Albert Ball

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

Raised in Nottingham, Ball joined the Sherwood Foresters at the outbreak of the First World War and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in October 1914. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), where he gained his pilot's wings on 26 January 1916.

In February 1916, Ball 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. In the process, he became the first ace to become a British popular hero.

After a period on home establishment, he was posted to No. 56 Squadron, which deployed to the Western Front in April 1917. Ball crashed to his death in a field in France on 7 May 1917. His death in action set off a national wave of mourning and increased posthumous recognition.