On his 29th mission Hall was flying tail gunner as a spare with a different crew when they were shot down near Eindhoven. They ejected safely but Hall had a piece of shrapnel lodged in his hip and could not walk. Not being certain if they were in enemy or friendly territory the rest of the crew took off 'like jack rabbits' and left Ralph hidden under some bushes. One of the crew alerted his position to some Canadians at a nearby base and they collected him - complete with parachute - in a truck and deposited him at the 8th British Liberation Hospital in Antwerp. A few days following surgery one of the nurses asked if she could have the parachute. Later she came and 'whispered in his ear' that the nylon 'chute had been transformed into many pairs of much appreciated 'lingerie'. Ralph also became enamoured of the beef barley soup he was given in vast quantities; fair exchange he thought for one parachute!



Reported casulty on 10 Jan 1945 on Ostheim mission.



Purple Heart