Eric G. Hall

Air Vice-Marshal Eric Gordan Hall (Urdu: ايريک گورڈن حال; 12 October 1922 – 17 June 1998), was a Pakistan Air Force bomber and fighter pilot, and former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). A two-star general in the Pakistan Air Force, Hall had served as Vice Chief of Air Staff and was one of the distinguished Christian pilots who participated in the Indo-Pakistan wars of 1947, 1965 and 1971. He is also notable as the Director-General of the Pakistan Air Force's Air Force Science Research Laboratories (AFSRL) when he headed the atomic weapon's research as part of Pakistan's nuclear technology project.

Early life
Hall was born in October 1922 in Rangoon, Burma to a British Christian family (Anglo-Burmese). He received his education from Burma and did the pre-engineering courses from there. However, as the political situation worsened in that country, the Hall family migrated to British India in 1942 where they settled in Lahore.

Air Force career
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman and was selected for the officer cadre in December 1943. He was subsequently sent to the Royal Air Force Combat Training School; Hall was then commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force. After the partition and creation of Pakistan, Hall decided to serve in the newly created Pakistan Air Force. For the remainder of the war, he saw active flying duty.

Indo-Pakistani war of 1947
Flying Officer Eric Hall was initially posted to Risalpur to help train and build up the Pakistan Air Force. However, when the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 broke out, he was called to active duty. He served in No. 6 Squadron, (Globe Trotters), flying Douglas C-47 Skytrains with supplies for the Pakistan Army. After the war, he was sent to the United States where he trained as a bomber pilot.

Defence attaché
Through his vision, dedication and hard work, he rose to the rank of Air Vice Marshal and Deputy Chief of Air Staff. During his service, Hall commanded a number of PAF Bases and also served as the Commandant of the PAF Staff College. In 1960 and the early 1970s, Hall served as a Defence and Air Attache in the Pakistan Embassy, United States.

Indo-Pakistan war of 1965
He commanded the air transport Base at Chaklala as a Group Captain (Colonel) in 1965. With war being imminent, he was conscious of the PAF’s lack of specialist aircraft. Hall hit upon the idea of converting C-130 Hercules into heavy bombers. With some modifications, the transport aircraft were made capable of carrying up to 20,000 lbs of bombs.

Having conducted trials to prove their efficacy, the Group Captain volunteered to lead the first bombing mission over the Kathua bridge on 11 September 1965. The mission was fraught with danger as the totally unarmed C-130 was highly vulnerable to enemy action. The success of this mission prompted the high command to authorize thirteen more bombing missions with C-130s, including the precision bombing of Indian heavy guns at Atari on the banks of the BRB Canal. The success of these missions proved that the now Air Vice Marshal had hit the bull’s eye with his innovative idea. For his valour and vision Hall was awarded the Sitara-i-Jurat in 1965.

Indo-Pakistani war of 1971
Hall was promoted to Air Commodore (Brigadier-General) in 1967, commanding the Faisal AFB in Karachi. During the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, Hall was heavily involved in the preparations of aerial operations against India. He trained the country's air force pilots who went on to participate in the conflict.

Post war
After the war, the President of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto court martialed and forcibly ousted the Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Abdul Rahim Khan in a military tribunal held by the Judge Advocate General Branch. Hall was promoted to Air Vice Marshal (Major General). His two-star assignment included the command of Sargodha AFB. As AOC, Hall upgraded the facility and a computer intelligence center was also established. In 1974, he was given another assignment, command of Chaklala AFB. He began the confidential programs of the Air Force, and was instrumental in setting up the U 235 facility at Chaklala, then known as the Chaklala Air Force Centrifuge Laboratories (CAFL). Hall personally supervised the construction of the facility and helped to install the Uranium enrichment pilot plant at the base. He was made the first director-general of the laboratories as well as the officer in charge of security for the scientists. Hall was also in-charge of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's "Directorate of Industrial Liaison" (DIL), and served its first director-general. Hall had witnessed the successful Isotope separation of the U 235 and U 238 isotopes, the program headed by Dr. G.D. Alam and Anwar Ali in 1978.

Retirement
AVM Eric Hall retired from the Air Force in 1978 immediately after the successful U 235 project. He was given an honorable discharge from the Air Force and made Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for the Government of Pakistan.

Hall migrated to Maryland, in the United States, where in August 1982 with his wife Marjorie, he founded and served as corporate president of Hall Enterprises, Inc. The company engaged in the business of importing and exporting Pakistani furniture, giftware and military spare parts. Hall died in the United States in 1998.