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John Bell (footballer, born 1886)

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John Bell
Personal information
Full name John Bell
Date of birth (1886-10-07)7 October 1886
Place of birth Toorak, Victoria
Date of death 27 December 1917(1917-12-27) (aged 31)
Place of death Cambrai, France
Original team(s) Mercantile / Geelong Grammar
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1906, 1908 Geelong 18 (1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1908.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

John Bell (7 October 1886 – 27 December 1917) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Family

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The son of John Bell (1855–1906),[1] and Annie Carstairs Bell (1854–1935), née Russell,[2] John Bell was born at Toorak, Victoria on 7 October 1886.[3]

One of his brothers, Lieutenant George Russell Bell (1892–1918), also died on active service in World War One.[4]

Education

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He attended Geelong Grammar School from 1896 to 1905.

Football career

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Bell played 18 games in all, with Geelong during the 1906 and 1908 seasons.

War service

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He enlisted in the First AIF on 2 September 1914, and left Melbourne for overseas service on the HMAT Orvieto (A3) on 21 October 1914.

During World War I, Bell served as a pilot with the Australian Flying Corps. He initially served with No. 1 Squadron AFC, in Palestine.

Bell achieved the rank of Captain. He was later transferred to the Western Front, flying Airco DH.5s with No. 2 Squadron (2 Sqn AFC; sometimes known in British military circles as "68 Squadron").

Death

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He was badly wounded ("gunshot wound penetrating his chest": Service Record) and made a forced landing just behind the Allied front line on 20 November 1917, when 2 Squadron was involved in ground attack duties during the First Battle of Cambrai.

Bell died of his wounds on 27 December 1917,[5] and he is buried at Tincourt New British Cemetery in Tincourt-Boucly, Picardy, in Northern France.[6]

Remembered

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On 28 April 1931,[7] the Bell family dedicated two stained-glass windows in the chapel of the Geelong Grammar School: the one on the left (holding the football) to John Bell, and the one on the right, to his brother George.[8]

See also

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Footnotes

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References

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  • Barwon in the Air: Part One – Captain John Bell and the Monkey, barwonrowing.
  • Death of Captain John Bell, The Geelong Advertiser, (Saturday, 5 January 1918), p.4.
  • Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
  • Main, J. & Allen, D., "Bell, John", pp. 17–20 in Main, J. & Allen, D., Fallen – The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War, Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002. ISBN 1-74095-010-0
  • World War One Nominal Roll: Captain John Bell, collection of the Australian War Memorial.
  • World War One Embarkation Roll: Captain John Bell, collection of the Australian War Memorial.
  • Australia's Roll of Honor: 378th and 379th Casualty Lists: Dangerously Wounded, The Age, (Monday, 14 January 1918), p.5.
  • Victorian Casualties: List No.383: Died of Wounds, The Argus, (Monday, 16 February 1918), p.9.
  • Roll of Honour: Captain John Bell, Australian War Memorial.
  • World War One Service Record: Captain John Bell, National Archives of Australia.
  • Captain John Bell, Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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