W. D. M. Bell
| Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1880 Clifton Hall near Edinburgh |
| Died | June 1954 |
| Pen name | W. D. M. Bell (Karamojo Bell) |
| Occupation | big game hunter, adventurer, soldier and aviator |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Genre | autobiography, travel, adventure |
Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell (1880–1954), known as Karamojo Bell, 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 the extremely difficult position, diagonally behind the target; this shot became known as the Bell Shot.
Although chiefly known for his exploits in Africa, Bell also traveled to North America and New Zealand, sailed windjammers, saw service in South Africa during the Boer War, flew in the Royal Flying Corps in East Africa, Greece and France during World War I.
Bell was born into a wealthy family of Scottish and Manx ancestry, on the family's estate named Clifton Hall, (today a school) in Linlithgowshire, near Edinburgh in 1880. Walter was the second-youngest of 8 children. His mother died when he was two years old and his father died when he was six. His father Robert Bell owned a successful business in coal and shale oil and the Bell family resided in their stately home bear Broxburn, as well as owning the surrounding estate and other country properties.
He was brought up by his elder brothers but ran away from several schools, and he once hit his school captain over the head with a cricket bat. At the age of 13 he went to sea, and in 1896, at the age of 16, hunted lions for the Uganda Railway using a single-shot rifle chambered in .303 British.
Bell convinced his family to back him for a trip to Africa, where he obtained a job shooting man-eating lions for the Uganda Railway at the age of 16. Afterward, Bell traveled to North America, where he spent a short time panning for gold in the Yukon gold rush and earned a living by shooting game to supply Dawson City with meat. His partner cheated him of his earnings. In order to return to Africa he joined the Canadian Mounted Rifles seeing service during the Boer War. Bell was captured when his horse was shot from under him, but he escaped and managed to get back to British lines.
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