Donald Joseph Bell (1912 - 1942)

Born 1 May 1912 in Herberton, Queensland, Australia

Died 1 Jul 1942 at age 30 in At Sea

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Biography

Donald Bell was a Prisoner of War during World War II.

Donald Bell died as a prisoner of war on the Montevideo Maru during the Second World War.

Donald was born in Herberton, Queensland, Australia in 1912, the son of John William Bell, a planter, and his wife Ethel nee Williams. He was one of four brothers who all went to New Guinea before before WW2 and all enlisted.

Donald was a plantation manager at the Jerapax plantation on Tobor Island, Territory of New Guinea. He had been working in the Territory of New Guinea from about 1922.

Donald married Elizabeth Carruthers Hetherington in Sydney in 1941. There were no children.

He had enlisted in the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles (as a Private, no. NGX126), on 08 Jul 1940 at Madang, New Guinea and was discharged on 22 Oct 1941. He served in Singapore before Japan entered the War and was invalided out. This was possibly when he married or moved from Madang to Rabaul. He does not appear to have served during the Japanese invasion. When the Japanese invaded New Britain in Jan 1942 he was captured on the north coast and interned as a civilian prisoner.

He died on board the "Montevideo Maru" when it was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of the Philippines on 01 Jul 1942, en route from Rabaul to Hainan, where he was destined for forced labour.

Research Notes

Parents marriage - 26/04/1903 Qld BDM 1903/C/947 John William Bell <-> Ethel Harriett Williams

Noted on Plaque of honour
Brother's Stan, Lincoln (killed at Rai Coast) were coastwatchers, Les served in the RAAF & returned to Kavieng after the war
Father John (64) Husband of Ethel harriett Victoria & father of Les, Lincoln, Stan and Don was Killed at Kavieng in March 1944.

Sources

au QLD BDM (Australian, Queensland Births Deaths Marriages)
au NSW BDM (Australian, New South Wales, Births Deaths Marriages)

• Birth - Queensland BDM Birth index - Donald Joseph Bell; Event date: 01/05/1912; Event type: Birth registration; Registration details: 1912/C/5431; Mother: Ethel Harriet Victoria Williams; Father/parent: John William Thomas Bell

• Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947 - National Archives of Australia - BELL DONALD JOSEPH : Service Number - NGX126 : Date of birth - 01 May 1912 : Place of birth - HERBERTON QLD : Place of enlistment - MADANG TERRITORY OF NEW GUINEA : Next of Kin - BELL JOHN; Item Barcode: 5889403 (physical file)

• WW2 Service record - http://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=849567&c=WW2#R

• Marriage - au NSW BDM Marriage index - 21242/1941; BELL DONALD JOSEPH; <-> HETHERINGTON - CARRUTHERS ELIZABETH; SYDNEY

• People of the Plague - Roll of Honour - http://www.jje.info/lostlives/exhib/potp/rollofhonour.html

• Death Form - National Archives of Australia - Defence - General - Information of deaths for persons lost on the MONTEVIDEO MARU - https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=102239&S=18

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission - https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/3173224/donald-joseph-bell/