Private George Hall

Private George Alexander Drummond Hall, 25th Battalion ( 2nd Tyneside Irish ) Northumberland Fusiliers. He was killed in action in France on 1st July 1916 on the First Day of the Battle of The Somme, aged 18. He was the son of Robert and Rebecca Hall of Joy Graden, Kelso and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Thiepval, Somme, France. He fell in the assault on the German trenches at La Boiselle where the Battalion suffered very heavy casualties. 5 Officers and 142 Other Ranks were killed and 13 Officers and 474 Other Ranks were wounded, a total of 634 from the 900 Officers and Men who began the attack. A sergeant was quoted as saying ” The gates of Hell were opened and we accepted the invitation to enter “. The first photograph shows the Tyneside Irish beginning their attack at 7.30 a.m. in neatly spaced lines with very little cover and the second shows the wide open spaces of no mans land. ( His brother James also died – see below ).