Training Reserve Battalion, Hampshire Regiment
There is very little known about Private Hall. His entry in the CWGC records only his initials and states that he was in the 36th Training Reserve Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, this Regiment’s name appearing on his headstone.
It is believed that his first name was Frederick and he was born in 1895. The 1911 Census records that a Frederick Hall, lived at the home of his parents, Frederick G and Florence Hall, at 26 Weston Road, Gloucester and that he was a French polisher. However, it cannot be certain that this is the same man.
There may be an inaccuracy in the details of his unit held by the CWGC. According to The Long Long Trail website, those members of the Training Reserve Battalions who had numbers pre-fixed ‘TR8’ were part of the 34th Training Reserve Battalion, which became part of the 13th (Reserve) Battalion, Hampshire Regiment. The absence any Medal Index Card appears to indicate there was no service overseas.
According to Leaving All that was Dear – Cheltenham and the Great War (by Joe Devereux and Graham Sacker), Private Hall’s death on 20 November 1918, at the age of 23, occurred at Beaufort War Hospital, Bristol, as a result of pneumonia. He lived at Gritmore, Leckhampton Road.
His grave in Leckhampton (St Peter) Churchyard is marked with a standard CWGC headstone.
Researched by Graham Adams 21 March 2013