Edward Hall was a twenty-nine year old cabinet maker living above his father's tailor's shop at 94 Railway Approach when he enlisted in the Royal Berkshire Regiment in August 1915. Although Edward Hall wanted to help the war effort, he was concerned about having to kill people and asked to be employed as a stretcher-bearer.

A stretcher-bearer had one of the toughest jobs in the British Army. In good conditions two men could carry a wounded man on a stretcher. However, after heavy rain it took four men to lift a stretcher. Men like Edward Hall not only had the problem of dragging their feet out of the mud after every step, they also had to make sure not to rock the stretcher as this would increase the pain of the wounded man.

The most difficult part of the stretcher-bearers' job came after a major battle when so many wounded men were in No Man's Land. Not only did they witness horrific injuries, they also knew they could not rescue all the men that needed treatment. Stretcher-bearers therefore had the unpleasant task of deciding which casualties had the best chance of surviving. This meant that they had to leave men in extreme agony to die in 'No Man's Land'.

Edward Hall was a successful, but unambitious soldier, who twice rejected offers of promotion. He also refused all leave and served on the Western Front without a break. On 14th September, 1916, after one particular act of bravery, Edward Hall was awarded the Military Medal. A week later, Private Edward Hall was killed in action.