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Frank William Hall was born in Preston in 1920. His family moved to Hampton, where he attended Hampton Primary School, then moved across the road to Hampton High School. Frank was a very keen cricketer, helping found the Hampton Centrals Cricket Club in 1935 when only 15 and playing in the Firsts until his mid 40’s. He graduated at the end of year 10, he would have liked to gone to University, but money was tight so he had to find work instead. He joined the Militia, and was trained in Morse Code, skills that would serve him well in wartime.

He started with Queensland Insurance Company at the age of 15 and was a 20-year-old insurance clerk when he decided to serve his country overseas during wartime and join the Australian Imperial Force in May 1940. This month saw the German advances through France and the low countries, and a direct threat to Great Britain. This convinced many young Australian of the seriousness of the conflict and spurred them to enlist. On 3rd June 1940, Frank was ‘taken on strength’, beginning his training. Considering the communication skills he would have acquired in his line of work, Frank was allocated to the 1st Corps of Signals two days later and was appointed as a corporal on 12th June 1940. This very rapid promotion indicates that the army saw potential in him as a skilled soldier and leader.

Frank William Hall

The 1st Australian Corps of Signals was the principal communication and signals unit of the 1st Australian Corps. Its responsibility was a crucial one, maintaining lines of communication between command and subordinate units, providing organization to what would otherwise be the chaos of war. They operated and maintained radio communication, telephone and telegraph lines, as well as wireless relay stations. It should come as no surprise that such technical jobs required a significant amount of training, which Frank had undertaken for several months before leaving Australia.

The day after Christmas 1940, members of the Australian Signals Corps, including Frank, embarked from Sydney aboard the HMT Queen Mary, en route to the Middle East. By the time they reached their destination on 29th January 1941, Australian troops and their allies had already won great victories over Axis forces in Bardia and Tobruk.

HMT Queen Mary departs Sydney

On 18th March 1941, Frank embarked on a troopship for Greece. The Australian Signals Corps played a crucial role during the Greek Campaign in 1941 as part of the Allied effort to defend Greece against the Axis invasion. This also disrupted German preparations for their invasion of the Soviet Union, although it was not known to the troops on the ground at the time. Their primary responsibility was to establish and maintain telephone lines, wireless radio networks, and telegraph systems to connect front-line units with command centres, as well as to maintain communications between Australian, British, New Zealand, and Greek forces, ensuring coordinated military operations. This was not an easy task in the unfamiliar and difficult terrain of northern Greece, where most of the fighting took place in cold, winter-like conditions. Unfortunately, better-equipped, better-supported, and more numerous German forces soon turned the role of the Signals Corps into coordination of an increasingly challenging retreat and evacuation effort.
Many Allied forces were captured during this ordeal; however, Frank was among those who successfully withdrew to be evacuated to Crete, where British and ANZAC troops mounted another heroic, yet ultimately unsuccessful, effort to resist the German onslaught. Frank had to evacuate once again, and on 19th May 1941, he was back where he started two months earlier, in the Middle East.

Men of the 6th Division Signals stand on the wharf at Hania, Crete, April 1941. AWM.

Almost immediately after arriving he spent a month on a signals training course, completing this on the 4th July 1941. He was posted to Syria, where there was number of Australian units taking part in Operation Exporter, the Allied invasion of Vichy French Lebanon and Syria. While there he saw the incongruous sight of Free French fighting Vichy French. In the area he was based they weren’t too keen to fight their countrymen, and were yelling out to each other. Frank spent less than a week in Syria before he was evacuated to hospital. We don’t know what illness or injury he was suffering, but it was quickly resolved, he only spent six days in hospital.

On 21st October 1941, Frank was appointed Lance Sergeant. In this role, he acted as the second-in-command of a small signals team, under the leadership of a sergeant or an officer. He supervised corporals and other junior ranks, ensuring that effective communication between units was maintained.

