Portrait of Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell
Photo: Royal Aero Club · Wikimedia Commons

Author

Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell

Scottish hunter (1880-1954)

Born
September 8, 1880, Clifton Hall School
Died
June 30, 1954
Nationality
United Kingdom and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Occupation
Explorer, autobiographer, painter, hunter and author

Life and work

Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell (8 September 1880 – 30 June 1954), known as Karamojo Bell after the Karamoja sub-region in Uganda, which he travelled extensively, was a Scottish adventurer, big game hunter in East Africa, soldier, decorated fighter pilot, sailor, writer, and painter.

Famous as one of the most successful ivory hunters of his time, Bell was an advocate of accurate shot placement with smaller calibre rifles, over the heavy large-bore rifles his contemporaries used for big African game.

He improved his hunting skills by the dissection and study of the skulls of elephants he shot. He perfected a technique of shooting elephants from an extremely difficult position, diagonally behind the target; this became known as the 'Bell Shot'.

Although chiefly known for his exploits in Africa, Bell also travelled to North America and New Zealand, sailed windjammers, saw service in South Africa during the Boer War, and flew in the Royal Flying Corps in East Africa, Greece, and France during the First World War.

Text: “W. D. M. Bell”, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, under the license CC BY-SA 4.0. Dates and facts: Wikidata.

Collection

Books by Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell

1 book