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Alec-hall

A veteran interview with

Alec Hall

Alec Hall provides a fantastically detailed account of his time in support of the Airborne Forces as a medical nurse.

He served in North Africa, Italy and Arnhem before he was captured and taken a POW.

Alec passed away on October 16th, 2023.

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About Alec Hall

In 1940, aged 18, Alec Hall was one of the first people to volunteer for 1st Airborne.

He was in the Royal Army Medical Corps training at Tidworth Hospital where he learned various medical skills, including delivering a baby. He excelled in sports, playing football and hockey for his unit, and placing 8th in a cross-country run for the British Southern Command.

He then trained with gliders and served in an airborne hospital, often being loaned out to other units. Invariably in the thick if the action, he recalls his time in Oran, North Africa, and a trip through the Atlas Mountains. In Italy, attached to the Airborne Light Artillery, he describes intense action from a cemetary.

He talks extensively about his role as a medic, the equipment he used, and being part of the first gliders to Arnhem in Operation Market Garden in September 1944.  Based in two hotels which were set up as hospitals, Alec treated wounded soldiers and vividly remembers giving two pints of his own blood to save Reg Curtis, who was operated on in the field.

Eventually he was taken POW and sent to Stalag V11-B. Upon the war’s end, Alec endured the Long march and stayed briefly at a local woman’s house, listening to her recount her husband’s shooting.

After returning to the UK, Alec underwent medical checks and set a running record—a mile in just over 4 minutes. He revisited Tidworth Hospital before transferring to 102 Company in Dortmund Hospital, Germany.

Alec passed away on October 16th, 2023

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Martin B
Transcribed by:
Lynsey Ford

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Home | Veterans | Alec Hall

A veteran interview with

Alec Hall

Alec-hall

Alec Hall provides a fantastically detailed account of his time in support of the Airborne Forces as a medical nurse.

He served in North Africa, Italy and Arnhem before he was captured and taken a POW.

Alec passed away on October 16th, 2023.

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Hall, Alec. A Veteran Interview with Alec Hall. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, 2 Nov. 2017 https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/alec-hall/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.
APA Style:
Hall, A. (2017, November 2). A Veteran Interview with Alec Hall [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved March 22, 2025, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/alec-hall/
Chicago Style:
Hall, Alec. 2017. A Veteran Interview with Alec Hall. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, November 2. Accessed March 22, 2025. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/alec-hall/
Harvard Style:
Hall, A. (2017). A Veteran Interview with Alec Hall. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee, 2 November. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/alec-hall/ (Accessed: 22 March 2025)
Vancouver Style:
Hall, A. A Veteran Interview with Alec Hall [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; 2017 Nov 2 [cited 2025 Mar 22]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/alec-hall/
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