Dean, the front gear may have served a very important task. That is, and I am not sure if this is applicable to the Camel, for the pilot to be able to shoot through the propeller. This was achieved by means of an interruption device, which was controlled by a gear on the reverse of the engine. Just a thought.I was thinking same thing Dean, I'm at this point in the engine and it just don't seem right. If anything you would think it would have been milled at a u shape.
Trevor