Charles Grieve “Curly; also spelt Curley” Ball

Corporal · NZ #7423 · R Patrol · MID

What this roll records

HE DIED ON 15 JUNE 1970 AT CHRISTCHURCH, AGED 64, and four notices carried him in the Press two days later — one from his family and three from his sister and her people. The family notice names him in the form the roll holds and adds his service in the same breath: “BALL, Charles Greive (Curley), of 49 Oxford Street, Lyttelton … (No. 7423, L.R.D.G., 2nd N.Z.E.F.)”. THE NUMBER IS THIS CARD’S OWN. He was the husband of the late Hannah Florence (“Flo”) Ball, who died before him; the father of Mick and father-in-law of Dorreen; and “loved pal of Steven, Craig and Tui”. His sister was Nellie May, Mrs E. L. Threadwell of Lyttelton, and her husband Eric was his brother-in-law; a fourth notice makes him the “loved uncle of Bill, Nugget, Ron, Kay and Donald”. Messages went to 167 Aldwins Road, Linwood; sprays only, please. His funeral service was held in the Canterbury Crematorium Chapel, Linwood Avenue, on 17 June 1970 at 3.45 p.m. HIS AGE GIVES A BIRTH YEAR THIS CARD DID NOT HAVE: 64 on 15 June 1970 places his birth between mid-June 1905 and mid-June 1906. That is a range, not a date, so it is recorded here and NOT written into the date-of-birth field, which is for dates. TWO SPELLINGS, AND BOTH ARE HIS FAMILY’S: the notices set his middle name GREIVE where this roll holds Grieve, and his nickname CURLEY in the family notice against CURLY in his sister’s. Neither is corrected here; both are recorded. Source: the Press, 16 June 1970, via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand).

Patrol R: "L/Cpl C.G. Ball", R Patrol meal break. Brendan O'Carroll, "The Long Range Desert Group in North Africa".

On original LRP Roll (5 Dec 1940): R — Gnr R Patrol; Sgt R2 Patrol; returned 27 (MG) Bn. Source: LRP Roll (Original LRP Nominal Roll as at 5 Dec 1940, Capt L H Browne).

On the R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941: L/Cpl Ball C.G., 7423. Source: Brendan O'Carroll, 'R Patrol, Long Range Desert Group' (R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941).

Motor mechanic in civilian life. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

Embarkation detail from his Cenotaph record: he embarked as LANCE CORPORAL, 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion, Headquarters. The rank held on this card, Corporal, is his LRDG rank; promotion after embarkation was the rule rather than the exception, so the two are not in conflict. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C134315.

See him in the full roll →

Where this comes from

• LRDG Nominal Roll, 28 Dec 1940 – Jan 1941 (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy) — roll rank: Lance Corporal
• Additional sources (AWMM Online Cenotaph). Nominal Roll 2NZEF No. 1, p.13. Unit history: Kay, R. (1958). 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion. External links: Northern Advocate, 7 January 1943 (Papers Past)

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Not By Strength But By Guile