David Filsell Posted 9 September , 2015 Share Posted 9 September , 2015 SD, Thanks for your reply. I am happy to be corrected - I a certainly no expert on stress related illness - but while I see Ball express tiredness I do not detect the "classic signs" you do. Certainly no descriptions like those of Mannock by Ira Jones or those detected by Von R spot which she entered in his diary. What have I missed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 9 September , 2015 Share Posted 9 September , 2015 Hello David There is a tendency to conflate the different levels of combat fatigue. To me, AB's letters and behaviour strongly indicate what might be called "the entry level" or what we now call CSR. See what you think - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_stress_reaction Remember too that Ball seems to have died as a result of a piloting error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 10 September , 2015 Share Posted 10 September , 2015 CD Thanks for the reply and the pointer to Wiki. Yes, I can see a few of the signs indicated in Ball's behaviour. But not the extreme changes indicated for Mannock and vonR. There were clear physical and mental changes in both M and von R which were recorded by others. Can his Ball's death be definitely accepted as piloting error? It seems to me that it remains unexplained. In the cases of both of the others mentioned, as well as clear behavioural symptoms of 'combat stress', in following an enemy down (target fixation was the term used in the 'second half'), an action both taught others to avoid, they made almost certain pilot errors. The case of Ball's mental condition is, I think still open. Is there any more evidence of Ball's stressed condition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitchener's Bugle Posted 4 October , 2015 Author Share Posted 4 October , 2015 I have just read this excellent book which contains a great many of his personal letters. Only once does he ever mention "stress" or "fatigue" in his correspondence to his family. At one point he was under stress and possibly heading for a break-down but there is no actual medical evidence to support this. In any event he soon recovered and actually hated being away from the front and was always eager to get back. Some of his actual exploits were remarkable. His actual kill rate is still the subject of speculation as his his death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 4 October , 2015 Share Posted 4 October , 2015 Anything in there, KB, that sheds light on Albert's reputed membership of the KRRC's 1st Cadet Battalion in London? Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 4 October , 2015 Share Posted 4 October , 2015 KB Thanks for the information. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitchener's Bugle Posted 9 November , 2015 Author Share Posted 9 November , 2015 Anything in there, KB, that sheds light on Albert's reputed membership of the KRRC's 1st Cadet Battalion in London? Mark Hi Mark, I did not notice any reference to the 1st Cadet Bat although it does mention the Army Cyclists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 10 November , 2015 Share Posted 10 November , 2015 Hi Mark, I did not notice any reference to the 1st Cadet Bat although it does mention the Army Cyclists. Many thanks KB - much appreciated. I'm really struggling to substantiate this claim made in several KRRC sources and Albert's life timeline/geography seems to have few windows of opportunity for him being a cadet in the City of London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 10 November , 2015 Share Posted 10 November , 2015 I wonder if someone could confirm that a German pilot dropped a canister containing a message confirming Ball's death into the allied lines. (I have a vague 60+ year old memory of something.) RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitchener's Bugle Posted 10 November , 2015 Author Share Posted 10 November , 2015 Yes RM That was mentioned in the Book. ............. Instead of returning Ball’s body to the British, the German hierarchy decided to give him a military funeral with honours in the village cemetery, attended by German officers, British prisoners of war and villagers and the grave was marked by a single white cross. Ball was posted as ‘Missing’ and the British were not informed of Ball’s death until the end of May, when the Germans dropped messages confirming his death and burial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 11 November , 2015 Share Posted 11 November , 2015 Yes RM That was mentioned in the Book. ............. Instead of returning Ball’s body to the British, the German hierarchy decided to give him a military funeral with honours in the village cemetery, attended by German officers, British prisoners of war and villagers and the grave was marked by a single white cross. Ball was posted as ‘Missing’ and the British were not informed of Ball’s death until the end of May, when the Germans dropped messages confirming his death and burial. Many thanks. I had a sudden memory from more than 60 years ago. This may not be entirely accurate, I was very young at the time and rely more on the memories of what I was told later. My family came from Nottingham and for many years during the annual visit to relatives we went to Nottingham Castle and looked at (among other things) the Albert Ball exhibit. In the early 1950s my late father took over a new church. It turned out that a man in the congregation had one of the canisters in which the message had been dropped. (His father had been in the unit which picked the message up and he kept the canister as a souvenir. My father told him about the display in Nottingham Castle and as a result the canister was handed over to the Castle Museum. What is it they say about six degrees of separation? RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitchener's Bugle Posted 14 November , 2015 Author Share Posted 14 November , 2015 Wonderful Story that ...... thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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