page_title: Albert Ball
section_title: Military flight training and reconnaissance work
hierarchical_section_title: Albert Ball / First World War / Military flight training and reconnaissance work
caption_attribution_description: English World War I flying ace and Victoria Cross recipient Albert Ball
context_page_description: Albert Ball, VC, DSO & Two Bars, MC was an English fighter pilot during the First World War. At the time of his death he was the United Kingdom's leading flying ace, with 44 victories, and remained its fourth-highest scorer behind Edward Mannock, James McCudden, and George McElroy.
  Born and 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 the following year, and gained his pilot's wings on 26 January 1916. Joining No. 13 Squadron RFC in France, he flew 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 ace to become a British national hero.
  After a period on home establishment, Ball was posted to No. 56 Squadron, which deployed to the Western Front in April 1917.
context_section_description: Although considered an average pilot at best by his instructors, Ball qualified for his Royal Aero Club certificate (no. 1898) on 15 October 1915, and promptly requested transfer to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). He was seconded to No. 9 (Reserve) Squadron RFC on 23 October, and trained at Mousehold Heath aerodrome near Norwich. In the first week of December, he soloed in a Maurice Farman Longhorn after standing duty all night, and his touchdown was rough. When his instructor commented sarcastically on the landing, Ball angrily exclaimed that he had only 15 minutes experience in the plane, and that if this was the best instruction he was going to get, he would rather return to his old unit. The instructor relented, and Ball then soloed again and landed successfully in five consecutive flights. His rough landing was not the last Ball was involved in; he survived two others. He completed his training at Central Flying School, Upavon, and was awarded his wings on 22 January 1916. A week later, he was officially transferred from the North Midlands Cyclist Company to the RFC as a pilot.
  On 18 February 1916, Ball joined No. 13 Squadron RFC at Marieux in France, flying a two-seat Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c on reconnaissance missions. He survived being shot down by anti-aircraft fire on 27 March. Three days later, he fought the first of several combats in the B.E.2; he and his observer, Lieutenant S. A. Villiers, fired a drum and a half of Lewis gun ammunition at an enemy two-seater, but were driven off by a second one. After this inconclusive skirmish, Ball wrote home in one of his many letters, "I like this job, but nerves do not last long, and you soon want a rest". In letters home to his father, he discouraged the idea of his younger brother following him into the RFC. Ball and Villiers tried unsuccessfully to shoot down an enemy observation balloon in their two-seater on 10 April. Ball's burgeoning skills and aggressiveness gained him access to the squadron's single-seat Bristol Scout fighter later that month. April 1916 also saw Ball's first mention in a letter home of plans for "a most wonderful machine ... heaps better than the Hun Fokker". It is now generally believed that these "plans" were unconnected with the design of the Austin-Ball A.F.B.1, with which he later became involved.
caption: Ball with an obsolete Caudron G.3, widely used as a trainer in 1915–16
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