Gerald Gordon Bell

Captain Gerald Gordon Bell (11 June 1890 – 7 October 1970) was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with sixteen aerial victories while serving in the British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force.

World War I Bell was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was working as a mechanical engineer on the outbreak of the war. He served in the Governor General's Foot Guards, before signing attestation papers for service overseas on 1 February 1915, and was assigned to the 38th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, with the rank of lieutenant. According to his service record his father was by then dead, so he gave his mother as his next of kin. After training in England, on 15 February he returned to France to serve in No. 22 Squadron RFC. Flying in a F.E.2b two-seater Bell gained his first aerial victory on 8 April, with Lieutenant L. W. Beale as pilot, sharing with five other aircraft of his flight in the destruction of an Albatros D.II over Regny. On 29 July, Bell and Ward, destroyed an enemy two-seater over Tortequesne.

On 19 December 1917 Bell was appointed a flying officer, with seniority from 9 January. He was sent to Salonika to join No. 47 Squadron RFC operating on the Macedonian front. On 13 April 1918, flying a S.E.5a single-seat fighter, he destroyed an Albatros D.III. to serve in a new unit, No. 150 Squadron RAF, formed from flights detached from No. 47 and No. 17 Squadrons. There Bell gained the remainder of his victories, accounting for twelve more enemy aircraft between 13 May and 18 September 1918.

On 29 February 1919 Bell appeared before a Medical Board, having contracted malaria in Salonika in September 1918; he suffered from intermittent fevers, weakness, and insomnia, and was assessed as being unfit for further service. relinquishing his commission. On 13 May he was demobilized from the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

List of aerial victories +Combat record No.Date/TimeAircraft/Serial No.OpponentResultLocation NotesNo. 22 Squadron RFC1 8 April 1917@ 0700 F.E.2b(A5454) Albatros D.II Destroyed Regny Pilot: Lieutenant L. W. Beale. Shared with Captain Carleton Clement, Lieutenants J. F. A. Day & H. G. Spearpoint, and Second Lieutenants Llewelyn Davies, W. M. Taylor, John V. Aspinall, Medley Parlee, Furlonger, C. W. Lane & J. K. Campbell.2 3 May 1917@ 1730 F.E.2b(A855) Albatros D.III Destroyed Pilot: Second Lieutenant E. A. H. Ward3 29 July 1917@ 0650 F.E.2b C Destroyed Tortequesne Pilot: Second Lieutenant E. A. H. WardNo. 47 Squadron RAF4 13 April 1918@ 0730 S.E.5a(B692) Albatros D.III Destroyed 1500 yds South of Brajkovic Shared with Lieutenant Charles Green.No. 150 Squadron RAF5 13 May 1918@ 0800 S.E.5a(B695) Albatros D.III Destroyed Livanovo Shared with Captain Acheson Goulding.6 15 May 1918@ 0530 S.E.5a(B28) Albatros D.V Destroyed Hudova Shared with Lieutenant Frederick Travers.7 1 June 1918@ 1505 S.E.5a(B692) Siemens-Schuckert D.III Destroyed Casandale 8 15 June 1918@ 0915 S.E.5a(B692) Albatros D.V Destroyed Marinopolje Shared with Captain G. M. Brawley & Lieutenant Leslie Hamilton.9 18 June 1918@ 0750 S.E.5a(B692) Albatros D.V Destroyed North of Paljorca Shared with Captain Acheson Goulding.10 23 June 1918@ 0745 S.E.5a(B6925) Albatros D.V Destroyed Hill 5401—Rupel Pass Shared with Lieutenant Leslie Hamilton.11 9 July 1918@ 0800 S.E.5a(B6945) Rumpler C Destroyed Angista 12 19 July 1918@ 0800 S.E.5a(B692) Albatros D.V Destroyed West of Livanova aerodrome Shared with Captain G. M. Brawley and Lieutenants Arthur Jarvis & W. Ridley.13 5 August 1918@ 0815 S.E.5a(D3495) Siemens-Schuckert D.III Destroyed 3000 yds north-west of Hudova Shared with Lieutenant J. A. Beeny.14 15 August 1918@ 1200 S.E.5a(D3495) LVG C Destroyed Seres Uesnik 15 21 August 1918@ 0910 S.E.5a(D3495) LVG C Destroyed Girejik—Derbend 16 18 August 1918@ 0630 S.E.5a(D3495) Fokker D Destroyed Karali

Personal life In 1920, he married Edith Grace Drayton, eldest daughter of Sir Henry and Lady Drayton, in Ottawa.

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