550 Squadron Photos
Wing Commander Bryan "Dingle" Bell
Photos
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Wing Commander Bryan "Dingle" Bell
PoW (FTR 22 Feb 45) Picture courtesy of Gordon Bell |
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Wing Commander Bryan "Dingle" Bell
PoW picture from German archive: taken when Wing Commander Bell was captured after going on the run following the crash. If you want to find out how Wing Commander Bell's family acquired this picture then click here Picture courtesy of Gordon Bell |
Bryan Bell joined 550 Sqdn from its formation, as S/Ldr and Flight Commander A Flight: 25 Nov 1943 - 24 Dec 1943. He was then transferred away the squadron after a couple of months, later returning as the Commanding Officer. As CO W/Cmdr Bell made a number of flights with various crews.
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550Sqdn Ops: Oct 1944 - Feb 1945
Picture courtesy of Gordon Bell |
Some of these crews are noted below.
S/Ldr Bell crew
When W/Cmdr Bell originally transferred in as S/Ldr Bell to 550 Sqdn on squadron formation from 100 Sqdn on 25/11/43 it was with his 100 Sqdn crew. See the S/Ldr B Bell crew page for details.
F/O Edlund crew
W/Cmdr Bell flew an Op with the F/O Edlund crew (F/O Edlund flying as 2nd pilot). The picture below shows F/O Edlund and crew.
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Left To Right: F/O Edlund, F/O Dawson, Sgt Phil Barber, Sgt Sam Lipfriend, W/O Gorton, Sgt "Jock" Carruthers, Sgt Hector Cleghorne. To see information on this crew click here |
Other information about the flight and the target available here (22 Jan 1945).
Sam Lipfriend of the F/O Edlund crew was able to tell Gordon Bell, many years later, how he recalled W/Cmdr Bell's return following liberation from PoW camp (see below for F/Lt Luger crew loss). Sam was in the mess in North Killingholme when W/Cmdr Bell walked in looking tired and dishevelled one day in May 1945 following his repatriation to the UK. Sam greeted him and invited him for a drink and they sat and chatted for some time. One can only imagine how good it was to be greeted by a friendly face and enjoy a drink after so many months enduring the rigours of a Bavarian prison camp.
F/Lt Luger Crew, Lancaster NN715
Lancaster NN715 was flown by the F/Lt Luger crew when it FTR 21/22 February 1945 on a raid on Duisburg. Two of the crew were killed, with the remainder becoming PoWs (although one, the pilot F/Lt Luger, was repatriated and later died of his injuries in hospital in Manchester).
Present on the aircraft for that flight was W/Cmdr Bell. W/Cmdr Bell survived the loss of the aircraft becoming a PoW (his two CO predecessors had also been lost on Ops, sadly neither surviving).
The picture below is of F/Lt Luger and crew.
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F/Lt Luger and crew, January 1945
L-to-R: F/Lt Luger (P), Sgt Hancock, F/O Angill, Sgt Gibbs, Sgt Gray, Sgt Jones, Sgt Boyce To see information on this crew click here |
Other information about the flight and the target available here (21 Feb 1945).
The entry on the 550 Squadron Roll of Honour is available here.
See also the "Missing Air Crew Report" site: http://www.teunispats.net/macr-12109.htm.
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txxxx-loss-card-nn715-bell
Picture courtesy of MACR site via Gordon Bell |
PoW Experiences
Copies of documents associated with W/Cmdr Bell's capture are shown below (again kindly made available by Gordon Bell):
PoW Register Form |
Release from HQ staff (rear of PoW Register Form) |
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PoW Pass |
In this photograph you may notice that W/Cmdr Bell is declared to be an American flyer.
One possible reason for this, discussed with his family, is that the mistake occured as he was
second-in-command to, and was accommodated with, Col. Pop Goode the American senior officer.
W/Cmdr Bell was acting as a laison between Goode and Group Captain Willets the senior Allied officer who signed him off the HQ staff on the back of the POW register form. |
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Notebook Cover |
HQ Form |
War Experiences
17/11/2009
Below are extracts from notes made by W/Cmdr Bell after the war of his experiences joining up, training, life in the newly formed 550 Squadron in North Killingholme, flying on ops, and that critical last mission which resulted in the loss of the aircraft, some of his crew and life in a PoW camp until liberation. Once again all kindly made available by Gordon Bell.
| Training and Early Ops | W/Cmdr Bell's crew, and notes about training and his early ops, etc |
| Station visit by Harris | Memories of a stirring visit by Harris to Binbrook |
| The "Pommie Mascot" | The "Pommie Mascot" |
| New Years Eve 1944 | Emergency runway clearance |
| 550 Squadron | Commanding Officer at 550 Squadron |
| Last Mission | Details about the last mission, attacked by a night-fighter, the bale-out and the attempt to avoid capture |
| PoW Camp Life | Senior British officer at Stalag Luft VIIA |
| Stalag Luft VIIA | Stalag Luft VIIA in Bavaria housing captured military personnel of nearly every Allied nationality |
| Complete document | The full set of notes in PDF format |
Squadron Formation
02/08/2013
W/Cmdr Bell was involved with the formation of 550 Squadron out of "C" Flight 100 Squadron.
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550 Sqdn Crest - original design (rejected)
This crest was one that was designed, apparently in the mess, by Gp Capt Richard McIntyre and Bryan Bell but it was rejected due to the similarity to the 100 Sqdn crest Picture courtesy of Gordon Bell |