ALBERT BALL

[EARTHLING]

I have just finished reading the biography of A B by C Bowyer and found it an improvement on the 1933 Kiernan book but then the latter was a history master (sorry).
The word that comes to mind in relation to Ball is FOOLHARDY when it is joined to the term reckless courage. Never refuse to fight; never give ground; never mind the odds.
All nations seem to have had this type of person; Rhys-Davids for Wales; Voss for Germany; Luke for the US of A;Nungesser for France.
Any other candidates?

VBR
Peter S

Possibly Bishop! *He seemed to enjoy the hunt more when he was alone. *The famous incident where he shot down several German machines over their aerodrome to win the VC, comes to mind!

[Ginger.]

...if one was ever over the Salient in the autumn of 1917 and saw an SE5 fighting like Hell amidst a heap of Huns,one would find nine times out of ten the SE was flown by Rhys Davids.
James McCudden.
Rhys Davids was born at Forest Hill,south of London.He was an Englishman.

Well said....but with a name like that you can be forgiven for making the mistake of thinking he was a Welshman

[MikeW]

Mickisthe1 exhibits reckless courage and the word foolhardy also springs to mind.

Possibly Bishop! *He seemed to enjoy the hunt more when he was alone. *The famous incident where he shot down several German machines over their aerodrome to win the VC, comes to mind!

Mick you have made a statement that I predict will make Passchendaele look like a Sunday School outing.

Dear Peter,
As to "any other candidates"? I nominate: the Lafayette Escadrille. I apologize, but I won't be naming names here, out of a respect for the dead...
But, the fact is, having read their biographies in Gordon's THE LAFAYETTE FLYING CORPS (Schiffer, of course!), I concluded that, in more than one instance, I would not have wanted to fly with some of these gentlemen (which they were, by American standards of the time, almost all having come from Ivy League backgrounds-- our own "playing fields of Eton").
Let me clarify-- I'm talking about two or three fliers who were a liability to the Escadrille to the point of putting their squadron mates' lives in danger. The type of "young Turk" who would break formation, abandoning the mission objective, because he saw a German plane nearby. No discipline whatsoever; "loose cannon" might be a good term...
Please don't interpret the above to mean Lufbery (or Bert Hall, for that matter). Luf was his own special case-- a man driven by an all consuming desire for vengence (I assure you, I'm NOT exagerrating)-- but he did not place others in danger in his drive (lust?) to destroy Germans...
I WAS surprised by your comment on Ball, for I know that you have already read Libby's HORSES DON'T FLY, in which Ball comes across as a dedicated, competent, even patient airfighter. I still can't get over the image of Libby first meeting Ball while the latter was playing tennis. It reminded me of Drake's bowling...

MikeW! You are probably right. *I know I have, or probably will have incurred the wrath of a certain Al lowe, to name but one. * :