Douglas John Bell

Douglas John Bell
Born(1893-09-16)16 September 1893
Johannesburg, Transvaal
Died27 May 1918(1918-05-27) (aged 24)
near Thiepval, France
Commemorated at
AllegianceUnion of South Africa
United Kingdom
Service/branchUnion Defence Force
British Army
Royal Air Force
Years of service1914–1918
RankCaptain
UnitLight Horse Regiment
No. 27 Squadron RFC
No. 78 Squadron RFC
No. 3 Squadron RFC/RAF
Battles/warsWorld War I
 • South-West Africa Campaign
 • Western Front  
AwardsMilitary Cross & Bar

Captain Douglas John Bell MC* (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. That same day, as a second lieutenant, he was appointed a flying officer. 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. On 15 June, he was awarded the Military Cross for his performance of a long-distance bombing mission.

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.

Sopwith Camel ace

On 13 February 1918, Bell was transferred to No. 3 Squadron in France as a flight commander. He used Sopwith Camel no. C1615 to score ten triumphs in March. Most notable was 23 March, when he became a balloon buster by destroying an enemy observation balloon, then driving down out of control two defending Albatros D.Vs, all within five minutes.

In April, he had switched to Camel C6730 as C1615 had been lost in action on 24 March. He scored six times in April, including another balloon on the 8th, which he shared with another pilot.

He was awarded a Bar in lieu of a second award of the Military Cross on 13 May 1918.

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. Ironically, he was killed near Thiepval, which would later become the site of a Memorial for the Missing who had died in the Battle of the Somme. 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/Time Aircraft/
Serial No.
Opponent Result Location Notes
No. 27 Squadron RFC
1 1 May 1917 Martinsyde G.100 Albatros D.III Out of control Near Épinoy
2 4 June 1917
1415
Martinsyde G.100
(A6262)
Albatros D.III Destroyed West of Sint-Denijs-Westrem Shared with Lieutenant D. V. D. Marshall
3 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, EssexNorth Sea Shared with observer/gunner Lieutenant G. G. Williams
No. 3 Squadron RFC
4 11 March 1918
1730
Sopwith Camel
(C1615)
Albatros D.V Out of control QuéantPronville
5 13 March 1918
1545
Sopwith Camel
(C1615)
Albatros D.V Destroyed in flames Villers
6 16 March 1918
0915–0930
Sopwith Camel
(C1615)
Albatros D.V Destroyed Cambrai
7 Type C Destroyed
8 17 March 1918
1330
Sopwith Camel
(C1615)
Albatros D.V Destroyed in flames Cagnicourt Shared with 2nd Lieutenant A. A. M. Arnot
9 22 March 1918
1430
Sopwith Camel
(C1615)
Albatros D.V Destroyed in flames Havrincourt Wood
10 23 March 1918
1540–1545
Sopwith Camel
(C1615)
Balloon Destroyed Quéant
11 Albatros D.V Out of control
12 Albatros D.V Out of control
13 27 March 1918
abt 0700
Sopwith Camel
(C1615)
LVG C Destroyed Fricourt Shared with Lieutenants George Riley and W. C. Dennett
No. 3 Squadron RAF
14 1 April 1918
1815
Sopwith Camel
(C6730)
Fokker Dr.I Destroyed Combles
15 8 April 1918
0655
Sopwith Camel
(C6730)
Balloon Destroyed North of Mory Shared with Captain Cyril Ridley
16 11 April 1918
1600
Sopwith Camel
(C6730)
Albatros C Destroyed in flames Ervillers Shared with Lieutenants Lloyd Hamilton,
Adrian Franklyn, and C. E. Mayer
17 12 April 1918
1900–1915
Sopwith Camel
(C6730)
Albatros D.V Destroyed Albert
18 Albatros D.V Out of control Pozières
19 20 April 1918
1750
Sopwith Camel
(C6730)
Fokker Dr.I Destroyed North-East of Villers-Bretonneux
20 27 May 1918
1240
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."

This page was last updated at 2023-06-13 09:39 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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