John Hall: A Memoir
by Alison Fenton

John Hall was born in Oxford on Christmas Day 1921, and died in the nearby village of Blewbury in January 2004. His father, the socialist William Glenvil Hall, had served with the Tank Corps in the Great War, and John was later to serve with the RAF during World War II. His daring exploits as a night fighter were regularly reported in the national press, and he became something of a heart-throb; his sister once heard one young ATS girl asking another, ‘Oh, do you collect pictures of John Hall too?’
This is a book crammed with surprising anecdotes, such as how John Hall came to witness the last public execution to take place in France. It also describes his successful career as a barrister after the War.

ISBN 0954 6342 2 5/978 0954 6342 23; 222pp + 16 pp of illustrations; £8.00 softback

On 28th June Will went to call on his friend Stanley Spencer, taking John with him, and they saw the huge picture that Spencer was working on. This was The Resurrection, which The Times was to describe as ‘the biggest thing done this century by an English artist.’ ‘I asked him,’ wrote Will, ‘why he always painted flowers etc. with such care and perfection and humans so crudely.’ John was too young to feel embarrassed by the naive question, and Spencer seems not to have taken offence. ‘Said flowers were perfect. Humans far from it.’

Reviews

‘John Hall is described by the author as a war hero, patriot and defender of liberty. This is a charming biography of a charming man. … A pleasant, recommended read.’ Air Mail

John Hall with navigator Jock Cairns and their Mosquito, 1944