Signal Corps troops working in the cipher office

On 17th February 1942, Frank embarked on the ME Strathallan, and exactly a month later, he was back in Australia, disembarking at Adelaide. Following his return from service in the Middle East, Frank joined the newly formed III Corps, which had been established as part of Australia’s defensive efforts. This period saw elements of the AIF redeploy to bolster home defences amidst growing fears of Japanese attacks on the mainland. The government’s decision to reinforce Western Australia came in response to the Western Australian emergency of March 1942.


On 28th April 1942, Frank was selected to be an acting lieutenant. Although a junior officer, this was a significant advancement in rank, and Frank was now given the opportunity to command in earnest. This is a significant achievement considering that he had been in uniform for less than two years. In July, Frank was transferred to Land Headquarters (LHQ) Signals, the primary signals unit attached to LHQ, the top-level command of the Australian Army responsible for coordinating all land forces. Frank’s role combined leadership, technical expertise, and operational management, ensuring that Land Headquarters could effectively direct military operations, now increasingly focused on the Japanese threat in the Pacific.

Australian Signal Corps corporal on Bougainville.

On 19th September 1942, Frank and his unit embarked on the HMAS Wandana, and within a week, they disembarked at Thursday Island. Due to its location near key shipping routes and its proximity to Japanese forces in the Pacific, the island served as a base for the Australian military and as a supply hub for operations in the Pacific theatre. Here, Frank helped coordinate the ongoing New Guinea Campaign. He would remain there until 13th December 1943, when he boarded the HMAS Islander to continue his duties in Queensland.

Australian soldier on Bougainville

The war in Europe was already over when, on 30th May 1945, Frank embarked for Port Moresby, the destination he reached 10 days later. Soon, he was back upon the seas, heading for Bougainville, where he arrived in mid-June. A fierce campaign had raged there for almost two years, as Australian and American troops fought Japanese Imperial forces for control of the island. Combat had ceased only 10 days before the end of the war, and it was here that Frank witnessed the conclusion of the conflict.

Pacific Star medal

Lieutenant Frank William Hall was discharged from his duties on 2nd April 1946. By this time, he had spent 2,129 days in uniform, of which 666 were spent outside Australia. For his illustrious service, he was awarded the 1939/45 Star, Africa Star, Pacific Star, Defence Medal, and Greek Medal. Frank attended a number of unit reunions after the war, where he did notice that there was somewhat of a division between those who were captured and those who escaped from the shores of Greece and Crete, and after a few drinks this was sometimes introduced into discussions!

On the 11th April 1945 he married Lieutenant Alma Jean Mack, originally from Wagga Wagga, who had been a Nurse prior to the War. Alma had been living in East Brunswick, Vic, when she enlisted in January 1942, becoming a Nursing Sister at the 115th General Hospital in Heidelberg, Vic. This was only a month after Japan entered the war, and the threat they posed to Australia may have inspired her to join up. In November she went a step further, volunteering to serve overseas. This was followed by promotion to Lieutenant in March 1943 and a posting to 106th Australian Casualty Clearing Station as a Surgical Nursing Sister.

Nursing Sisters of the 106th Australian Casualty Clearing Station in Bouganville, 1945. Lieutenant Alma Jean Hall (nee Mack) is marked as number 2. AWM.

This unit served in New Guinea, treating and operating on Allied personnel who were wounded, injured or ill, close to the front lines. This put these Nursing Sisters at risk, both from enemy action and the sometimes hostile environments they were based in. Alma told a story about how she was having a shower in one of the more ‘rustic’ locations, when she discovered that she was sharing the shower with a snake. She didn’t hang around, launching herself out of the shower and into the middle of a busy camp, stark naked! Alma also served with several other medical units, including the 2/8th and 2/5th Australian General Hospitals, and the 2/2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station, both in New Guinea, Thursday Island and on the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland. While we can’t be sure where Alma and Frank met, it could have been in New Guinea or North Queensland, they were undoubtedly brought together by their military service.

Operation in progress at 106th Australian Casualty Clearing Station in Bouganville, 1945. AWM.

Queensland Insurance Company held Frank’s position during his wartime absence, he returned to his role and worked there until 1974, rising to the position of Assistant Manager Melbourne. Frank and Alma raised a family together, their children describing them as ‘great parents and [providing] a wonderful support platform whilst growing up’.

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