Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War II (1939-1945)

Date of Enlistment

03/11/1939

Date of Discharge

10/01/1946

Place of Enlistment

Canberra ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

03/02/1916

Place of Birth

Canberra ACT

Address (at enlistment)

Dirrawan Gardens, Reid ACT

Occupation

Newsagent

Next of Kin

Robert Bell (father), Donald Road, Queanbeyan NSW

Service Number

NX4626

Final Rank

Lieutenant

Final Unit

2/3 Battalion

World War 2 Memorial, corner of Lowe St and Farrer Place, Queanbeyan NSW

Military Cross (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 21 February 1946, page 408, position 53)

Bell was born in Canberra and worked for Percy Cox at his newsagency in Civic. He served with the 3rd Battalion (militia) from 4 August 1937 before enlisting with the 2/3 Battalion in October 1939. He served in the Middle East from February 1940 and fought at Bardia and Tobruk before sailing for Greece in March 1941. 2/3 Battalion was deployed to Tempe Gorge in April 1941 where they first met the Germans. However, the Germans were unstoppable and the Allied troops withdrew, Bell and most of the 2/3 Battalion escaping to Palestine. During June and July they waged a succesful campaign against the Vichy French in Syria and Lebanon and in March 1942 were ordered home to meet the Japanese threat.

After stopping at Ceylon for several months the 2/3 Battalion finally arrived in Australia and in September arrived in Port Moresby. They reached the front line on the Kokoda Track at Templetons Crossing and played a major role in the battles at Eora Creek (22-28 October) and Oivi (5-11 November). They also took part in the campaign on the Sanananda Track during November and December 1942.

By the end of December Bell had been promoted to Lieutenant but during 1943 he suffered a number of bouts of malaria. He arrived in Aitape, on the north coast of New Guinea, in December 1944 and took part in the campaign through the Torricelli Mountains to Wewak. Bell was the Battalion Intelligence Officer and for his work in obtaining and accurately recording information on the Japanese positions between January and March 1945 he was awarded the Military Cross. Bell died on 2 July 1989.

Though he gave his address on enlistment as Dirrawan Gardens in Reid, the address given for his nomination for the Queanbeyan memorial is Donald Road, Queanbeyan, the same as his brother Archibald James Bell. The reference in the Queanbeyan Age is to a description he gave of Jack Maxwell on the Kokoda Trail.

Description - height 5 feet 10 inches, weight 151 pounds, chest 34-37.5 inches, brown eyes, dark complexion, brown hair, scar above his left eye.

WWII Nominal Roll http://www.ww2roll.gov.au
Queanbeyan Roll of Honour, Ralph Clothier, 2006
Queanbeyan Age - 13 January 1986
Ken Clift, 'War Dance: A Story of the 2/3 Australian Infantry Battalion', 1980 (p.244)
Rex Cross, 'Bygone Queanbeyan', 1980 (p.228)
The Canberra Times - 27 January 1941
AWM Honours & Awards
NAA RecordSearch - Series B883 (Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947)