Eric Gordon Hall (12 October 1922 – 17 June 1998) was a Pakistani fighter and

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

, and former

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). A

two-star general An officer of two-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-7. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, two-star officers hold the rank ...

in the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

, Hall served as the Vice Chief of Air Staff and was one of the most distinguished pilots belonging to the Christian minority who had participated in all of the major India−Pakistan wars, most notably the First Kashmir War, the

Second Kashmir War The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He had also served as the Director-General of the Pakistan Air Force's Air Force Science Research Laboratories (AFSRL), where he led atomic weapons research efforts as part of Pakistan's nuclear technology project.

Early life

Hall was born on 12 October 1922 into a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Anglo-Burmese The Anglo-Burmese people, also known as the Anglo-Burmans, are a community of Eurasians of Burmese and European descent, who emerged as a distinct community through mixed relationships (sometimes permanent, sometimes temporary) between the Brit ...

family in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(present-day

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

). His father was a combat engineer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, and went missing in action during the

Japanese invasion of Burma The Japanese invasion of Burma was the opening phase of the Burma campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, which took place over four years from 1942 to 1945. During the first year of the campaign (December 1941 to mid-1942) ...

in 1941, shortly after which he was declared dead. Due to the Japanese invasion and outbreak of war in Burma, the women in Hall's family were

airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distanc ...

ed to India, while the men fled on foot. Arriving in Dibrugarh,

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

a few weeks later, Hall was hospitalized for a short time before enlisting in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and was subsequently deployed to Burma, where he flew sorties against Japanese forces as a

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

fighter pilot. During the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947, Hall opted for the new

Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of I ...

, moving his family to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

. He transferred his service to the Royal Pakistan Air Force, where he continued his military career.

Commands and diplomatic career

During his service in the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

, Hall commanded a number of air bases and also served as the Commandant of the

PAF Air War College PAF Air War College Institute is the Pakistan Air Force academic establishment providing training and education primarily to the mid-career officers of PAF as well as to limited number of officers from Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Army and officers ...

. In 1960 and the early 1970s, Hall served as a

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

and air attaché at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington D.C.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

Leading up to the outbreak of the Second Kashmir War between

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in August 1965, Hall was in command of PAF Base Nur Khan in Chaklala,

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

as a

group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

(

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

). Knowing that war was imminent after the failure of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

's Operation Gibraltar in

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

, he was conscious of the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

's lack of specialist aircraft. Hall hit upon the idea of converting

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...

transports into

heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...

s. With some modifications, the transport aircraft could carry up to of explosive ordinance. Having conducted trials to test and prove the converted bombers' efficiency, Hall volunteered to lead the first bombing mission over a strategically vital bridge in

Kathua Kathua is a city and municipal council located in Kathua district of Jammu Division of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, near its border with Punjab, India and Himachal Pradesh. The city is headquarters of Kathua district and is ...

, Jammu and Kashmir on 11 September 1965. The mission was fraught with danger as the unarmoured transport-turned-bomber was highly vulnerable to Indian anti-aircraft guns. However, the mission's ultimately successful outcome prompted the Pakistani high command to authorize thirteen more strategic bombing runs with converted C-130s, including the precision striking of Indian heavy guns at Attari, on the banks of the BRB Canal. The success of these missions proved that Hall had hit the bullseye with his innovative idea, for which he was awarded the

Sitara-e-Jurat Sitara-e-Jurat (, Star of Courage) is the third highest military award of Pakistan. It was established in 1957 after Pakistan became a republic; however, it was instituted retrospectively back to 1947. It is awarded for Courage, gallantry or dist ...

by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

in 1965.

Retirement and migration to the U.S.

Eric Hall sought to retire from military service in 1977, immediately after the conduction of a successful U²³⁵ project. He received an

honourable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

from the Pakistan Air Force in 1978 and was made

of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for the

, a position he would retain until the early 1980s. After seizing power in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

and establishing a

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq drafted a new version of the

Constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ur, ), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's Pakistani political parties, opposition ...

, and immediately began implementing aggressive Islamist policies. Due to these policies' scrutinization of

religious minorities A minority religion is a religion held by a minority of the population of a country, state, or region. Minority religions may be subject to stigma or discrimination. An example of a stigma is using the term cult with its extremely negative co ...

and rising intolerance in

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

-majority

, Hall, a Christian, relocated to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Settling down in

Gaithersburg Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the ninth-largest location in the state. Ga ...

, he founded Hall Enterprises, Inc. with his wife Marjorie in August 1982. The company engaged in importing and exporting Pakistani furniture, giftware and military spare parts. Hall suffered from a stroke in June 1998, after which he died at

Shady Grove Adventist Hospital Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center is a 266-licensed bed acute care facility located in Rockville, Maryland. Shady Grove Medical Center provides a range of health services to the community such as high-risk obstetrical care, cardiac ...

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city that serves as the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, and is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fifth-largest community in ...

at the age of 75—he is survived by his wife and two children.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Eric 1922 births 1998 deaths Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Royal Air Force officers Pakistan Air Force air marshals Pakistani military aviators Pakistani people of Anglo-Burmese descent Pilots of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Recipients of Sitara-e-Jurat Pakistani Christians Project-706 Chiefs of Air Staff, Pakistan Pakistani emigrants to the United States Pakistani air attachés British World War II fighter pilots