LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Dudley Edgar BALL DFC
Service No: 420849
Born: Upminster, England, 17 May 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 2 Gunnery Research Unit (RAF)
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 18 August 1944 (Citation Title: No. 626 Squadron RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 2 Gunnery Research Unit Mosquito aircraft HS891), Yorkshire, 10 January 1945, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery, Yorkshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William James Edgar and Dorothy Ball, of Lidcombe, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Lidcombe NSW
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
DFC Citation: This officer has completed, in various capacities, many successful operations against the enemy, in which he has displayed high skill, fortitude and devotion to duty. (Gazetted: 18 August 1944)
On the 10 January 1945, Mosquito HS891 was detailed to carry out a non-operational low level day cross country flight. Five crews were briefed for the same cross country flight. Crews were warned that snowflakes may be encountered, and were to fly around them, but if unable to do so then to turn back. Four of the aircraft completed the flight, but HS891 crashed when it hit a tree in poor visibility at Percy Farm, near Warram, East Yorkshire. An Inquiry into the accident found that “the accident could have been avoided if the Pilot had obeyed instructions.”
The crew members of HS891 were:
Flying Officer Dudley Edgar Ball DFC (420849) (Navigator)
Flight Lieutenant Laurence Gerard Sullivan DFM (409250) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/5/889