|
 Thursday
afternoon, October 18 [1945], 1st Lt. Joseph Hall of the 508th Prcht.
Inf. [Company D) was decorated with the British Military Cross by Lt. Gen.,
Sir F. E. Morgan
head of UNRRA on the 508 Regimental Parade grounds.
The Military Cross was awarded Lt. Hall for outstanding gallantry
in action during the period 27 Dec., 1944 to January 1, 1945 near Haute-Bordeaux,
Belgium.
Lt. Hall volunteered for patrol missions on Dec. [27] 1944, and as
a result of his personal courage and leadership, his patrols harassed
with rifle fire a battalion of enemy assembling for attack, and then
directed artillery fire upon the enemy which completely broke up the
attack.
On the 28th of December, Lt. Hall and a small patrol made their way
into enemy lines near the village of Reharmont, Belgium where he fired
20 rounds of mortar ammunition into enemy formations, inflicting severe
casualties.
On 31 December 1944, Lt. Hall led a patrol of six men which ran
into an advanced German party which outnumbered his men by far. Without
hesitation Lt. Hall deployed his men and attacked so hard and fast that
the enemy was completely scattered and left twelve of their dead behind.
Lt. Hall also led his patrols through many successive missions
which received highly valuable information of the enemy, inflicting
severe losses upon the enemy and contributing heavily to the complete
failure of German attacks in this sector.
Lt. Hall hails from Salem, New Jersey.
(Tthe "Devils Digest", (Vol. II - No. 4), Saturday, Nov. 10, 1945] |
|
 The actual citation acquired
through the British National Museum reads as follows:
On 27 December 1944, near Bodeaux [sic], Belgium, Second
Lieutenant HALL, a platoon leader, voluntarily led a combat patrol 1,400
yards [approximately 3/4th of a mile] behind enemy lines.
Observing a enemy column approaching, he unhesitatingly brought the
column under fire and personally accounted for several casualties.
The concentration of troops and a self-propelled cannon were brought
under heavy artillery fire at his request. While the shells were
falling on his target, he directed his patrol in encircling fifteen
Germans and succeeded in capturing thirteen of the group. For a
period of six hours, he gallantly directed his men in a daring
reconnaissance of enemy-held territory. By his marked leadership
and personal courage, he obtained vital intelligence information which
aided considerably in future operations against the enemy in the area. |
