LIEUTENANT COLONEL RAY HALL MBE - 22nd September 1934 - 26th January 2026
LIEUTENANT COLONEL RAY HALL MBE
Somerset Light Infantry
Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry
Light Infantry
The Royal Green Jackets
22nd September 1934 - 26th January 2026
Ray was born on 22nd September 1934. He enlisted into the Somerset Light Infantry(SOM LI) on 13th May 1952 in Taunton. After basic training, he was posted to the Light Infantry Brigade Training Centre in Strensall, Yorkshire. By the end of that year, he was promoted to L/Cpl and remained at Strensall training new recruits. His platoon commander was Lt John Overton. A few months later, he was promoted to Cpl and posted back to the Depot SOM LI in Jalalabad Barracks, Taunton as a Training Instructor.
In December 1954 he was posted to 1st Battalion and sailed in the Troopship Empire Clyde for Malaya. After the lengthy voyage, he joined the Battalion which was on operations in Malaya during the Confrontation. He underwent a Jungle Training Course and joined 7 Platoon as the platoon sergeant, which was commanded by Lt David Weild. After about 18 months, he returned to the UK with the Battalion in the Troopship Devonshire, disembarking in Plymouth in October 1955.
Ray then began a period of service (1956-58) with the Infantry Boys Battalion (later renamed the Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion) which was, at that time, based in Plymouth. In April 1959, he returned to 1 SOMLI which was then the Demonstration Battalion at the School of Infantry, Warminster. He was posted to Training Wing under Capt Barry Lane. The Battalion then moved by sea and rail to Osnabruck, West Germany where, on 5thOctober 1959, it amalgamated with 1 DCLI to form 1st Battalion The Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry (1 SCLI). He served as Platoon Sergeant of3 Platoon under Lt Alastair Fyfe. In early 1961, he was posted to the Mortar Platoon which was commanded by Lt Ivan Loosemore.
In the summer of 1961, the Battalion started its move from Osnabruck to Gibraltar. This involved a sea journey from Hook of Holland to Devonport and then to Seaton barracks, where the Battalion was to stage for 6 weeks before sailing for Gibraltar. Whilst in Plymouth, the Regiment exercised its Freedom of the towns and cities in both Somerset and Cornwall and Ray was an escort to the Colour on all occasions. In August, he embarked with the Battalion on the troopship Oxfordshire for the Rock. He then returned to the Mortar Platoon under Lt Simon Firbank. In January 1962, he moved to Tobruk, Libya, with B Company where he spent 3 months, before returning in time for the Presentation Parade of New Colours, by Field Marshal Lord Harding of Petherton, at Europa Point, Gibraltar in May. Later, he was appointed Officers’ Mess Sergeant, arole he fulfilled for the next 2 years. It was very different from anything he had done before, but he fulfilled his task admirably.
In July 1963, he returned to the UK and then formed upas a member of the Advance Party for the Battalion’s move to Berlin. After a year in Berlin, Ray was promoted to C/Sgt and posted to the SOM LI (TA)detachment in Glastonbury as the PSI. Two years later, he returned to 1 SCLI in Gravesend as CQMS of D Company, as well as taking on the role of Air Transport Liaison Officer for the Battalion move to Aden in May 1966. After 6 months of serving on anti-terrorist operations in Aden, the Battalion returned to Gravesend and he was promoted to WO2 and given the role of CSM A Company. The role of the Battalion in Gravesend was as part of the Allied Mobile Force (Land), responsible for protecting the NATO flanks. Inevitably this meant learning to fight in Arctic conditions, so Ray and his colleagues spent much of the following year training in Norway, north of the Arctic Circle. In 1968, hisCompany moved to Canada before returning to the UK to play its part in two major NATO exercises, HARDFALL and ARCTIC EXPRESS. He took part in the Vesting Day Parade in Gravesend when the SCLI became 1st Battalion, The Light Infantry. A month later, the Battalion moved to Ballykinler in Northern Ireland when the Troubles, which would last for 30 years or so, were showing signs of becoming serious. After returning from an overseas exercise in Kenya, he took up the role of Acting RSM as the Battalion deployed, for the first time, in the streets of Belfast.
