Gilbert Townsend Hall was born on 12th October 1920. His father was William Townsend Hall, his mother was Eva Martha. The first school that he attended was Convent High School in Gravesend.
In 1929 Gilbert Hall joined The County School for Boys – now known as Gravesend Grammar School. The Head Master at that time was the Reverend Samuel Lister. The County School for Boys was located in Darnley Road, Gravesend close to the Railway Station (now the Victoria Centre for Education). In 1938 the School moved to brand new premises in Church Walk, Milton, Gravesend opposite to Milton Church.
The School’s Admission Register lists Gilbert’s address as 40 Old Road West, Gravesend. In 1932 Gilbert moved to King’s School, Rochester.
In World War Two he enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserves as a Pilot Officer Service Number 903968. He was stationed with 83 Squadron, which was based at Scampton and Lossiemouth. 83 Squadron had been in action since the first day of World War Two, carrying out raids on German naval and coastal targets, later in 1940, switching to night operations, particularly against enemy activity in the English Channel.
In early 1941 Gilbert married Muriel Sadie Bayntum. On 27th April 1941 Gilbert Townsend’s aircraft was shot down during a bombing raid over Eddelak, Germany. He was 20 years old. He is remembered at Kiel War Cemetery, Germany, 4. H. 12

Gilbert’s Form had the highest number of students who lost their lives in World War Two. He share’s the Roll of Honour with Harold Ayliffe, Elton Ede, John Foster, Francis Fry and Geoffrey Parritt.

There are links below to Newspaper Clippings and Photographs from the Gravesend Grammar School Archives.
Below are links to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and a few other websites that might be of interest:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2356446/hall,-gilbert-townsend/
http://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=77787
https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/109621