The AIF Project

Willoughby George BELL

Regimental number334
Date of birth9 September 1876
Place of birthMoonta, South Australia
SchoolSt Peter's Collegiate School, Adelaide, South Australia
Other trainingSchool of Mines, Adelaide; University of Adelaide, South Australia
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationMining engineer
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation38
Height5' 5.5"
Weight164 lbs
Next of kinSister, Florence Elsie Bell, 17 Elizabeth Street, Norwood, South Australia
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date18 September 1914
Place of enlistmentBlackboy Hill, Western Australia
Rank on enlistmentLance Corporal
Unit name16th Battalion, D Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/33/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A40 Ceramic on 22 December 1914
Rank from Nominal RollCorporal
Unit from Nominal Roll16th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 2 May 1915
Place of death or woundingGallipoli, Turkey
Date of death2 May 1915
Age at death39
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsThe Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 51), Gallipoli, Turkey

The Lone Pine Memorial, situated in the Lone Pine Cemetery at Anzac, is the main Australian Memorial on Gallipoli, and one of four memorials to men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Designed by Sir John Burnet, the principal architect of the Gallipoli cemeteries, it is a thick tapering pylon 14.3 metres high on a square base 12.98 metres wide. It is constructed from limestone mined at Ilgardere in Turkey.

The Memorial commemorates the 3268 Australians and 456 New Zealanders who have no known grave and the 960 Australians and 252 New Zealanders who were buried at sea after evacuation through wounds or disease. The names of New Zealanders commemorated are inscribed on stone panels mounted on the south and north sides of the pylon, while those of the Australians are listed on a long wall of panels in front of the pylon and to either side. Names are arranged by unit and rank.

The Memorial stands over the centre of the Turkish trenches and tunnels which were the scene of heavy fighting during the August offensive. Most cemeteries on Gallipoli contain relatively few marked graves, and the majority of Australians killed on Gallipoli are commemorated here.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
78
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: George and Eliza BELL, husband of Mrs E.G. BELL, 2 Fernhurst Grove, Kew, Victoria. Native of Norwood, South Australia.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Embarked Alexandria to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (Gallipoli Campaign), 12 April 1915.

Reported wounded and missing, 2 May 1915.

Court of Enquiry, 6 April 1916, declared fate to be 'Killed in Action, 2 May 1915'.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsAn additional source file is available at NAA B2455 file 3009228
SourcesNAA: B2455, BELL Willoughby George

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