Date of birth: 25/12/1875

Place of birth: Woking, Surrey, England, United Kingdom

Last known residence: Cobham, Surrey, England, United Kingdom

Profession: Gardener

Country: England, United Kingdom

Force: British Expeditionary Force

Rank: Private

Service number: G/15741

Enlistment date: 16/07/1916

Enlistment place: Guildford, Surrey, England, United Kingdom

Units:  —  Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), 7th Bn.  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 10/08/1917

Place of death: Stirling Castle, Zillebeke, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 41

British War Medal Medal

Victory Medal Medal

James Hall, a former gardener, was born on 25 December 1875 in Woking, Surrey, England. He was the son of Alfred and Elizabeth Bullen. He married Ann Elizabeth Daborn on 25 November 1899 and had three children by 1909. James enlisted on 16 July 1916 at Guildford, Surry, England. He served as a private in the 7th Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), part of the 55th Brigade, of the 18th Division.

On the 10 August 1917 the 18th Division participated in the Capture of Westhoek. The 7th Queens were to from a defensive flank along the southern edge of Inverness Copse. While moving into position at the jump-off line, they were spotted by the Germans. A green flare went up and an artillery barrage came down on the 7th Queens at 2.28 a.m., causing heavy casualties. The surviving Queens moved up along the eastern edge of Inverness Copse and were pinned down by rife and machine gun fire from Jasper Avenue. The war diary reports 272 casualties that day.

James Hall, aged 41, was killed in action on August 10, 1917. Private Hall was initially buried near Stirling Castle at 28.J.13.d.40.50. His remains were exhumed and interred at Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm), Plot II, Row C, Grave 1.

55 Infantry Brigade: Headquarters (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO 95/2047/3). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

7 Battalion Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO 95/2051/1). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used

Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911 (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), RG14). https://www.ancestry.com/ Sources used

Margaret E Macculloch & David J Hall Family History Research https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~macculloch/genealogy/index.htm Sources used

McCarthy Chris, Passchendaele: The Day-by-Day Account (Londen, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018), 50-51. Sources used

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=185bd1fd-6528-4df7-ae56-8878e2d73059

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/489776

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/5349996