Frederick William Hall

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Frederick William Hall, VC (February 8, 1885 - April 24, 1915) was an Irish born recipient (by birth) and likewise a naturalised immigrant Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

He was 30 years old, and a Company Sergeant-Major in the 8th (Winnipeg Rifles) Bn, Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:

It was on the night of April 23, 1915 during the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium that Hall discovered a number of missing men. On the ridge above he could hear moans from the wounded men. Under cover of darkness he went to the top of the ridge on two separate occasions and returned each time with a wounded man.

By nine o'clock in the morning (April 24) there were still some missing men. In broad daylight and under a hail of enemy fire Hall and Cpl Payne and Pte Rogerson crawled out toward the wounded. Payne and Rogerson were both wounded, but returned to the shelter of the front line. When a wounded man, who was lying some 15 yards from the trench, called for help, Company Sergeant-Major Hall endeavored to reach him in the face of very heavy enfilade fire by the enemy. He 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. The soldier he had attempted to help was also shot and killed.

Born in Ireland, (Kilkenny, 8 February 1885) he emigrated to Canada around 1910. He lived in Pine Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the street was renamed "Valour Road" after the war because three Victoria Cross winners lived in it; Frederick Hall, Leo Clarke and Robert Shankland. It is believed to be the only street in the world to have three Victoria Cross winners that lived there. A bronze plaque is mounted on a street lamp at the corner of Portage Ave and Valour Road to tell this story.

[edit] References

Listed in order of publication year

The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)
The Irish Sword (Brian Clarke 1986)
Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)
Irelands VCs ISBN 1-899243-00-3 (Dept of Economic Development 1995)
VCs of the First World War - The Western Front 1915 (Peter F. Batchelor & Christopher Matson, 1999)
Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
Sidney Allinson, Gordon Enright, Ian Clapham
"On the Battlefields", From the archives of "Maclean's Magazine", Edited by Michael Benedict, Penguin Canada, 2002 ISBN 0-14-301341-6, page 98