thomas killed by a bullet, surely someone would have buried him and that someone must have known something of the location (see letter below). His hopes proved futile.

Thomas Hall has no known grave, but is commemorated at the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 23), Belgium.

Photographs and Documents:

Letter

Sources:

1. Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour
2. Mishura Scotch Database
3. National Archives of Australia – B2455, HALL T M
4. Scotch Collegian 1917
5. The AIF Project - https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=123488