208408 Capt. Norman Hall British Army 2/5th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers from:Bury, Lancashire Born on 28th February 1892, Norman Hall studied science (probably chemistry) at Manchester University where he joined the OTC. Aged 22, he was working on glycerine development at Lever Brothers in Port Sunlight on the outbreak of war. Because of his OTC experience he tried to join the regular army, though was rejected on medical grounds. He joined a “Pals†Regiment in Liverpool (he achieved the required chest measurement by breathing out and having the tape held loosely and also jumped up and down on the scales so that he registered the correct weight!). He quickly transferred to the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers (Territorial Force)on its formation in Bury in September 1914. He volunteered for service overseas, although as a Territorial he was not obliged to do so. Because of his (limited) relevant experience in the OTC he was appointed as a signaller and had an important role in establishing and maintaining field telephone communications. He began as a private, promoted quickly to Lieutenant and then 2nd Lieutenant before travelling overseas to France, rising to the rank of Temporary Captain in charge of a Company. He transferred to the 1/5th in June 1917 following his return to the Front after recovering from wounds, demoted (as he saw it) to his substantive rank of 2nd Lieutenant. He attained the rank of substantive Captain by the end of the War and possibly Temporary Major.
He was severely wounded on September 9th 1916 when he was repatriated, returning to the Front in France in June 1917. He was injured again in August 1918 – it seems that the horse he was riding to collect beer for a celebration of the Battalion’s Battle Honour (Minden Day – 6th August) fell on him and damaged his foot. He was again repatriated and did not return to the Front. He returned to his job with Lever Brothers on demobilisation.
In the family there is a series of 5 volumes of diaries which, although written retrospectively, give a detailed account of his experiences and appear to have been based on diaries written in the field (three of which we have). We also have sketch maps of actions, letters home, slides and a couple of original battle orders. In amongst the intricate detail of troop movements and other technical military information (the layout of field telephone networks and trenches, attempts to listen in to German telephones and a plan for a “top secret†chemical gas scheme in his section) the daily routine in the trenches and other locations is vividly described. There are many reflective anecdotes and digressions (eg. about French citizens and farms, signalling procedures, dugout life, treatment of wet feet, bathing routines, management of the company including censorship of letters, rat catching, the battalion dog, a trip to Paris with Simone and her sister “the girls†etc).
Whilst casualties are recorded, the account is matter of fact and generally lacking in emotion – the stiff upper lip mentality is very apparent. Yet he obviously cared for his colleagues and the men under his command and was deeply affected by the deaths of some of his close comrades. He clearly recognised that he had some narrow escapes (including one occasion when orders, which would almost certainly have been fatal, arrived too late) and was fortunate to survive. It seems that the approach adopted, and indeed the very act of writing the account itself, were his way of dealing with the horror that he experienced.
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