Bell was the flight engineer on B-24J #42-73060, assigned to the 10th Air Force, 7th Bombardment Group, 492nd Bombardment Squadron.
En route to Rangoon, Burma on a combat mission, the formation of B-24s came under attack by enemy fighters. In one of the passes, a zero made an attack from about three o'clock. As the fighter went through the formation, it struck Bell's bomber at about the waist position, cutting the fuselage in half and tearing off the zero's tail. Both planes spun out of control and crashed.
He was from Fannin County, TX, and received the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Bell is also memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
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T. Sgt. Harold C. Bell Officially Declared Dead
T. Sgt. Harold C. Bell, who has been missing in action in the Burma theatre for more than a year, has been officially declared dead, according to information received by his mother, Mrs. Earl Bell.
He was an aerial gunner on a B-24 Liberator Bomber. Sgt. Bell's wife, the former Miss Grace Gravely, makes her home in Sherman with her mother.
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1943
Harold C. Bell Missing in Action Since October 26
Another Honey Grove home has been saddened by a War Department message announcing that T. Sgt. Harold C. Bell has been missing in action since October 26, somewhere in the Asiatic area.
Sgt. Bell is the son of Mrs. E. [Earl] H. Bell and was born November 10, 1913.
He entered the service June 16, 1942, and received his training at Sheppard Field, Middle River, Md., Panama City, Fla., Tampa, Fla., Salt Lake City, Utah, Clovis, N.M., El Paso, and spent ten days at Topeka, Kan., before leaving for overseas duty. He was a member of the Air Corps as a middle gunner. He left the states September 3, 1943, for foreign service, being in England, Africa and India.
He was married to Miss Grace Gravely on February 22, 1943, and she makes her home in Sherman.
Prayers will be uttered from the lips of many Honey Grove friends that further news of his safety may be received.
P. S. At the WWII Mueum, New Orleans, I was told his plane shot down flying over the Pacific Ocean and that is the place of death his military records show other than the China-Burma Theatre.
Thanks,
Ruth Hasten Walsh
Bell was the flight engineer on B-24J #42-73060, assigned to the 10th Air Force, 7th Bombardment Group, 492nd Bombardment Squadron.
En route to Rangoon, Burma on a combat mission, the formation of B-24s came under attack by enemy fighters. In one of the passes, a zero made an attack from about three o'clock. As the fighter went through the formation, it struck Bell's bomber at about the waist position, cutting the fuselage in half and tearing off the zero's tail. Both planes spun out of control and crashed.
He was from Fannin County, TX, and received the Air Medal and the Purple Heart.
Bell is also memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
---------------------------------
T. Sgt. Harold C. Bell Officially Declared Dead
T. Sgt. Harold C. Bell, who has been missing in action in the Burma theatre for more than a year, has been officially declared dead, according to information received by his mother, Mrs. Earl Bell.
He was an aerial gunner on a B-24 Liberator Bomber. Sgt. Bell's wife, the former Miss Grace Gravely, makes her home in Sherman with her mother.
--------------------------------
1943
Harold C. Bell Missing in Action Since October 26
Another Honey Grove home has been saddened by a War Department message announcing that T. Sgt. Harold C. Bell has been missing in action since October 26, somewhere in the Asiatic area.
Sgt. Bell is the son of Mrs. E. [Earl] H. Bell and was born November 10, 1913.
He entered the service June 16, 1942, and received his training at Sheppard Field, Middle River, Md., Panama City, Fla., Tampa, Fla., Salt Lake City, Utah, Clovis, N.M., El Paso, and spent ten days at Topeka, Kan., before leaving for overseas duty. He was a member of the Air Corps as a middle gunner. He left the states September 3, 1943, for foreign service, being in England, Africa and India.
He was married to Miss Grace Gravely on February 22, 1943, and she makes her home in Sherman.
Prayers will be uttered from the lips of many Honey Grove friends that further news of his safety may be received.
P. S. At the WWII Mueum, New Orleans, I was told his plane shot down flying over the Pacific Ocean and that is the place of death his military records show other than the China-Burma Theatre.
Thanks,
Ruth Hasten Walsh
Gravesite Details
Also at Manila American Cemetery, memorial # 56748447
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