Captain Albert Ball, VC, DSO, MC--single figure--RETIRED. - LAST ONE!
$75.00

John Jenkins Designs - RETIRED COLLECTION

Item Number: ACE-06P

Captain Albert Ball, VC, DSO, MC

Albert Ball, VC, DSO & Two Bars, MC (14 August 1896 – 7 May 1917) was an English fighter pilot of the First World War and a recipient of the Victoria Cross.

At the time of his death he was, with forty-four victories, the United Kingdom's leading flying ace, and remained its fourth-highest scorer behind Edward Mannock, James McCudden, and George McElroy.

He became the first British fighter ace to capture the public's imagination.

Throughout his flying service, he was primarily a "lone-wolf" pilot, carefully stalking his prey from below until he drew close enough to use his top-wing Lewis gun on its Foster mounting, angled to fire upwards into the enemy's fuselage.  According to fellow ace and Victoria Cross recipient James McCudden, "it was quite a work of art to pull this gun down and shoot upwards, and at the same time manage one's machine accurately".

Ball crashed to his death in a field in France while pursuing the Red Baron's brother, Lothar von Richthofen.  During the engagement, he managed to force von Richthofen to the ground, but soon after emerged from a cloud bank upside down and crashed before he could recover.  The Germans buried Albert Ball in Annœullin, with full honors.

Ball's death was reported around the world.  He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, and also honored by the government of France and the Aero Club of America.

 A memorial service in his home town of Nottingham was attended by large crowds.  The year after his death he was commemorated in a biography that included tributes from Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Field Marshal Douglas Haig, and General Hugh Trenchard.

Ball's father, a former mayor of Nottingham, memorialized his son in several ways, buying the field where he died, improving his grave site in Annœullin, and building homes in his honor.  Ball is also commemorated by a statue and plaque in the grounds of Nottingham Castle, where his Victoria Cross and other medals and memorabilia are displayed.

RETIRED.

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