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Contact Info
Home Town Williamsburg, VA
Last Address Scottsdale, Arizona
Date of Passing Mar 06, 1978
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
John Lesslie Hall, Jr., was born in Williamsburg, Virginia, on 11 April 1891. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1909, excelled in athletics, and graduated in June 1913. As a junior officer he served in several ships, among them the battleships North Dakota and Utah. During World War I Lieutenant Hall trained engineering personnel on the old battleship Illinois and was an engineer officer on the new destroyer Philip. During the years immediately following World War I, he had sea duty, mainly in destroyers, and served ashore as a Naval Academy instructor.
From the mid-1920s until 1934, Lieutenant Commander Hall was an Aide to the Naval District commandant at Charleston, South Carolina, was Executive Officer of the submarine tender Camden, commanded the destroyer Childs, spent three years with the Naval Academy's physical training and athletics programs, and was Navigator of the training ship Wyoming. Promoted to Commander in 1934, he went to the Far East to serve in the heavy cruiser Augusta and, while with the Asiatic Fleet, commanded the gunboat Asheville and a destroyer division. During the later 1930s Commander Hall was at the Naval War College, initially as a student, then as a member of that institution's staff. In July 1940 he achieved the rank of Captain and was given command of the old battleship Arkansas. This was followed by staff duty with elements of the Atlantic Fleet.
In mid-1942 John L. Hall was given a temporary appointment as Rear Admiral and during the invasion of Morocco that fall was Chief of Staff to the operation's Naval commander. This was followed by command of the Naval forces and facilities in that region. Holding amphibious force commands from February 1943 onwards, Rear Admiral Hall was in charge of important components of the invasions of Sicily in July of that year and of the Italian mainland in September. He was sent to England in November to participate in preparations for the invasion of France and, in the June 1944 Normandy landings, commanded the amphibious assault on "Omaha" Beach. Transferred to the Pacific Fleet's Amphibious Forces in October, Hall participated in the invasion of Okinawa in the spring of 1945.
In October 1945 he became Commander Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet, receiving the rank of Vice Admiral a few months later. Following service as Commandant, Fourteenth Naval District, and Commander Hawaiian Sea Frontier, in 1948 he became Commandant of the Armed Forces Staff College. Vice Admiral Hall's final assignment was as Commander Western Sea Frontier and Commander Pacific Reserve Fleet from August 1951 until his retirement at the beginning of May 1953. Upon leaving active duty, he was advanced to the rank of Admiral on the basis of a combat award. John L. Hall, Jr., died at Scottsdale, Arizona, on 6 March 1978.
The guided missile frigate USS John L. Hall (FFG-32), commissioned in 1982, is named in honor of Admiral Hall.
Normandy Campaign (1944)/Operation Overlord
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Description The Normandy landings (codenamed Operation Neptune) were the landing operations on 6 June 1944 (termed D-Day) of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the invasion of German-occupied western Europe, led to the restoration of the French Republic, and contributed to an Allied victory in the war.
Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on D-Day was far from ideal, but postponing would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days in each month were deemed suitable. Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an Allied invasion.
The amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 British, US, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France starting at 06:30. The target 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword Beach. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha. The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach clearing teams difficult and dangerous. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialised tanks.
The Allies failed to achieve all of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five bridgeheads were not connected until 12 June. However, the operation gained a foothold that the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months. German casualties on D-Day were around 1,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. Museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area host many visitors each year.
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune, commonly known as D-Day). A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than three million allied troops were in France by the end of August.
The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion in 1944 was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), and General Bernard Montgomery was named as commander of the 21st Army Group, which comprised all the land forces involved in the invasion. The Normandy coast was chosen as the site of the invasion, with the Americans assigned to land at Utah and Omaha Beaches, the British at Sword and Gold Beaches, and Canadians at Juno Beach. To meet the conditions expected on the Normandy beachhead, special technology was developed, including two artificial ports called Mulberry harbours and an array of specialised tanks nicknamed Hobart's Funnies. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, Operation Bodyguard, using both electronic and visual misinformation. This misled the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in charge of developing fortifications all along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion.
The Allies failed to reach their goals for the first day, but gained a tenuous foothold that they gradually expanded as they captured the port at Cherbourg on 26 June and the city of Caen on 21 July. A failed counterattack by German forces on 8 August led to 50,000 soldiers of the German 7th Army being trapped in the Falaise pocket. The Allies launched an invasion of southern France (Operation Dragoon) on 15 August, and the Liberation of Paris followed on 25 August. German forces retreated across the Seine on 30 August 1944, marking the close of Operation Overlord.
