High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Albert Ball VC, DSO Two Bars, MC (14 August 1896 – 7 May 1917) was an English fighter pilot of the First World War and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British or Commonwealth armed forces. 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 learnt to fly in his spare time and gained his pilot's licence in October 1915. Transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), he undertook training at Central Flying School, where he was awarded his wings on 26 January 1916. Данное издание представляет собой компиляцию сведений, находящихся в...