Ray was promoted to substantive RSM in January 1970and posted to the Rifle Depot in Winchester. He was awarded the Long Serviceand Good Conduct Medal whilst he was in Winchester. In February 1971, he wasposted as RSM to 3LI in Belfast and a month later the Battalion returned to itsbase in Plymouth. This was the start of a close association with that Battalion. He was the Parade RSM when HM The Queen Mother presented the Regiment with New Colours in Colchester in May 1972 and also at the parade when the Army commemorated its ‘Farewell to Plymouth’ on Plymouth Hoe. In November,3LI moved to join 11 Infantry Brigade in Minden, West Germany. Whilst in Minden, the Battalion was visited by HRH Princess Alexandra (Deputy Colonel) in May 1972 and was, 6 months later, flown once again to Northern Ireland to be deployedin the Old Ardoyne area of Belfast.
On arrival in Northern Ireland, Ray was granted a QM commission and given command of the Bugle Platoon in C Company. He was destinedto be the Battalion MTO in May 1973, on his return to Minden, and attended various courses in preparation for that appointment. In March 1974, the Battalion deployed yet again to Belfast for a 6 month tour. He served as MTO and 2ic Support Company, based in North Howard Street Mill. At the end of that year he was promoted to Captain. In August 1975, he left 3LI and became the 2icof the Junior Soldiers Company at the LI Depot in Shrewsbury.
Two years later, in Silver Jubilee Year (1977), Ray was posted to 3 RGJ, as Tech QM, in Caterham which proved to be yet another hectic year in his career. It included a short emergency deployment to Belfast, a major overseas exercise at Fort Wainwright in Canada, numerous parades in the London area commemorating the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and providing emergency fire services (during the Fireman’s Strike). The following year, 3RGJ moved from Caterham to Londonderry, where he was appointed QM. In September 1979, 3RGJ moved from Londonderry back to Oakington, in East Anglia. Whilst there, the Battalion was deployed on a 6 month tour to Cyprus to take over an operational role in support of the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The Battalion took over from 1LI, commanded at that time, by Lt Col Alastair Fyfe. On returnfrom Cyprus, he was promoted to Major and posted to Suffield in Canada to be QMof the Brish Army Training Team in Suffield. He spent over 3 years in Canada and was awarded the MBE for his services during that time.
Ray Hall’s extraordinary career continued when he was posted to the Light Division Depot in Winchester. He started as Training Officer and then became the QM at the Depot with the task of closing down and handing over Peninsula Barracks and then taking over the new purpose-built buildings, known as Sir John Moore Barracks on the outskirts of the city. In1987, he was promoted to the rank of Lt Col (QM) – a rank which was only very rarely achieved by those who had ‘come through the ranks’. In the following year, he spent 6 months at the MOD, being the Project Officer of the Tri-Service Tattoo on Horse Guards which made a profit of £84,000 for SSAFA. Having achieved that, he was posted to Netheravon as OC Troops and Administration at the Support Weapons Wing. Unusually, his career had been extended up to his 58th birthday and he remained at Netheravon until September 1992, having been the senior Quartermaster on the Presentation of Colours Parade by HM The Queen Mother at Tidworth in May.
Throughout his younger years, Ray had always been an accomplished and keen sportsman, especially at rugby. He was in the 1 SCLI team in Berlin in 1964 which reached the Army Finals, only to be beaten by a very strong Welsh Guards team. Later, he was a keen supporter of the Taunton Titans Rugby Club. His membership of the Club enabled our Regimental Association tohold the annual Jalalabad Lunch at the Club at reduced prices!
For many years, he was Chairman of the Taunton Branch of the Regimental Association and attended the Branch Battlefield Tour in Normandy last summer. He was also Chairman of the Taunton Branch of the Royal British Legion and was regarded, for many years, as ‘the man to speak to and get advice’ by the local Councillors in County Hall and Taunton Deane.
Ray was married to Marion for over 60 years before she died on 6th February 2023. They had two children, Jo and Jonathan.
A shortened version of this obituary will be carried in Swift and Bold to be published in April reflecting Ray's time with 3RGJ where he was known in the officers Mess as Raymondo. The full version will be in the digital edition which will be published in May 2026
KS