The Great War - Flying Aces

On the 28th May 1893, Donald Maclaren was born in Canada. In 1914, Donald, his father and his brother had opened a fur trading post but by 1916 this was closed to help the war effort instead. Donald joined the Royal Flying Corps.

In November 1917, after extensive training, Donald was sent to France. His first combat mission didn't take place until February where he shot down a German fighter plane. By March 1918, Donald had helped destroy a railway gun, then go on to shoot down a balloon as well as two German LVG two seaters. For this he was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

When his Squadron Commander was killed in a crash, Donald was promoted to the role. In late October, whilst competing in a friendly wrestling match with his comrades, Donald broke his leg and was subsequently sent back to hospital in England. He was still there when the Armistice news filtered through. 

By the end of the war Donald had seen just seven months of combat. However in this time he had a Military Cross & Bar, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the DSO, the French Legion of Honour and the Croix De Guerre to his name.

After the war, Donald spent two years in command of the Canadian pilots stationed in England with the Royal Canadian Airforce before later forming Pacific Airways. He died on the 4th July 1988 in British Columbia aged 95.

The Great War - Flying Aces

In this next mini series I thought I would share with you some of the brave flying aces that fought on the Allies side during the First World War. In the previous mini series, you will have learnt about that types of aircraft that were used, so I thought it would be only fair to share with you some of the stories of the men that actually used them.

The first Ace I would like to share with you is unfortunately one of many that never saw the end of the war. He died aged just twenty years old and had the Victoria Cross, the Military Cross and the Croix De Guerre medals to his name. This is the story of Albert Ball...

Albert was born in Nottingham, England on 14th August 1896. At the outbreak of the war Albert had been studying Engineering but stopped to instead join the Sherwood Foresters. These were men that fought on the ground and were sent to many countries including France and India at the start of the war. But Albert was restless and so transferred to the new Royal Flying Corps in May 1916 and became just one of many pilots to provide air support during the Battle of the Somme.

By October that year, Albert had an astounding thirty victories to his name and was written about in newspapers back on the home front where he was hailed a hero. He was then promoted to Flight Commander of 56 Squadron where he became well respected amongst the other pilots.

But Albert's story comes to an abrupt end. On 6th May 1917, he engages in a dogfight with a German plane. The planes collided mid air and his body was later discovered in the wreckage. He had seen more than a boy his age should ever see and had carried out his role as fighter pilot to his best ability. 

Albert's story continued to be written about back home but many people never knew about his death. Through the newspapers he had become an inspiration to aspiring pilots and a few men that were to become flying Aces themselves, joined up after hearing about one Albert Ball. To tell the public of his death would have lowered morale and would probably have stopped many of the pilots from joining up. It would have shown the true danger of flying aircraft on the Front Line.