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In memory of
Company Sergeant Major
FREDERICK WILLIAM
HALL
who died on April 24, 1915
Military Service:
- Service Number: 1539
- Age: 30
- Force: Army
- Unit: Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regiment)
- Division: 8th Battalion
- Citation: An extract from "The London Gazette," No. 29202, dated June 23, 1915, records the following:
On 24th April, 1915, in the neighbourhood of Ypres, when a wounded man who was lying some 15 yards from the trench called for help, Company Serjeant-Major Hall endeavoured to reach him in the face of a very heavy enfilade fire which was being poured in by the enemy. The first attempt failed, and a non-commissioned officer and private soldier who were attempting to give assistance were both wounded. Company Serjeant-Major Hall then made a second most gallant attempt, and was in the act of lifting up the wounded man to bring him in when he fell mortally wounded in the head.
- Honours and Awards:
Victoria Cross
Additional Information:
- Date of Birth: February 21, 1885
- Son of Bombardier F. Hall and Mary Hall, of 43 Union Road, Leytonstone, London. Fred Hall, Leo Clarke and Robert Shankland all lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They all happened to live on the same street, Pine Street and it is believed to be the only street in the world to have three Victoria Cross winners that lived there. The city of Winnipeg later renamed it Valour Road in honour of the men. A bronze plaque is mounted on a street lamp at the corner of Portage Avenue and Valour Road to tell this story.
Commemorated on Page 17 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.
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There is a digital photo collection relating to FREDERICK WILLIAM HALL.
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FREDERICK WILLIAM HALL is a recipient of the Victoria Cross.
[COMPLETE LIST OF CANADIAN VICTORIA CROSS RECIPIENTS]
Burial Information:
MENIN GATE (YPRES) MEMORIAL
Belgium
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Grave Reference: Panel 24 - 26 - 28 - 30
Location:
The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War.
Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, it consists of a "Hall of Memory", 36.6 metres long by 20.1 metres wide. In the centre are broad staircases leading to the ramparts which overlook the moat, and to pillared loggias which run the whole length of the structure. On the inner walls of the Hall, on the side of the staircases and on the walls of the loggias, panels of Portland stone bear the names of the dead, inscribed by regiment and corps.
Carved in stone above the central arch are the words:
TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.
Over the two staircases leading from the main Hall is the inscription:
HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.
The dead are remembered to this day in a simple ceremony that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. All traffic through the gateway in either direction is halted, and two buglers (on special occasions four) move to the centre of the Hall and sound the Last Post. Two silver trumpets for use in the ceremony are a gift to the Ypres Last Post Committee by an officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery, who served with the 10th Battery, of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Ypres in April 1915.
Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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