James N. Hall, after a period of service as a infantryman with Lord Kitchener’s first hundred thousand, was honorably discharged from the British army. He later enlisted in the French Aviation Service and was sent to the Escadrille LaFayette.
He was wounded shortly after his arrival at the Front and spent the summer of 1917 in hospital. In September, 1917 he returned to the Front as a member of the French Squadron, SPAD 112, but was soon permitted to return to his old unit, where he was on duty until after his transfer to the United States Air Service.
On March 29, 1918, he was sent as a Flight Commander to the 94th Pursuit Squadron. On May 7, 1918, during a combat near Pont-a- Mousson, while diving on an Albatross single-seater, his upper right plane gave way, the fabric covering it bursting along the leading edge. A moment later an enemy anti-aircraft battery made a direct hit on his motor, and his plane fell out of control near Pagny-sur-Moselle. He was a prisoner in various German hospitals and prison camps until the Armistice.
The above was taken from a comprehensive two volume series on The LaFayette Flying Corps written by James Norman Hall and Charles Bernard Nordhoff (both LaFayette Pilots). This would not be the only collaboration the two would have; they would go on to co-author several books including the famous “Mutiny on the Bounty”. Both men would end up writing together on the island of Tahiti, where Hall would spend the rest of his life.
The following link is a video from the movie "Flyboys" where Capt Hall's children and musuem President Andy Parks discuss both Capt Hall and Charles Nordhoff's WW-I and post WW-I accomplishments:  Windows (5.4mb) or  Quicktime (5mb) version
My father and I were both fortunate to have pleasure of knowing his lovely daughter, Nancy Hall Rutgers and her husband Nicholas (Nick) Rutgers (of Rutgers University family), who have a home in Denver. Nick and Nancy have spent the last several years developing a museum at the Hall family home in Tahiti devoted to preserving this famous author, military pilot, and devoted Father’s history.
The LaFayette Foundation is honored to be the sister museum to James Norman Hall museum and Tahiti. We are also grateful for the support Nick and Nancy have provided us over the years.
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