Name: James Lloyd Bell Service No: J/25954 Rank: Flying Officer (Pilot) Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force Date of Birth: December 30, 1919 Place of Birth: Blyth, Ontario Date of Enlistment: October 18, 1939 Place of Enlistment: Hamilton Address at Enlistment: 470 King St., W. Hamilton, Ontario Age at Enlistment: 19 Height: 6 feet, 3 inches Trade: Apprentice Tool-maker/Machinist Employment at Enlistment: N. Slater Co. Hamilton, Ontario (1938-1939) Marital Status: Single (at enlistment) Religion: Anglican Next of Kin: Mr. Maitland Bell (Father) Hamilton, Ontario (at enlistment) Date of Death: March 30, 1944 Age at Death: 24 Cemetery: Lossiemouth Burial Ground (Moray, Scotland) Grave Reference: Grave 1256. The 8th name on the WWII list of the Yarmouth War Memorial Commemorated on page 247 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance James was the son of Wellington Maitland Bell and Isabella Wallace Bell, Hamilton, Ontario and husband of Seretha Emeline (Sherman) Bell, of Yarmouth North, Nova Scotia. He attended public school in Hamilton completing studies in 1937. His sport activities included basketball and rowing. On enlistment in 1939 at RCAF Recruiting Depot, Hamilton, he accepted training as an aero engine mechanic and was transferred to Toronto. He was transferred to 119 Squadron, Yarmouth in July, 1940. He also served in Halifax and Sydney. In May 1943, while serving with #31 GRS, Charlottetown, PEI, he applied for pilot training and trained as a pilot in 1943 and 1944. He was considered a potential instructor. On April 22, 1943 he married Seretha Emiline Sherman of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in Hamilton, Ontario. He served at RAF Station Lossiemouth, Scotland with Operational Training Unit 20. On March 30, 1944 while flying a Wellington Mk III during a training bombing operation from RAF Elgin, he completed the bombing on the Kingston Bombing Range. A few minutes after the last bomb was dropped the aircraft was observed at 1500 feet flying straight and level out to sea at 1000 yards from the Bombing Range when the port wing was seen to snap off and the aircraft turned over into a spin and crashed into the sea. The accident was attributed to complete structural failure of the aircraft. All six members of the crew were killed. James Bell was 24 years of age at the time of his death.