May 2025:

Presented here are three dioramas of aircraft flown by Captain Albert Ball VC during World War I. These are a Sopwith Camel, SE.5a and Nieuport Scout mk XVII. These were all created by Nick Jones as a tribute to this ace, who was a national hero during the war. Ball, credited with a total of 44 kills, died on the 7th May 1917 in the SE.5a depicted here, after a dogfight with Lothar Von Richtofen. Lothar was the brother of Manfred, the infamous ‘Red Baron’. On that day, Von Richtofen was forced to make a crash landing after the duel, but survived. However, Ball’s SE.5a engine cut out in cloud and the aircraft hit the ground inverted. He was thrown clear during the crash and was still alive, but later died in the arms of a French lady whilst on the German side of the lines. He is buried in a German cemetery, the grave marked with a marble plinth.

Ball was a son of Nottingham and remains a hero in the city to this day. His father was a knighted mayor and Albert’s VC was presented to the family in the city by a representative of the King in 1918. The city commissioned a huge bronze statue of him, which was paid for by public donations, which now stands close to the Robin Hood plinth.  A display dedicated to the pilot can also be seen in Nottingham Castle museum. Nick used to visit the museum frequently as a child and this started a lifelong interest in the pilot. A 28 year career in the RAF, including time spent in Nottingham, made this interest grow further.

Nick wanted to create these dioramas as a tribute, specifically to Albert Ball, but also to all those who served and gave their lives in this conflict, World War II and the further conflicts following 1945. With it being 80 years since VE day, it is well worth remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could all remain free. Nick’s hope is that this display will go on permanent loan to Nottingham Castle museum. I’m sure everyone who looks at these photos will agree that they would make a fitting addition.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Nick, for allowing us to include these photos on our website. We would also like to thank Andy Stafford, who took these photos for Nick. Andy has very kindly allowed us to reproduce these images here.