Boy Telegraphist James Bell

Boy Telegraphist James Bell, Royal Navy. He was lost at sea, aged 17, on the 8th June 1940. He had been born in Selkirk in 1923 and was the son of James and Mary Bell of Selkirk. He had been aboard the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Glorious and was returning from the Norwegian Campaign when she and her escorting Destroyers, ” Ardent” and “Acasta” were attacked and sunk by the German Battlecruisers ” Gneisenau” and “Scharnhorst” with the loss of 1,531 crew from all three ships ( 1,209 from Glorious ). ” Acasta” bravely attacked the ” Scharnhorst” with a torpedo and badly damaged her so much so that the two German ships beat a hasty retreat. It was estimated that 900 men abandoned ” Glorious” but only 40 survivors were picked up. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.