Australian Dictionary of Biography

Sir William Henry Hall (1906–1998), soldier and president of the Returned Services League of Australia (RSL), was born on 5 January 1906 at Aldershot, England, elder child and only son of Scottish-born William Hall, a bombardier in the Royal Field Artillery, and his English-born wife Elizabeth, née Wighton. William junior was educated at the Morgan Academy, Dundee, but left aged fourteen when the family emigrated to Australia. His father bought a pineapple farm in Queensland but this failed, and in 1924 young William joined the State Electricity Commission (SEC) in Melbourne as a clerk.

Hall enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) in July 1927 and was assigned to the 3rd Division Engineers. On 20 June 1931 he married Irene Mary Hayes, a clerk, at St Monica’s Catholic Church, Moonee Ponds; they had four daughters, Annastatia, Elizabeth, Katherine, and Jennifer, and one son, William. Hall was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Corps of Australian Engineers in September 1933, and by 1940 had also risen to superintendent with the SEC.

In May 1940, following the outbreak of World War II, Hall transferred to full-time service with the Australian Imperial Force, and in June was promoted to captain in the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA). From November 1940 he served in North Africa and Syria with the 2/4th Field Regiment. Returning to Australia in March 1942, he was promoted to major in September then served in Papua (October 1942–June 1944). As a battery commander in the 2/5th Field Regiment he participated in the defence of Milne Bay and the Allied attacks on Buna, Gona, and Sanananda. While a predilection for spit and polish earned him a reputation as ‘the soldier with shiny boots’ (Sydney Morning Herald 1998, 36), he was also known for having exposed himself to Japanese fire to scale a tree from which to direct his artillery at Milne Bay. In December 1943 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for ‘courage, driving power, and the highest qualities of leadership’ (NAA B2458) during the capture of Buna.

Promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1944, Hall was appointed director of the Armament Equipment Division at Army Headquarters, Melbourne. He was transferred to the Reserve of Officers in January 1946 and was subsequently awarded the Efficiency Decoration. Resuming work with the SEC, he became comptroller of the stores in 1957 and retired from the organisation in January 1970. In the CMF he was commander of the 2nd Medium Regiment (1948–51); of RAA, 3rd Division (1951–55); and of RAA, Southern Command (1955–61), with the rank of colonel from May 1952 and of brigadier from September 1952. He was placed on the Retired List in January 1961.

After leaving the CMF, Hall became increasingly involved with the RSL. He had been president of the SEC and Caulfield Central sub-branches, and in 1962 was appointed CBE for service as chief marshal of Melbourne’s Anzac Day marches since 1955. In July 1964 he was elected president of the RSL’s Victorian branch. He served as deputy national president of the RSL (July-October 1967) to fill a gap created by his predecessor’s resignation, and was elected on a substantive basis in May 1969. In January 1967 he became colonel commandant, RAA, and the following year was knighted for his service to veterans.

Hall was elected RSL national president in October 1974, and was soon leading the organisation’s demands that the Australian Labor Party government of Gough Whitlam spend more on defence. Although a confirmed anti-communist, during a visit to the Soviet Union in September 1976 he thought that its people seemed ‘completely happy and entirely relaxed’ (Canberra Times 1976, 3). Declining membership emerged as the major issue facing the RSL during his presidency. He rejected suggestions that the organisation should ‘die out with dignity’ (Hall 1977), but State branches disagreed over whether to start admitting individuals whose service had been confined to Australia. Strident as his attacks on government could be a journalist found him to be ‘a mild man, not large, quiet-voiced and easily amused’ (Alton 1974, 8).

In August 1978 Hall retired from the RSL presidency, and was appointed KBE in December. He was a member of a number of charitable organisations including the Patriotic Funds Council of Victoria, and the War Veterans’ Homes Trust, as well as being chair of the RSL War Widows’ and Widowed Mothers’ Trust and of the Raffles and Bingo Permits Board, and a director of the Royal Humane Society of Australasia. His recreational interests included cricket and golf. Predeceased by Irene but survived by their children, he died on 7 September 1998 at Glenhuntly and was cremated. An RSL managed hostel at Ivanhoe was named for him. The marathon runner Robert de Castella is one of his grandchildren.