John Bell (7 October 1886 – 27 December 1917) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played with

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL).

Family

The son of John Bell (1855-1906), and Annie Carstairs Bell (1854-1935), née Russell, John Bell was born at

Toorak, Victoria Toorak () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area, on Boonwurrung Land. Toorak recorded a population of 12,817 at the 2021 ...

on 7 October 1886. One of his brothers, Lieutenant George Russell Bell (1892-1918), also died on active service in World War One.

Education

He attended

Geelong Grammar School , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"(1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ty ...

from 1896 to 1905.

Football career

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

War service

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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Bell served as a pilot with the

Australian Flying Corps The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was the branch of the Australian Army responsible for operating aircraft during World War I, and the forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The AFC was established in 1912, though it was not until ...

. He initially served with No. 1 Squadron AFC, in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. Bell achieved the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He was later transferred to the Western Front, flying

Airco DH.5 The Airco DH.5 was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft. It was designed and manufactured at British aviation company Airco. Development was led by aircraft designer Geoffrey de Havilland as a replacement for the obs ...

s with No. 2 Squadron (2 Sqn AFC; sometimes known in British military circles as "68 Squadron").

Death

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 In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movement ...

duties during the

First Battle of Cambrai The Battle of Cambrai (Battle of Cambrai, 1917, First Battle of Cambrai and ''Schlacht von Cambrai'') was a British attack in the First World War, followed by the biggest German counter-attack against the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sinc ...

. Bell died of his wounds on 27 December 1917, and he is buried at Tincourt New British Cemetery in

Tincourt-Boucly Tincourt-Boucly () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated east of Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, locat ...

, Picardy, in Northern France.

Remembered

On 28 April 1931, 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.Stained Glass Window at Corio Geelong Grammar School All Saints' Anglican Chapel
''Heritage Council of Victoria''.

Footnotes

References

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.
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''.

External links

(photograph with Bell at extreme left)
collection of the ''Australian War Memorial''. * * 1886 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Geelong Football Club players 1917 deaths Australian military personnel killed in World War I People educated at Geelong Grammar School Australian Flying Corps officers {{AFL-bio-1886-stub