Albert Ball was born in Nottingham on 14th August 1896 to Albert and Harriet Page and from an early age, became interested in engineering and electrics.

He was educated at various schools and in January 1911 at the age of 14, transferred to Trent College, where he was able to pursue and increase his mechanical aptitude. 

He left in 1913 and at the outbreak of World War I, he joined the Sherwood Foresters and was soon promoted to Sergeant and then commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on 29th October.

However, as there was little likelihood of him seeing action, Albert decided to take flying lessons at his own expense, while still performing his military duties.

Despite being considered only “average” by his instructors, he still managed to become qualified on 15th October 1915 and promptly requested a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps where he was awarded his wings on 22nd January 1916. A month later, he was based at Marieux with 13 Sqn, flying reconnaissance missions over France, before being posted to 11 Sqn which operated fighters, and later to 60, 34, and 56 squadrons.

Over the next 15 months, Albert honed his fighting skills to such an extent that he became an “ace” having shot down his fifth aircraft; been awarded the Military Cross; the Distinguished Service Order, and two Bars; been promoted to Lieutenant; and becoming an Honorary Freeman of Nottingham.

He had also been credited with destroying over 40 enemy aircraft as well as many barrage balloons.

On the evening of 7th May 1917, Alfred was leading a flight of 11 fighters when they encountered enemy aircraft and in the ensuing dog-fight, his aircraft was seen to fly into a dark thundercloud. Moments later, it fell from the cloud, upside-down with a dead propeller, and crashed into a field near Annoeullin, 20km southwest of Lille.

Albert was killed instantly and two days later, the Germans buried him with full military honours near to the crash site. They also placed a cross over his grave with the inscription in German “Fallen in air combat for his fatherland English pilot Captain Albert Ball”.

In December 1918, the IWGC was consolidating British war graves into fewer cemeteries, and 23 bodies were removed from the location where Alfred was buried. However, Albert’s father requested that his son’s grave be allowed to remain and he paid for a private memorial to be erected over the grave in what became Annoeullin Communal Cemetery and German Extension.

He also bought the field where Albert crashed and erected a memorial stone. On 7th June 1917, the French awarded Albert with the Legion d’Honneur, and on the following day, it was announced that he had been granted a posthumous Victoria Cross which was presented to his parents by King George V at Buckingham Palace.

An RFC pilot who flew with Alfred on his last mission was quoted afterward as saying "I see they've given him the VC. Of course, he won it a dozen times over -- the whole squadron knows that".