FLGOFF Cecil Gordon Ball 425582

The first Australian Fighter Wing has been formed in this country. One of the two squadrons, No. 451 Squadron RAAF, comprising the Wing has been in operations in the Middle East, Cyprus, Syria, Corsica, Southern France, Italy, Germany, and in Holland, equipped with cannon firing Spitfire FXVI aircraft against V2 rocket sites. Shown: Pilots of No. 451 (Spitfire) Squadron RAAF. Back row, left to right: 420296 Flying Officer (FO) Clifford Hilston Stubbs; 425789 FO Jack Frederick Vintner; 421171 Pilot Officer (PO, later FO) David Alfred Cooper. Middle row: probably 420833 Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) David Fisher; 425582 FO Cecil Gordon Ball; probably 421427 FO Bruce Fuller; O215060 FO (later Flt Lt) James Thomas Minahan; 420520 FO Joseph Barrington; 421827 FO Arthur Thomas Roe; Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) J McDonald; 421362 Flt Lt Robert Thornton Milner; FO Ralph Hill; 421992 Flt Sgt (later FO) Sydney Alwyn Handsaker; FO Bob Field; 400486 FO (later Squadron Leader [Sqn Ldr]) Colin Watson Robertson. Front row: 407959 Flt Lt Reginald Harold Sutton DFC, 'A' Flight Commander; 400486 Sqn Ldr Colin Watson Robertson DFC, Commanding Officer of Jerilderie, NSW; 402321 Flt Lt (later Sqn Ldr) Douglas Mackenzie Davidson DFC, 'B' Flight Commander (accidentally killed in the UK on 6 January 1946).