[1] 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.
However, in January 1915, he re-enlisted in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers under the name of Frank William Bell,[2] falsifying both his name and date of birth.
[1] In his log book he signed his name as G. W. Bell[3] 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.