The Hallam Brothers

The Hallam brothers were from Grantham, Lincolnshire, England and were born 6 years apart. The eldest, Ernest had amassed a wealth of life experience having served in the Imperial Army in South Africa, the Sudan and Egypt and then taking is fortunes to the colonies and establishing himself in Port Arthur, Ontario where he continued his military interest by being involved in the local regiment. He then moves to London, Ontario taking up a post as an insurance broker and is involved with the local militia regiment.

Cyril, the younger ended up in Canada as well, and it appears he followed his brother with a martial career initially being involved with the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry for 5 years and then then going to Canada. Living in the Port Arthur area as he notes on his attestation papers he was a member of the 96^th Lake Superior Regiment. His affiliation with his brother was stronger than that to his unit as he moved to London to first join the 8^th Canadian Mounted Rifles. Yet the dash and daring of the cavalry arm was not enough to hold him to that unit as he was transferred from that unit to the 18^th Battalion on January 20, 1915.

From that moment their service, but not their destinies, were tied together. We do not know if Cyril served in the same company as his brother Ernest. Being a Captain and with his Imperial service would have made him a valuable officer to the Battalion, perhaps leading to a Company command. The brothers were bound by blood and service and shared the experiences training in London, Ontario and then in West Sandling. Perhaps they took leave to Folkestone together and shared a cigarette looking out over the Channel hearing the dull rolling thunder of the guns at the front only 75 miles away?

On September 15, 1915 they both disembarked for France and arrived to the front lines in Belgium.

The sudden shock of Captain Hallam being shot, most probably by a sniper, when his head was exposed above the parapet would have had ramifications for the entire Battalion. Captain Hallam was the first soldier of the 18^th Battalion to be killed in action, and as such, this information along with its significance must of positively rushed through the Battalion grapevine with unprecedented speed. The Medical Officer’s War Diary and the Battalion War Diary mentions the death in the entry for the September 29, 1915. The Battalion War Diary also notes Private Logan’s death, the first of a private soldier for the Battalion (Ironically, my Grandfather was the first 18^th Battalion soldier to be wounded on September 21, 1915).

One cannot imagine the shock to Private Cyril Hallam in the death of his brother. Perhaps he witnessed it. It was a significant enough event to warrant a news story in the Toronto Star making mention that Captain Hallam was the first casualty of the entire 2^nd Contingent and though no record of the funeral service has yet been found, one can assume, it was a significant event for the Battalion.

It was certainly for Private Hallam. His service record shows he established a Will October 7, 1915 leaving the bulk of his estate to his parents. That document is signed with the appellation of “Scout” indicated that Private Hallam’s military prowess was very high as scouts were considered to be highly regarded for their skills as scouts and often worked, later, with snipers.

The now Lance-Corporal Cyril Hallam stayed on with the 18^th Battalion until approximately a year later when he was separated to the Imperial Forces to become an officer cadet with the Machine Gun Corp.

We have lost “touch” the Cyril Francis Hallam. We do know as a postscript to his experiences with the 18^th Battalion that he made application to the Bureau of Pension Advocates in London, Ontario on November 8, 1974 for a “Claim of Nervous Condition.” It had been 21,599 days since the death of Cyril’s brother and the memories of the trenches, the scouting missions, and that of the death weighed heavily on a now 83-year-old man felt it important to have official recognition for his pain.

Attestation Statistics

[i] Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.