James Ball was born
in Viney Hill, Gloucestershire, in 1881. A Stonecutter by trade, at the time of
the 1911 census, he was living with his brother's family at 102 Derlwyn St,
Phillips Town, New Tredegar, Monmouthshire.
He enlisted at
Pontardawe, joining the 6th Bn South Wales Boarders. he landed in France on the
24th of September 1915 with his Bn. Transferred to the 7th, he was posted to
the Balkans, where he was killed in action on the 18th of September 1918 during
the Battle of Dorian. He was buried in Dorian Military Cemetery in
Greece.
In this action,
Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Burges, won his Victoria Cross.
'On the 18th of
September 1918 at Jumeaux, in the Balkans, valuable reconnaissance of the enemy
front line trenches enabled Lieutenant Colonel Burges to bring his battalion,
without casualties, to the assembly point, but later while some distance from
the objective, they came under severe machine-gun fire. Although he himself was
wounded, the colonel continued to lead his men with skill and courage until he
was hit again twice and fell unconscious. He was taken prisoner by the
Bulgarians, but was abandoned in a dug-out with one of his legs shattered.
