Photo: John Ball, Royal England Navy c1943
Leading Seaman (Stoker) John Ball, HMS Narborough 1943
Corinne's 4th cousin Peter S. Ratcliffe's grandfather John Ball Jr
At the start of World War II, John was an overlooker at Stonhouses mill, Wakefield, a reserved occupation, he gave up this and joined the Royal England Navy, see`ing action on the Atlantic and Russian convoys.
He is buried with Gladys at Belle Vue Cemetery, Wakefield, England, UK
Peter E-mails to Corinne 10/14/06
Could get used to this, John Ball my grandfather was a great man, joined the navy in 1940 and served in the Russian and Atlantic convoys, spent loads of time in America and his ship was sunk by torpedo, he survived the War and went back to his employment in the mill as an Overlooker (Supervisor) after the war and due to pressure from his wife (always on at him) he took to the bottle.
This killed him in the end, he suffered a stroke which paralised him apart from his left eye, he died while I was young but I remember him well.
My wife is always on at me because when im`e not working im`e on the computer, not gonna take to the bottle as yes, gonna live until im`e at least 90 years,and iv`e had a trip to Alaska !!!!!!! Pete x