Alfred William Paul Bell (12 April 1914 – 4 July 1945) 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 St Kilda 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 ...

. He returned to Shepparton in 1938, and coached his home team. He was killed in action in World War II.

Family

The son of John Thomas Bell (1880–1943), and Ada Barbara Bell (1878–1938), née Wilson, Alfred William Paul Bell was born at

Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...

on 12 April 1914. He married Beatrice "Rannie" Alcorn (born 1915 – died ?) on 16 September 1937. They had two daughters, Beverley, and Judith.

Education

He attended Shepparton High School; as did his wife.

Football

Bell initially played with the Lemnos Football Club in the

Goulburn Valley Second Eighteens Football Association The Goulburn Valley Football Association (GVFA) is an Australian rules football competition that was first established in 1888 in the Goulburn Valley of Victoria, Australia, with the foundation clubs being Cobram, Muckatah, Nathalia, Numurkah ...

(GVSEFA) in 1933 and then won the 1934 – GVSEFA Best & Fairest award / N. Gribble Cup. Bell then moved across to play in the stronger Goulburn Valley Football League with the

Shepparton Football Club The Shepparton Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Bears'', is an Australian rules football and netball club in the Goulburn Valley Football League. The Shepparton Bears, a local football team, play their home games at Deakin Reserve, Sheppa ...

in 1935. Having tried out with Richmond two years earlier, he was cleared from Shepparton to St Kilda in June 1937. He travelled to and from Shepparton, rather than living in Melbourne, and he played 15 senior games with St Kilda over two seasons (1937 and 1938).

Military service

He served in the Second AIF as a commando. He was killed in action at Balikpapan,

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

on 4 July 1945."Deaths: On Active Service"
''The Argus'' (Saturday, 21 July 1945), pg. 14"Paul Bell Killed"
''The Shepparton Advertiser'' (Tuesday, 24 July 1945), pg. 1

Footnotes

References

Roll of Honour: Lance Corporal Alfred William Paul Bell (VX79445), ''Australian War Memorial''.

World War Two Nominal Roll: Lance Corporal Alfred William Paul Bell (VX79445).

World War Two Service Record: Lance Corporal Alfred William Paul Bell (VX79445), ''National Archives of Australia''.

Football Pin-Up No.12: Paul Bell, ''The Shepparton Advertiser'', (Friday, 5 July 1946), p.15.

Grant, A., "Lest We Forget — Part 2", ''saints.com.au'', 19 April 2007.

RSL Virtual War Memorial: Alfred William Paul (Champ) Bell.
* Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

*
Paul Bell, ''australianfootball.com''.

''Boyles Football Photos'': Paul Bell.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Paul 1914 births 1945 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) St Kilda Football Club players Shepparton Football Club players Australian military personnel killed in World War II Australian Army personnel of World War II Burials at Labuan War Cemetery Australian Army soldiers