Tributes paid to Chelsea Pensioner David Hall from Scarborough who has died aged 82

Mr Hall was born in Middlesbrough on July 17, 1940.

Raised by his grandmother, he grew up in the town, and proved his academic prowess by passing his 11+ and gaining a scholarship to grammar school.

After he completed his education, Mr Hall joined the army in the Royal Signals Regiment where he trained as a data telegraphist.

He served 22 years in the army and was posted to a number of locations across the world including Singapore, Cyprus, Malaya and Germany.

He met his wife, the love of his life, Marion, at a dance in Middlesbrough whilst he was home on leave from the army.

The couple quickly fell in love and married in May 1964, honeymooning in Scarborough.

In 1982, after Mr Hall completed his service in the army, he took up a position at GCHQ in Scarborough where he worked in communications and signals intelligence.

The family then were posted to Hong Kong in the early 90's before returning to Scarborough in 1994.

The couple had three children, Andrew, 57, who lives in Edinburgh, Karen, 53, who lives in Scarborough and Gillian, 41, who lives in Sydney, Australia.

They also had five grandchildren Amelia, Max, Henry, Lily and Alice.

Mr Hall loved keeping fit, he took to pilates later in life and was well-known for being able to hold a strong plank into his late 70's.

He was also known for his great sense of humour and left a lasting impression on everyone he met.

Unfortunately, in 2011, wife Marion suffered a tragic accident at home in Scarborough and she passed away 13 months later at the age of 67.

Mr Hall rebuilt his life, joined exercise classes, made new friends and travelled to Sydney, Australia, on several occasions to visit daughter, Gillian.

In 2018, Mr Hall decided to re-join his army tribe and applied to be a Chelsea Pensioner. A unique institution for ex-servicemen and women - with only 300 in the world.

The Chelsea Pensioners wear the famous 'scarlet' red jackets and can be seen regularly attending formal events such as Royal weddings, Wimbledon, Chelsea FC home games, Platinum Jubilee and most recently eight Pensioners attended the Queen's funeral.

Daughter Gillian recalled a particularly fond memory, she said: “Whilst Dad was in York station returning to Scarborough on the train from Chelsea, a number of tourists wanted to have their photograph taken with him as they mistook him for Colin Thackery, the Chelsea Pensioner who won Britain's Got Talent in 2019.

"Dad thought this was very funny and told Colin the story in the Chelsea Pensioners club.

"Dad was very proud to be a Chelsea Pensioner and especially proud to take part in the Scarborough Armed Forces Day both last year and on previous occasions.”

Mr Hall's funeral was held at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on 28th March - the funeral can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLF6inPOkLw

A celebration of his life will be held in Scarborough when both his ashes and wife Marion’s will be scattered at sea as per their request.

Donations can be made, if desired, to the Royal Hospital Chelsea or Help the Heroes.