William Hall in India and In Scotland

Thomas’ Last Military Assignment

August 27, 2012 at 12:09 pm Leave a comment

As I said earlier, service records for British soldiers in World War I, including the one for Thomas Hall, were destroyed by fire during the German bombing of Britain during World War II. So I have to squeeze as much information out of Thomas’ marriage record as I can. He served in the 1st Garrison Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry (HLI). I found a good record of the stations for the Highland Light Infantry on the Long, Long Trail Website. There were different categories of Battalions in the HLI. From other sources, I discovered that a Garrison Battalion was composed of men to old or not fit for regular war service. Some Garrison Batallions did serve overseas, but others served at home.

The only component of the 1st Battalion Highland Light Infantry that fit with Thomas in time and date was the 1st (Reserve) Garrison Battalion, which was formed at Fort George around May 1916 and moved to Maryhill in January 1918. Fort George is a large 18th century fortress near Ardersier, to the north-east of Inverness in the Highland council area of Scotland.  The fortress has never been attacked and has remained in continuous use as a garrison.

Entry filed under: Halls. Tags: Burnt Records, Fort George, Highland Light Infantry.