Private William Hall

Private William Hall, 1st/8th ( Territorial ) Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He was killed in action in France, aged 26, on the 21st March 1918 during the first day of the German Spring Offensives. He had been born in Selkirk in 1892 and was the son of the late Jane Hall and Thomas Hall of 81 High Street, Selkirk. He is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, Pozieres, Somme, France. He had been working as a shoemaker in St. Andrews before enlisting in September 1914 in the 12th ( Service ) Battalion, Argylls. In November 1915 the Battalion was transferred from France to Salonica. Here he contracted typhoid and was evacuated to Aberdeen. Upon recovery he was posted to the 1st/8th Battalion in France and was killed on the 21st March 1918. The photographs show Allied troops in defensive positions awaiting the German advances. The colour photo shows the very impressive Memorial raised to commemorate the 51st ( Highland ) Division of which the Battalion was part. It was erected in Newfoundland Park on the Somme overlooking “Y” Ravine which was taken when the Division stormed and captured the strong German positions in Beaumont Hamel in November 1916. A plaque on the Memorial in both English and Gaelic reads ” Friends Are Good On The Day Of Battle”.