Big game hunter, adventurer, soldier and aviator, Walter Dalrymple Maitland ‘WDM’ Bell is not just a hunter and decorated fighter – he is known both for his extremely prolific elephant hunting and for fundamentally changing the way we approach rifle shooting, favouring precise shot placement over taking the biggest calibre possible on every expedition.
Born into a wealthy family of Scottish and Manx ancestry, Walter was brought up by his elder brothers but ran away from several schools. At the age of 13 he went to sea, and at 16 he convinced his family to back him for a trip to Africa, where he hunted man-eating lions for the Uganda Railway using a singleshot rifle chambered in .303 British.