Vale John "Jack" Bell 1917-2021

 Odd Bod Jack Bell passed away on 27th November 2021.

Service brief: J.R. BELL 404137 WAG 216 Sqdn.

"Jack will be remembered for his incredible energy and happy disposition - a well respected Odd Bod. Our sincere condolescences to all the Bell family."

Jack was born in Brisbane in 1917. In 1940 he was posted as a Wireless Air Gunner under the Empire Training Scheme and sent to No. 1 Wireless Air Gunners School, Ballarat. Jack was posted to 216 Squadron RAF in June 1941, Egypt. The Squadron flew Bristol Bombays, a medium sized transport aircraft, and moved stores, spare parts, medical supplies and personnel all over Egypt, Libya. 

Jack's aircraft was shot down early in 1942 and he spent 3 years as a prisoner of war. You can find a feature story on his war experiences here - https://www.1wags.org.au/information/featured-stories/warrant-officer-john-jack-robert-bell/

In recent years Jack was active in organisations like the Victorian Ex-POW's Association, and the RSL. He was a keynote speaker at ceremonies including VE Day at The Melbourne Shrine, and the Wesley College ANZAC Day service and stirred many hearts with his POW experiences. The photo on the left shows Jack with service heads at the 2018 VE Day service.

This photo of Jack was created by the Herald Sun for some of their WW2 feature stories and has been used on this website a number of times.

Jack will be remembered for his incredible energy and happy disposition - a well respected Odd Bod. Our sincere condolescences to all the Bell family.