Early career

Victor Charles Hall was born and educated in London, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. War broke out during his studies as an art student and he joined the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 in 1914 and served in France until the end of the First World War. He was wounded five times and awarded the Military Medal

Military Medal

The Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land....

. He arrived in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 in 1920, where he worked as a farm hand and jackaroo

Jackaroo

-Vehicle:* Holden Jackaroo, an Australian 4WD utility or wagon for rough ground * Thruxton Jackaroo, a 1950s British four-seat biplane-Other:* Buddy Williams , known as the yodeling jackaroo...

, before sailing in a pearling lugger

Lugger

A lugger is a class of boats, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, Scotland and England. It is a small sailing vessel with lugsails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.-Defining the rig:...

. In 1924, he joined the Northern Territory Mounted Police

Northern Territory Police

The Northern Territory Police is the police body that has legal jurisdiction over the Northern Territory of Australia. This police service has 1302 gazetted police positions made up of 55 Senior Sergeants, 200 Sergeants, 741 Constables, 159 Auxiliaries, and 84 Aboriginal Community Police Officers...

, in which he served until 1942, when he joined the Australian Army

Australian Army

The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...

, serving in the Territory until 1945. He was wounded in the eye during the first Darwin air raid, and this brought on total blindness in 1954. However, he learned to use a typewriter and continued to publish stories and books.

Writing career

Vic Hall’s first book, Bad Medicine, published in 1947, tells the tale of a manhunt for an Aboriginal killer in the Northern Territory. Based on his own experience as a policeman, it takes a sensitive but unbiased look at black/white relations at the same time as telling a dramatic story. Against the background of the Caledon Bay crisis

Caledon Bay crisis

The Caledon Bay crisis refers to a series of killings at Caledon Bay in the Northern Territory of Australia during 1932–34. These events are widely seen as a turning point in relations between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians....

, Dreamtime Justice recounts the story of the hunt for the killers of an N.T. Mounted Policeman, Constable Albert Stewart McColl. Hall was one of the four policemen who set off in search of the killers, in company with black trackers

Aboriginal tracker

In the years following British settlement in Australia, aboriginal trackers or black trackers, as they became known, were enlisted by settlers to assist them in navigating their way through the Australian landscape...

. He went on to write biographies of Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira

Albert Namatjira

Albert Namatjira , born Elea Namatjira, was an Australian artist. He was a Western Arrernte man, an Indigenous Australian of the Western MacDonnell Ranges area...

 and A.I.M.

Australian Inland Mission

The Australian Presbyterian Mission was founded by the Presbyterian Church of Australia to reach those "beyond the farthest fence" with God's Word. It is better known as the Australian Inland Mission . Rev...

 nurse Ruth Heathcock.

Artistic career

Vic Hall was an accomplished artist whose career was cut short by the loss of his sight in 1954. Several of his paintings are owned by the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory

The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay...

. His last painting, "Police Patrol," was featured on the cover of the police journal Citation in June 1966.

Last days

Vic Hall married twice and survived both of his wives, with whom he had no issue. He died in 1972.