Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War II (1939-1945)

Date of Enlistment

27/06/1940

Date of Discharge

12/12/1945

Place of Enlistment

Paddington NSW

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

15/06/1918

Place of Birth

Tamworth NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Taralga NSW (previously Hillview via Weetangera ACT)

Occupation

Grazier

Next of Kin

Christopher and Jean Bell (parents), Taralga NSW (previously Weetangera ACT)

Service Number

NX51489

Final Rank

Lance Sergeant

Final Unit

2/20 Australian Infantry Battalion

Bell came from Weetangera, where he was a farmer on his parent's property, before working for the CSIR in Canberra. His parents also owned a property at Taralga.

Bell enlisted in Canberra in June 1940 and took the oath of enlistment at Victoria Barracks in Sydney two weeks later. He served with the 2/20 Battalion in Malaya from February 1941 but became a prisoner of war when the Japanese captured Singapore on 15 February 1942. He was sent to a POW camp in Thailand and was later reported to be at Rangoon. A medical examination upon his release revealed he had ulcers on both legs and both a wounded left knee and right shin. Bell was welcomed home by the Governor-General, along with other ex-POWs, at Government House in December 1945 after being discharged on compassionate grounds. He married Peggy Gibbs at St. John's Church in Reid in 1947. He died on 27 September 2001.

WWII Nominal Roll http://www.ww2roll.gov.au
ACT Electoral Rolls 1916 to 1967 http://canberraheritageportal.org/default.php
AWM Prisoners of War and Missing in the Far East and South West Pacific Islands
NAA RecordSearch
Margaret Clough, 'Spilt Milk: A history of the Weetangera School 1875-2004', 2004 (pp.44-49)
The Canberra Times - 9 February 1935, 13 September 1940, 27 January 1941, 11 September 1945, 21 September 1945, 31 December 1945, 29 October 1947, 29 September 2001