The letter was sent to my mum, Elizabeth Allison (nee Hall), shortly after her marriage, it was from her beloved youngest brother Jim (James) Hall. He enlisted at the outbreak of war from the Territorials aged just 17yrs, eventually serving in the “Railway Corridor” region of Burma, having been seconded from the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) to the Border Regiment then to the 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He wrote the letter on 10.12.1944 and died 2 weeks later aged 22 years, on 24.12.1944 of cerebral malaria.
My mum received the letter after his death and always treasured it, sharing it with me throughout my childhood. When she died I found it amongst her important documents and I too now treasure it. My parents worked in the local shipyard and in the letter Uncle Jim requested they send a ship out to him. He also said he would see them the following Christmas, sadly, this was not to be.
My mum’s and Uncle Jim’s elder brothers were in the DLI regiment too, both Dunkirk veterans who were part of the North Africa Campaign and D day landings, they remarkably survived.
Uncle Jim is buried in Gauhati War Cemetery Assam India.
Attached is a photograph of James (Jim) Hall.
