In WWI, pilot Albert Ball caught the imagination of the British public. Ball acquired his wings in the RFC in January 1916 and was posted to France. He had developed a reputation as a tenacious scout pilot. He became the second highest scoring scout pilot of the time. Waging his solitary aerial way, Ball became a true inspiration to the RFC when its squadrons were being mauled. But his life was to prove tragivally short and he was killed in action just before his 21st birthday leading a patrol of SE5’s. He had accounted for 44 German aircraft and way posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.