Douglas John Bell

Captain Douglas John Bell (16 September 1893 – 27 May 1918) was a South African World War I fighter ace credited with 20 aerial victories. He was one of the first fighter pilots to successfully engage an enemy multi-engine bomber. He became the leading ace of the nine in No. 3 Squadron RAF.

Early service Bell was born in South Africa, the son of Herbert Bell and of Christine (née Williams) of Johannesburg, Transvaal. He first served in the Transvaal Light Horse Regiment during the South-West Africa Campaign of 1914–1915.

Bell enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps on 1 June 1916. He received his Aviator's Certificate on 22 September 1916. The following month, he was assigned to No. 27 Squadron, to fly the Martinsyde G.100. Despite the poor performance of a bomber so ungainly that it was nicknamed "The Elephant", Bell managed to score three victories flying the Martinsyde. He drove down an Albatros D.III on 1 May 1917; on 4 June, he shared the destruction of another D.III with another pilot, and drove a third down out of control. The performance made him one of the top two scorers with the Martinsyde.

Bell was appointed a flight commander with the temporary rank of captain on 9 April 1917. He was then reassigned to No. 78 Squadron, which was flying Sopwith 1½ Strutters on Home Defence duty back in England. While with No. 78 he engaged a Gotha bomber on 25 September 1917. After nearly fifteen minutes of machine-gunning the Gotha, it crashed into the North Sea. His claim for this victory went unconfirmed; it would have been Home Defence's first victory.

Killed in action On 27 May 1918, Bell drove down an enemy two-seater with two comrades for his twentieth win. He was killed by machine gun fire from observer Leut. Heinzelmann in a two-seater flown by Gefr. Rosenau. Bell's burial site is unknown. As one of the many Allied airmen who died on the Western Front, but have no known grave, he is commemorated at the Arras Flying Services Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.

List of aerial victories His wartime tally of 20 victories consisted of 1 (and 1 shared) balloons destroyed, 7 ( and 4 shared) aircraft destroyed, and 6 (and 1 shared) 'out of control'.

+Combat record No.Date/TimeAircraft/Serial No.OpponentResultLocationNotesNo. 27 Squadron RFC1 1 May 1917 Martinsyde G.100 Albatros D.III Out of control Near Épinoy 2 4 June 19171415 Martinsyde G.100(A6262) Albatros D.III Destroyed West of Sint-Denijs-Westrem Shared with Lieutenant D. V. D. Marshall3 Albatros D.III Out of control Hausbeke No. 78 Squadron RFC u/c 25 September 1917 Sopwith 1½ Strutter Gotha G.V Destroyed South of Brentwood, Essex – North Sea Shared with observer/gunner Lieutenant G. G. WilliamsNo. 3 Squadron RFC4 11 March 19181730 Sopwith Camel(C1615) Albatros D.V Out of control Quéant–Pronville 5 13 March 19181545 Sopwith Camel(C1615) Albatros D.V Destroyed in flames Villers 6 16 March 19180915–0930 Sopwith Camel(C1615) Albatros D.V Destroyed Cambrai 7 Type C Destroyed 8 17 March 19181330 Sopwith Camel(C1615) Albatros D.V Destroyed in flames Cagnicourt Shared with 2nd Lieutenant A. A. M. Arnot9 22 March 19181430 Sopwith Camel(C1615) Albatros D.V Destroyed in flames Havrincourt Wood 10 23 March 19181540–1545 Sopwith Camel(C1615) Balloon Destroyed Quéant 11 Albatros D.V Out of control 12 Albatros D.V Out of control 13 27 March 1918abt 0700 Sopwith Camel(C1615) LVG C Destroyed Fricourt Shared with Lieutenants George Riley and W. C. DennettNo. 3 Squadron RAF14 1 April 19181815 Sopwith Camel(C6730) Fokker Dr.I Destroyed Combles 15 8 April 19180655 Sopwith Camel(C6730) Balloon Destroyed North of Mory Shared with Captain Cyril Ridley16 11 April 19181600 Sopwith Camel(C6730) Albatros C Destroyed in flames Ervillers Shared with Lieutenants Lloyd Hamilton,Adrian Franklyn, and C. E. Mayer17 12 April 19181900–1915 Sopwith Camel(C6730) Albatros D.V Destroyed Albert 18 Albatros D.V Out of control Pozières 19 20 April 19181750 Sopwith Camel(C6730) Fokker Dr.I Destroyed North-East of Villers-Bretonneux 20 27 May 19181240 Sopwith Camel(C6730) Type C Out of control Shared with Lieutenants Lloyd Hamilton and Will Hubbard

Honours and awards Military Cross 2nd Lt. Douglas John Bell, R.F.C., Spec. Res. "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of a long distance bomb raid. Owing to his good leadership and skill a large ammunition dump was destroyed. Later, he single-handed carried out a difficult mission and succeeded in reaching his objective under extremely adverse weather conditions."

Bar to Military Cross 2nd Lt. (T./Capt.) Douglas John Bell, M.C., R.F.C., Spec. Res. "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He has led his formation with great skill and has destroyed three enemy aeroplanes and driven down two others, one of which was seen to be completely out of control. The high state of efficiency which his flight has attained is due to his splendid example and fearless leadership."