11153 RGS ONA Magazine:Issue 75 21/01/2009 15:44 Page 5
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ONA Feature: RGS Remembers Fallen Soldier
RGS remembers fallen Airman The RGS Remembrance Assembly on 11 November 2008 was particularly poignant, as members of the school were joined by the daughter and family of John Robson Bell, a former pupil of the school who died in the Second World War but whose name was lost. When the circumstances of his death were rediscovered this year, his name was added to the names carved on the war memorial in the Hall.
J R Bell was pilot of a bomber taking part in one of the enormous raids in November 1944 which caused devastation in Germany’s industrial cities but led to huge losses among the allied bombers. The exact circumstances of the loss of his aircraft are not known, but it was a particularly cloudy night, contact was lost between planes and it seems certain that some were hit by bombs dropped from other craft higher up in the cloud cover. So it was a moving ceremony and Head of History Simon Tilbrook read out the following details of J R Bell: Every year the school holds its Remembrance Assembly. This year, saw a new name added to the list of Old Novos who fell in the Second World War, which had been unaccountably left off the memorial at the time. John Robson Bell (26-31), also known as Jack, was born in 1914 and joined the RGS in 1926 being, among other things, the school featherweight boxing champion. He left, aged 16, like most boys did in those days, armed with his School Certificate and joined the civil service.
creation of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. He then enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on Boxing Day 1941, a few weeks after the birth of his twin daughters. He became Flying Officer Bell, a navigator, in 75 Squadron of bomber command. The 75 flew more sorties than any other Allied squadron. One of those sorties was the fourth in a series of raids launched against an oil plant near Homberg, Germany; in all, 183 planes set off on a daylight raid. As the official record says: 183 Lancasters of No 3 Group made an attack on the oil plant at Homberg but the weather was stormy and many aircraft were not able to maintain formation with the aircraft on the bombing run. The bombing, through cloud, was believed to have been scattered. Flight Lt Richard Perry of 218 Squadron recalled:
On this trip we actually saw three aircraft destroyed by bombs dropped from aircraft above them, and swerved away, ourselves, from beneath one that would have passed right over us with it’s bomb doors open. I’ll In doing so he was to make a vital contribution always remember our mid-upper, Dennis, yelling out the instruction to swerve right. to the war effort by playing a part in the
The RGS War Memorial.
In all, five aircraft were lost, including three Lancasters of 75 Squadron. On 20 November, 1944, John Bell of 75 Squadron was reported missing; soon, the official documentation, spoke of him as ‘presumed dead’. He is now buried in Reichswald Forest Cemetery, in Germany. This year, his three children and other members of his family attended our Remembrance Assembly. Each year, we honour the fallen listed on the memorial; this year, for the first time JR Bell was there too.
An Anonymous Death “Come into this cubicle” said the nurse and see a ‘B.I.D’ – “I’ll show you how we ‘look after’ them.” It was nineteen-fifty and my first day as a medical student in R.V.I. ‘Casualty’. I didn’t know that ‘B.I.D.’ was an acronym for ‘brought in dead’ and apart from anatomy dissection I had never seen anybody dead. There he lay – a stronglooking man with a strangely grey face. He was wearing a neat three-piece suit and tie – totally inert. He’d been lifting his suitcase onto the rack in a train in the Central Station when apparently he’d clutched his chest and fallen backwards. “The body must be treated with absolute respect,” the nurse said. “You’ve to empty his pockets and put all the contents into a bag. Then check him over for injuries – turn him over – make sure there’s been no foul play”. I’m sure there were other procedures but after fifty years I can’t remember what they were. Three days later my mother looked up from the Evening Chronicle: “Oh, here’s a bit of sad news – ‘Boiler’ Smith, your old Latin master has died – heart attack – he was just going on holiday…” I hadn’t recognised him – death changes people – the still mask of death looks different from the animated mien of life. But I was happy an Old Novo ‘looked after him’. Requiescat in pace. (I hope that’s right – I was never any good at Latin!) Geoffrey Marsh (38-39, 44-48)
