Gerald Gordon Bell DFC

Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)

The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...

 (11 June 1890 - Unknown date) was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 flying ace

Flying ace

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

, officially credited with 16 victories.

During 1917 Bell flew as an observer/gunner with No. 22 Squadron, claiming 3 victories. After training as a pilot, Bell was sent to Greece to fly scouts with 47 Squadron and 150 Sqn.

List of aerial victories

No.	Date/time	Aircraft	Foe	Result	Location	Notes
1	8 April 1917 @ 0700 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b serial number A5454	Albatros D.III Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service and the Austro-Hungarian Air Service during World War I. The D.III was flown by many top German aces, including Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Kurt Wolff, and Karl Emil Schäfer...	Destroyed	Regny Regny Regny is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France....	Pilot: A W Beale. Victory shared with Llewelyn Davies Llewelyn Davies (aviator) Lieutenant Llewelyn Crichton Davies was a Welsh World War I flying ace credited with five verified aerial victories.Llewelyn Crichton Davies was a Second lieutenant in the Scottish Rifles early in World War I... , Carleton Main Clement Carleton Main Clement Captain Carleton Main Clement MC was a Canadian First World War flying ace officially credited with 14 victories despite being handicapped by flying an obsolete plane.-Early life and service:... , and 8 other pilots.
2	3 May 1917 @ 1730 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b s/n A855	Albatros D.III	Destroyed		Pilot: E A H Ward
3	29 July 1917 @ 0650 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b	Two-seater reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	Tortequesne Tortequesne Tortequesne is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Tortequesne is surrounded by lakes and marshland, east of Arras, at the junction of the D43 and D956 roads and on the border with the department of Nord.-Population:-Places of interest:*...	Pilot: E A H Ward
4	13 April 1918 @ 0730 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n B692	Albatros D.III	Destroyed	1500 yards south of Brajkovic	Victory shared with Charles D. B. Green Charles D. B. Green Lieutenant Charles Duncan Bremner Green was a Canadian-born World War I flying ace credited with 11 aerial victories. Postwar, he went on to success in business until World War II. After rejoining military life, he again served until his untimely accidental death.-Early life:Charles Duncan Bremner...
5	13 May 1918 @ 0800 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n B695	Albatros D.III	Destroyed	Livanovo	Victory shared with Acheson Goulding Acheson Goulding Captain Acheson Gosford Goulding was a Canadian-born World War I flying ace credited with nine aerial victories. After infantry service, he transferred to aviation and served in Asia Minor and the Balkans. After winning the Military Cross for courage, he returned to civilian life...
6	15 May 1918 @ 0530 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n B28	Albatros D.V Albatros D.V |-See also:-Bibliography:*Bennett, Leon. Gunning for the Red Baron. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. ISBN 1-58544-507-X....	Destroyed	Hudova	Victory shared with Frederick Travers
7	1 June 1918 @ 1505 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n B692	Siemens-Schuckert D.III Siemens-Schuckert D.III -Bibliography:* Gray, Peter and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam, 1962. ISBN 0-93385-271-1.* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters. London: Salamander Books, 1994. ISBN 0-83173-939-8....	Destroyed	Casandale
8	15 June 1918 @ 0915 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n B692	Albatros D.V	Destroyed	Marinopolje	Victory shared with Leslie Hamilton Leslie Hamilton Lieutenant Leslie Hamilton was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories. After a postwar spell of stunt flying as "The Flying Gypsy", he attempted the first nonstop east-west flight across the Atlantic Ocean... , another pilot
9	18 June 1918 @ 0750 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n B692	Albatros D.V	Destroyed	North of Paljorca	Victory shared with Acheson Goulding
10	23 June 1918 @ 0745 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n B6925	Albatros D.V	Destroyed	Hill 5401-Rupel Pass Rupel Pass The Rupel Gorge or Rupel Pass is a steep river valley in the northern part of Central Macedonia, immediately after the Greek-Bulgarian border. It was formed by the Strymon River, which stems from the Vitosha mountains and flows into the Aegean Sea. The gorge is rich in biodiversity which may be...	Victory shared with Leslie Hamilton
11	9 July 1918 @ 0800 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n B6945	Rumpler Rumpler The Rumpler Tropfenwagen was a car developed by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler.Rumpler, born in Vienna, was a designer of aircraft when on the 1921's Berlin car show he introduced the Tropfenwagen. It was to be the first streamlined car . The Rumpler had a Cw-value of only 0.28...  reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	Angista, Greece
12	19 July 1918 @ 0800 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n B692	Albatros D.V	Destroyed	West of Livanova aerodrome	Victory shared with Arthur Jarvis Arthur Jarvis Arthur Eyguem De Montaigne Jarvis was a Canadian World War I flying ace credited with 5 victories.-Distinguished Flying Cross:"Lieut. Arthur Eyguem de Montaingne Jarvis .... , two other pilots
13	5 August 1918 @ 0815 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n D3945	Siemens-Schuckert D.III	Destroyed	3000 yards northwest of Hudova	Shared victory
14	15 August 1918 @ 1200 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n D3945	LVG LVG Luftverkehrsgesellschaft m.b.H. was a German aircraft manufacturer based in Berlin-Johannisthal, which began constructing aircraft in 1912, building Farman-type aircraft. The company constructed many reconnaissance and light bomber biplanes during World War I.The raid on London in 1916 was...  reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	Seres Uesnik
15	21 August 1918 @ 0910 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n D3945	LVG reconnaissance plane	Destroyed	Gerejik-Derbent Derbent, Konya Derbent is a town and district of Konya Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to 2000 census, population of the district is 14,372 of which 7,440 live in the town of Derbent.-External links:* *...
16	18 September 1918 @ 0630 hours	Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a s/n D3945	Fokker Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names, starting out in 1912 in Schwerin, Germany, moving to the Netherlands in 1919....  fighter	Destroyed	Karali Karali Karali is a village in the municipality of Gabrovo, in Gabrovo Province, in northern central Bulgaria.-References:...

Distinguished Flying Cross

"Lieut. (T./Capt.) Gerald Gordon Bell (E. Ontario R.).
This officer has had numerous engagements with hostile aircraft, invariably displaying marked gallantry and leadership of a high order, notably on the 1st of June, when he, accompanied by another pilot, attacked a formation of twelve enemy scouts; he shot down one in flames and drove down others out of control, only breaking off the engagement when all his ammunition had been expended."