Bruce Bairnsfather
![Photo of the author, 1918, by Pirie MacDonald](/Images/godic/202412/23/Bruce_Bairnsfather_cph.3a038215438.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202412/23/-Old_Bill-,_by_Bruce_Bairnsfather5438.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202412/23/The_Growth_of_Democracy_by_Bruce_Bairnsfather_19175438.jpg")
Captain (Charles) Bruce Bairnsfather (9 July 1887 –29 September 1959) was a prominent British humorist and cartoonist. His best-known cartoon character is Old Bill. Bill and his pals Bert and Alf featured in Bairnsfather's weekly "Fragments from France" cartoons published weekly in "The Bystander" magazine during the First World War.