Frank Bell (RAF airman)
Sergeant Frank William Bell (23 August 1897 – February 1960) was an observer and air gunner in the Royal Air Force during World War I. He was a flying ace credited, together with his pilot, with six aerial victories. Biography Born George Stanley Bell in Margate, Kent, he had joined the Territorial Force in 1914 and was subsequently called up at the outbreak of World War I. In December 1914 he requested compassionate leave in order to visit his father, who was dying of tuberculosis. Permission was refused, so Bell deserted. However, in January 1915, he re-enlisted in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers under the name of Frank William Bell, falsifying both his name and date of birth. In mid-1915 he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as an Observer/Machine Gunner in No. 9 Squadron RFC. In his log book he signed his name as G. W. Bell and his military records show an earlier date of birth. Bell scored his first victory on 25 July 1918 while flying in a DH.9 of 49 Squadron RAF, with pilot Lieutenant Arthur Rowe Spurling, shooting down a Fokker D.VII fighter over Mont-Notre-Dame. On 23 August 1918, which was Bell's 21st birthday, Bell and