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Albert Ball Fighter Pilot Flying Ace Nottingham Second Lieutenant Royal Flying Corps Wings No. 13 Squadron RFC

Albert Ball was an English fighter pilot during World War 1 who became the UK's leading flying ace with 44 victories before his death at age 20 in 1917. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, gained his pilot's wings in 1916 and served with reconnaissance and fighter squadrons in France, earning several honors for his service. After briefly returning to England, Ball was posted to another squadron and sent back to the Western Front, where he died in a crash in May 1917, sparking national mourning and further posthumous recognition for his skills and bravery as a pilot.

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Albert Ball Fighter Pilot Flying Ace Nottingham Second Lieutenant Royal Flying Corps Wings No. 13 Squadron RFC

Albert Ball was an English fighter pilot during World War 1 who became the UK's leading flying ace with 44 victories before his death at age 20 in 1917. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, gained his pilot's wings in 1916 and served with reconnaissance and fighter squadrons in France, earning several honors for his service. After briefly returning to England, Ball was posted to another squadron and sent back to the Western Front, where he died in a crash in May 1917, sparking national mourning and further posthumous recognition for his skills and bravery as a pilot.

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Catherine Nipps
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Albert Ball (18961917) was an English fighter pilot during the First World War.

At the time of his death


he was, with 44 victories, the United Kingdom's leading flying ace. Raised in Nottingham, Ball was
commissioned as asecond lieutenant in October 1914. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps(RFC) the
following year, and gained his pilot's wings in January 1916. He then joined No. 13 Squadron RFC in
France, flying reconnaissance missions before being posted in May to No. 11 Squadron, a fighter unit.
From then until his return to England on leave in October, he accrued many aerial victories, earning two
Distinguished Service Orders and the Military Cross. He was the first British ace to become a popular
hero. After a period on home establishment, Ball was posted to No. 56 Squadron, which was sent to the
Western Front in April 1917. He crashed to his death in a field in France on 7 May, sparking a wave of
national mourning and posthumous recognition, which included the award of the Victoria Cross for his
actions during his final tour of duty. His most renowned enemy, Manfred von Richthofen, remarked
upon hearing of Ball's death that he was "by far the best English flying man"

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