Albert Ball

[Chris_Tydlacka]

I am curious about a few articles I read online concerning Ball's final moments. I hope a couple of you historians can help. Is there any credible evidence to support statements that Balls plane was shot down by a hun hideing a church tower and died in the arms of a young french girl.They also state that he had no gun shot wounds on his body.

[Ginger.]

Chris
I havs a photo of the windsreen of one of Ball's aircraft.It is made by Avro and has two bullet holes in it,I can't imagine it's from the plane he died in.His reputation for getting stuck in seems well founded as the bullets must have shaved him. I wonder if the more recent books about him shed any light on it,mine are all old ones.

[Graeme]

One compelling argument was put forward by Chas Bowyer in his book "For Valour, The Air VCs" in which he suggests that Ball became disorientated in the cloud and came at low level, inverted; without room to manoeuvre, Ball literally flew into the ground.

VBR Graeme

Hi Chris,
I read, many years ago, a translated German report on Ball after he was killed. It stated that there were no bullet wounds but that he had died from a broken spine (in two places). It was rather vague and my memory is not what it used to be. I'm sorry that I can't remember where I read this.
Hope this helps.
Les

[Chris_Tydlacka]

am I to believe that he died of pilot error?
was there a french girl present who might have known what happened?

You could go with Lothar V Richthofen's claim that Ball was flying a tripe and Lothar got a golden BB in Ball's head. This is probably the most perposterous German claim known.

Most conclude that yes Ball did die from complications resulting from his inner ear telling him up was down, right was left while he was in a cloud. Do not scoff at this being a rookie mistake, experienced pilots make it all the time. Back then I wonder if this problem was even documented yet.

[Ginger.]

Probably just what happened,McCudden was no rookie either and look how he copped it.

[Graeme]

If Ball did die as the result of pilot error, he wouldn't have been the first and definitely won't be the last. Another example might be D'Urban Armstrong who was an "ace" Camel pilot - he was killed stunting three days after the Armistice.

I suppose, taken to extremes, the deaths of MvR and Mannock resulted from pilot error since both were killed when they ignored their own rules.

The French mademoiselle makes delightful reading (a la Lufbery)but I put as much store in that notion as I do the gunner in the church clocktower.

Since Ball fell behind the German lines, I presume there must be some record of his death in German records which might throw some light on exactly how he met his tragic and premature end.

VBR Graeme

I sorta don't see the french girl thing happening either..if it did happen well that's very nice hehe.

Alas for the Germans to mistake a Se5 for a TRIPLANE! The wreak must have been horrible, and I doubt much of Albert's body was intact to hold...

[Graeme]

Years ago somebody, for the life of me I can't remember who or where, came up with the suggestion that LvR caught only a fleeting glimpse of Ball's SE5 as it flew into the cloud. A three-quarter rear view of an SE5 (with half of the machine hidden by cloud) DOES look a bit like a triplane layout.

However, if LvR is to be believed, he'd actually been behind Ball long enough to pumps bullets into him and shoot him down; there's no way that an SE5 could be mistaken for a Triplane in those circumstances.

Other suggestions include an attack of vertigo and being struck on the head by the Lewis gun (or a drum of ammunition) while attempting to reload the gun.

If Albert did die in the arms of a French maiden, good luck to him - he hated the job he was doing and I can think of a dozen worse ways to go.

VBR Graeme