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John Swift Bell

Name : John Swift Bell Died : 30th August 1940 Service Number : 900051

At the age of 18 he joined 503 (Special Reserve) Squadron at Waddington early in 1935 and was commissioned in April. It was decided to disband 503 on 1st November 1938 and absorb the personnel into 616 Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force, then being formed at Doncaster as a bomber unit. The new squadron was transferred to Fighter Command on 15th December 1938. Bell moved to 616 and was called to full-time service on 24th August 1939 On 21st February 1940 while in Spitfire K9988 collided with another aircraft at 14.15hrs at Leconfield airfield while the Spitfire was being scrammbled. The other aircraft is believed to have been Magister N3859 and was struck whilst the pilot of this Spitfire was trying to avoiding hitting a Battle. The collision caused damage to both aircraft, deemed enough to write both off at a later date. . Over Dunkirk on 1st June 1940 he destroyed a Me109 but was then himself shot down into the sea. He was picked up by the minesweeper HMS Halcyon and landed at Dover. In mid-June Bell intercepted and damaged a He115, which jettisoned its bombs and fled. On 1st July he shared in damaging a He111 over Yorkshire. On 30th August Bell was shot down in a head-on attack on Me109's over West Mailing. His Spitfire, X4248, crashed and burned out and Bell was killed. (ther eis a report that He crashed whilst approaching West Malling ) He was 23 and is buried in St Peter's Cemetery, Eastgate, Lincoln.

Known Service Details :
Squadron	Rank	Start of Service	End of Service	Known Dates	Aircraft	Airframes	Notes
No.616 Sqn RAF	Flight Officer	unknown	30th August 1940		Spitfire	R6632
No.503 Sqn RAF	Pilot Officer	April 1935	1st November 1938		Hart

Known Individual Aircraft :
Type	Serial	Codes	First Flew	Squadron History	Aircrew History	History Notes	Engine	Factory
Spitfire Ia	K9940		19/04/1939	details	details	no information	Merlin II	Eastleigh
Spitfire Ia	K9988		23/05/1939	details	details	no information	Merlin III	Eastleigh
Spitfire Ia	R6632		25/05/1940	details	details	details	Merlin III	Eastleigh
Spitfire Ia	X4248		20/08/1940	details	details	details	Merlin III	Eastleigh

Aircraft for : John Swift Bell
A list of all aircraft associated with John Swift Bell. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
Aircraft	Info
Hart Click the name above to see prints featuring Hart aircraft. Manufacturer : Hawker Production Began : 1930 Number Built : 1042	Hart During the mid 1920’s The British Air Ministry recoignised the need for a light Bomber. The options were proposed the Avro Antelope, Fairey Fox and the Hawker Hart. Due to the low cost of maintenance for the hawker hart. It was chosen over the other two. The first prototype flew in June 1928 (J9052). Hawker Harts were first used in 1930 by No.33 Squadron at Eastchurch. Many of these aircraft were used overseas in India, the Middle East and South Africa, with some alterations being made to tropicalise the aircraft. With the Outcome being the Hart India. The Hawker Hart saw service during the Abyssinian Crisis in 1935/36 and served also in the North West Frontier of India. However, in Britain, most were being replaced by 1936, some still operating well into World War Two. Mainly in communication and Training roles until 1943 having been used by a total of 20 RAF and AAF Squadrons. A total of 1042 of this aircraft were built. The Hawker Hart saw service with many air forces. Including The Swedish Air Force who used it to great success as a dive bomber. (calling the Hart the B4), Egyptian Air Force, Royal Indian Air Force, Southern Rhodesian Air Force and Yugoslavian air force.
Spitfire Click the name above to see prints featuring Spitfire aircraft. Manufacturer : Supermarine Production Began : 1936 Retired : 1948 Number Built : 20351	Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954.

Squadrons for : John Swift Bell
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by John Swift Bell. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
Squadron	Info
No.503 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 5th October 1926 Fate : Disbanded 1st November 1938 County of Lincoln Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.503 Sqn RAF	No.503 Sqn RAF Full profile not yet available.
No.616 Sqn RAF Country : UK Founded : 1st November 1938 Fate : Disbanded 10th March 1957 South Yorkshire (Auxiliary) Nulla rosa sine spina - No rose without thorns Click the name above to see prints featuring aircraft of No.616 Sqn RAF	No.616 Sqn RAF 616 squadron was formed at Doncaster on 1st November 1938 as the last of the Auxiliary Squadrons. Formed initially as a bomber squadron equipped with Hawker Hinds, it was re-equipped with Gloster Gauntlets in June 1939 and transferred to Fighter Command. The squadrons first Spitfires arrived in late October. 616 first saw action and claimed its first victories whilst covering the evacuation from Dunkirk in May 1940. Returning to Yorkshire, the squadron claimed further enemy victims with 15th August standing out as a memorable day. 616 intercepted a large force of unescorted German bombers off the Yorkshire coast and claimed eight enemy aircraft destroyed. They moved to Kenley to join 11 Group at the height of the Battle of Britain, and destroyed 15 aircraft and claimed a further 15 as probables or damaged. During February 1941, 616 joined the Tangmere Wing led by Wg Cdr Douglas Bader. Flying Spitfire II fighters, they flew circus and ramrod sweeps over Northern France, and re-equipped with Spitfires Vb during July 1941. For the next two years 616 continued as a front line fighter squadron and was heavily engaged during the Dieppe expedition and later flying beach-head patrols on D-Day. In July 1944, 616 re-equipped with Gloster Meteor jet fighter thus becoming the first and only Allied squadron to operate jet aircraft in World War II. The squadron destroyed a number of V1 flying bombs whilst operating from Manston before joining the 2nd Tactical Air Force. In January 1945, 616 moved to the continent and operated in the ground attack role before being disbanded at Lubeck on 29th August. The squadron was re-formed at Finningley on 31st July 1946 equipped with Mosquito NF XXX night fighters which were replaced with Meteor F 3 day fighters a few months later. 616 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force was finally disbanded at RAF Worksop on 10th March 1957 whilst equipped with Meteor F8 aircraft.

Last edited : 20:53, June 19, 2016
Last editor : HMS

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