Private Ernest William Hall 33 lived with his widowed father in 35 Hall Street, Auburn. He had attended Auburn Public School and was a member of the St Philip’s Anglican Church, Auburn. As a fireman, he worked on the Railways. Enlisting on 22 December 1915, Private Hall embarked on the Ceramic in April 1916, along with fellow Auburn Memorial man Private James Vernon Mathieson.
After several months in training camps on the Salisbury Plain, Hall crossed to France and was taken on strength of the 20th Battalion on 2 October 1916. He was killed in action 44 days later on 15 November 1916 in the dying days of the First Battle of the Somme. He was buried in the Warlencourt British Cemetery in northern France. For his gravestone, his father chose the inscription ‘Thy Will be Done’. An image of the cemetery is shown below.
Hall's service record is completely clean – no crimes, wounds, or sicknesses. His father was granted a pension of £2 per fortnight as he was dependent on his son.