Albert Ball (1896-1917)
King’s School old boy and WWI air ace Albert Ball lodged in Avenue Road in Grantham in 1908 and 1909, staying at the home of Mrs Howarth.
He joined the Sherwood Foresters at the outbreak of the First World War and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in October 1914. He learned to fly in his spare time, funding his own lessons, and gained his pilot’s licence a year later and his wings in 1916.
After joining No. 13 Squadron RFC in France on reconnaissance duties, he was posted in May to No. 11 Squadron and quickly became the first British fighter ace to capture the public’s imagination. He went on to become the youngest flier to win three Distinguished Service Orders, and was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for consistent bravery across 26 aerial combats.
Ball crashed to his death in a field in France on 7 May 1917, having emerged from a cloud bank upside down during an engagement with Lothar von Richthofen (the Red Baron’s brother) whom he had managed to force to the ground moments earlier. Most historians now believe he became disorientated in the poor visibility and lost control, rather than being shot down.
The Germans buried him with full military honours two days later, placing a cross over his grave inscribed: “Fallen in air combat for his fatherland, English pilot Captain Albert Ball.” Manfred von Richthofen himself remarked that Ball was “by far the best English flying man.” It was a code of honour that existed among airmen on both sides, enemies in the air, but respected as fellow pilots in death.
Ball’s father, a former mayor of Nottingham, later bought the field where his son died, improved his gravesite in Annœullin, and built homes there in his honour.
emma philips…
Simply a smiling visitor here to share the love (:, btw great design ….