Douglas John Bell Captain Douglas John Bell was a 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 flying service . South African Bell enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps on 1 June 1916 . He received his pilot ' 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 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 the 15th , he was awarded the Military Cross for his performance of a long - distance bombing mission . Bell was promoted to Flight Commander as a Temporary Captain on 9 April 1917 . He was then reassigned to No . 78 Squadron , which was flying Sopwith 1½ Strutter s on Home Defence duty back in England . While with 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 . V s , 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 . His wartime tally of 20 victories consited of 1 ( and 1 shared ) balloons destroyed , 7 ( and 4 shared ) aircraft destroyed , and 6 ( and 1 shared ) ' out of control ' . Honors and awards . Military Cross ( MC ) 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 . ' Military Cross ( MC ) Bar 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 .