THE PRO PATRIA PROJECT
HALL Marshall John
30565, Major, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, Victor 3 Coy

CITATION
Military Cross
New Zealand Gazette Number 62 dated 16 October 1969
Major Marshall John HALL graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon into the New Zealand Army on 13th December 1955. He was appointed Officer Commanding Victor Company, 1st Battalion, The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment on 22nd November 1967.
He arrived in South Vietnam as Officer Commanding Victor Three Company on 10th May 1968.
During twelve months of continuous operational service in Vietnam Major Hall displayed a high degree of professional skill and a willingness to expose himself to danger in the constant supervision of his company. This cool disregard of danger was particularly evident during Operation MERINO in July, 1968 when V Company attacked an enemy force entrenched in bunkers. The enemy defence was particularly effective and Major Hall moved constantly from platoon to platoon searching for a possible way to break the enemy bunker system.
He commanded Victor Three Company in twelve major operations and planned and conducted a number of independent sub-unit operations. In one such operation his company was responsible for the discovery of a number of caches containing in excess of 56,000 pounds of rice and a considerable quantity of other supplies valuable to the enemy.
He planned and executed numerous successful ambushes. In September 1968 during Operation Hawkesbury, Victor Three Company successfully ambushed an enemy party of twelve; killing eight and wounding three. His company achieved an extremely high standard of patrolling and in a number of patrol contacts Victor Three Company inflicted substantial casualties on the enemy and captured several prisoners, including one particularly high ranking enemy officer who yielded valuable intelligence.
By his personal actions and endeavours throughout his tour of duty Major Hall led a skilled and aggressive company which relentlessly fought the enemy on all possible occasions. His company’s success in battle has been a measure of his leadership and outstanding devotion to duty.

KNOWN AWARDS
Military Cross
Queen's Vietnam Medal
Vietnam Star
1960

NOTES
Born 3 January 1933
Died 17 December 2005 Auckland, New Zealand
Buried Papakura Cemetery