Petty Officer 1st Class
Alfred BALL
Navy
Died: 25th April 1916 - Age: 32

Commemorated:

1. Book:The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918Pg.116
2. Memorial:The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour12D GQS
    

Awards & Titles:

 

Early Life :

Born Harold Wood, Essex. Son of Emma Ball

Education & Career :

Grocers Assistant (-1902); Royal Navy 29th May 1902-25th April 1916

Service Life:

Campaigns:

Unit / Ship / Est.: HMS Conquest 

HMS Conquest was a Caroline class light cruiser that was badly damaged during the German raid on Lowestoft of 25 April 1916. She was commissioned into the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron of the Harwich Force in June 1915. There she took part in the hunt for the German mine layer Meteor of August 1915, and also accompanied British mine layers. She also accompanied the force that attacked the German Zeppelin base at Tondern in March 1916. That expedition saw the flagship of the squadron damaged and Conquest took over from March-April 1916.

On 25 April 1916 the Germans attacked Lowestoft. Tyrwhitt, with the Harwich cruisers, intercepted the German force, which included their battlecruisers, before they reached the coast, but was unable to lure them away. After the attack on the town, the German battlecruisers moved towards Yarmouth. Tyrwhitt attacked their light cruisers, forces the battlecruisers to turn back. When they appeared, Tyrwhitt was forced to flee back south. His squadron was under fire for 13 minutes, before the Germans ended the engagement and turned east for home. HMS Conquest was hit by a 12in salvo, which killed 25, wounded 13 and destroyed her aerials. However, she was still able to make 20kts, and escaped further damage.

She was back with the squadron by August, when the Harwich Force took part in the general fleet sortie triggered by a movement of the High Seas Fleet. During the sortie the Harwich Force was spotted by Zeppelin L 13. Conquest attempted to shoot her down, but without success.

Action : Naval Campaign 

Naval Campaign is defined as to include all sea operations where attrition rates are in ones and twos and which do not fall within specific naval battles such as Jutland, Coronel, Falklands etc. This includes Merchant Navy losses.

Enlisted in 1902. Served aboard
HMS Impregnable
HMS Lion
HMS Agincourt
HMS Orlando
HMS Albion
HMS Pembroke I (Shore based ship)
HMS Firequeen
HMS Victory I
HMS Attentive
HMS Lord Nelson
HMS Ganges
HMS Conquest

Detail :

At the time of initiation into Freemasonry, Alfred was resident at Shotley (opposite Harwich and across the River Stour). The only reference to an Alfred Ball born in 1884 and died in 1916 is:

BALL, P.O. 1st Class, Alfred, 209945. Royal Navy HMS Conquest. Killed in action in raid on Lowestoft 25th April, 1916. Age 32. Son of Emma Ball.

which is a convenient tie, that HMS Conquest was part of the Harwich Force, but she suffered two catastrophic events in 1916. The raid at Lowestoft described above and also the "ships boat" which as lost on the 28th March 1916 with the loss of more than 40 personnel. Ball is not listed amongst them, so without further confirmation, it may be sensible to weigh on the CWGC record that his final action was at Lowestoft.

Masonic :

TypeLodge Name and No.Province/District :
Mother : Star In The East No. 650 E.C.Essex

Initiated
Passed
Raised
26th October 1915
11th January 1916
14th March 1916
 

In the records of Star in the East No. 650 at the United Grand Lodge of England it shows that Alfred was "Deceased Mar 1916". This being the case, it would seem that he would have been raised just two weeks before his untimely death. The records also show that Alfred was a Petty Officer at the time of Initiation in 1915 and not an Able Seaman.

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

Additional Source:

Last Updated: 2016-08-26 15:25:10