kuduae
(.400 member)
30/03/10 08:26 AM
Re: Bell's Mannlicher

Bell as a fighter pilot in east Africa??? The British there had no use for fighter planes, as Lettow-Vorbeck's German forces had no planes at all to fight! But the British made a lot of use of observer planes to find the German Schutztruppe. Apparently they were not very successful, as Lettow's troops managed to outmaneuver them for four years. At least, Lettow-Vorbeck in his books on WW1, "Ostafrika", sort of a serious report, and "Heia Safari!", more popular stories, never mentions to be in real trouble because of British airplanes. My deceased uncle, an officer with him to the end at Abercorn, also never mentioned being harassed by planes. Also, the story of Bell leaving off the second man from his plane to enable him to shoot downwards with his rifle, speaks more for an unarmed observer plane. A fighter pilot would have been more effective using his machine gun. Further, why was Bell ordered to France while the war went on in Africa? Pehaps he served as a fighter pilot there. Another Uncle of mine, Heinrich Maushake, also progressed from observer to fighter pilot during WW1, but all in the European theatre.


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