Albert Ball

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Albert Ball, standing in front of a Caudron G.3.

Ball's grave

Albert Ball, VC, DSO & 2 Bars, MC, Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Order of St. George (4th class) (August 14, 1896 - May 7, 1917) was an English First World War fighter pilot and recipient of the Victoria Cross. At the time of his death, he was the leading Allied ace with 44 victories^[1] and only trailed the Germans' top ace, Manfred Von Richthofen. He ended up tied for 11th place with Captain J. Gillmore in the top 20 World War One pilots in the British Empire. ^[2]

Born in Nottingham and educated at The Kings Grammar School (Grantham), Nottingham High School and Trent College.^[3] Ball joined the 7th (Robin Hood) Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters (The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) at the start of the First World War. While in England, he took private flying lessons at Hendon. He was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in 1915 and trained at Norwich, but was then sent to the RFC Central Flying School where he was awarded his wings on January 26, 1916. He was sent to France three weeks later, to No. 13 Squadron RFC, flying the B.E.2c. On occasion, he managed to pilot the squadron's single seat Bristol Scout, finding the freedom of independent operations far more to his liking. His aggressive fighting spirit was actively encouraged by his CO. In May 1916, he was posted to 11 Squadron, flying a mix of F.E.2bs and Nieuport 11 single seater biplanes.

Transferring to No. 60 Squadron RFC in August (and now flying the improved Nieuport 17), the rest of 1916 saw Ball make steady claims for German aircraft shot down. Ball primarily fought as a 'lone-wolf', carefully stalking his prey from below until he was close enough to pull down his top-wing mounted Lewis gun on its Foster mounting and fire upwards into the belly of the enemy's fuselage.

On the ground too, Ball was very much a loner, preferring to live in his own hut away from the other squadron members. He spent his off-duty hours tending his small allotment garden and practising the violin.

He was awarded his first decoration, the Military Cross, on June 27, 1916. By October, Ball had become the first person in the British Army to be awarded a DSO with two bars. By mid October, Ball was sent to England for a well-earned rest. A national hero, the young aviator had destroyed 13 aircraft (including one balloon), sent one aircraft 'down out of control' and forced a further 19 to land. He then became flight conmmander in the newly formed No. 56 Squadron RFC, which was the first unit equipped with the new S.E.5 scout. Ball considered the aircraft under-developed, and was allowed to retain a Nieuport 17 for his own use when the squadron went to France in April 1917. His S.E.5 was - on his orders - extensively modified, with both the cockpit 'greenhouse' and Vickers machine gun removed and the windscreen lowered to improve speed and performance. Ball's aircraft was easy to recognise, as he had a red propeller boss from an LVG he had shot down fitted to his aircraft.

He was 20 years old and a Temporary Captain when he performed the deeds for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross, on 8 June, 1917.

From 26 April to 6 May 1917, flying over France, Captain Ball took part in 26 combats, in the course of which he destroyed 11 hostile aircraft, brought two down out of control, and forced several others to land. Flying alone, on one occasion, he fought six hostile machines; twice he fought five, and once four. When leading two other British planes he attacked an enemy formation of eight - on each of these occasions he brought down at least one enemy plane, and several times his plane was badly damaged. On returning with a damaged plane, he always had to be restrained from immediately going out in another.

On the evening of 7 May near Douai, eleven British aircraft from No. 56 Squadron RFC, including Albert Ball's, encountered German fighters from Jasta 11. A running battle was fought in deteriorating visibility, and the aircraft became scattered. Both Lothar von Richthofen and Ball crashed behind German lines. Ball was killed, but von Richthofen survived and was credited by the Germans with shooting Ball down. There is however some doubt as to exactly what happened, especially as Lothar von Richthofen's victory claim was for a Sopwith Triplane rather than an S.E.5, as flown by Ball at this time (the two types are very unlikely to be confused). German propaganda of the time made great play of German aerial aces, and von Richthofen may even have been ordered to make the claim. It is just possible that Ball was not shot down at all, but became disoriented and lost control^[4]. or that he was shot down, but by a less famous German pilot. It is unlikely we will ever know for certain.

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Sherwood Foresters Museum (The Castle, Nottingham, England).

He was just 20 years old at the time of his death.

1 Notes
2 References
3 External links
4 Further reading

[edit] Notes

^ [1]
^ [2]
^ Albert Ball V.C.. The Lenton Listener (Issue 14, September - October 1981). Retrieved on 2006-10-08.
^ [3]

[edit] References

Albert Ball, VC (Chaz Bowyer, 1994)
Albert Ball, VC (Gillian Elias, 1993)
Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
VCs of the First World War - Air VCs (P G Cooksley, 1999)
Barker, Ralph (2002). The Royal Flying Corps in World War I. Robinson. ISBN 1-84119-470-0.
Full bio