Ken Bell

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Canadian photographer (1914–2000)

title: "Ken Bell" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["war-photographers", "20th-century-canadian-war-artists", "1914-births", "2000-deaths", "canadian-photojournalists", "photographers-from-toronto", "canadian-army-officers", "canadian-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "canadian-military-personnel-from-ontario"] description: "Canadian photographer (1914–2000)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Bell" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Canadian photographer (1914–2000) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]

FieldValue
nameGeorge Kenneth Bell
birth_date
death_date(aged )
imageKen bell portrait.jpg
birth_placeToronto, Ontario, Canada
death_placeGibsons, British Columbia, Canada
placeofburial_labelPlace of burial
allegianceCanada
branchCanadian Army
rankLieutenant-Colonel
unitCanadian Army Film and Photo Unit
commandsRoyal Regiment of Canada
battlesNormandy landings
laterworkphotographer
::

|name= George Kenneth Bell |birth_date= |death_date= (aged ) |image= Ken bell portrait.jpg |caption= |nickname= |birth_place= Toronto, Ontario, Canada |death_place= Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada |placeofburial= |placeofburial_label= Place of burial |allegiance= Canada |branch= Canadian Army |serviceyears= |rank= Lieutenant-Colonel |unit= Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit |commands= Royal Regiment of Canada |battles= Normandy landings |laterwork= photographer

George Kenneth "Ken" Bell (July 30, 1914 – June 26, 2000) was a Canadian photographer who served with the Canadian armed forces during the Second World War. As a Lieutenant in the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit, he participated in the Normandy Landings, disembarking at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944, with the Highland Light Infantry of Canada. Later he went on to photograph and record the liberation of France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and finally documented the occupation of Germany. After the war he had a successful career as a professional photographer, and published a number of books including Not in Vain, a collection of photographs showing the changes which had taken place in Europe since the end of the war.

Early life

George Kenneth Bell was born in Toronto, Ontario, on July 30, 1914. He was the second son and the fourth of six children born to carpenter Charles Bell (1881–c. 1958) and Edith Bell, immigrants from Yorkshire, England. Charles Bell emigrated to Canada in 1906. The family lived at 1211 Dufferin St, Toronto.

World War II

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Cafpu_logo.jpg" caption="Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit"] ::

When Canada joined the war against Nazi Germany in 1939, Bell was posted to Ottawa as a public relations photographer. Later, he joined the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit, with the rank of lieutenant. Along with a number of other photographers, Bell would go on to document Canada's participation in World War II.

The Canadian Army played a major role in the 1944 Normandy landings, landing at Juno beach, somewhat to the south of the previous raid at Dieppe in 1942. Like his better known American contemporary Robert Capa, Bell took part in the first day of the D-Day operation, disembarking at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944, with The Highland Light Infantry of Canada (now known as the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada), part of the 9th brigade. The 9th brigade was not in the first assault wave, but landed later in the morning and advanced through the lead brigades, which had taken heavy casualties.

Many of Bell's photographs were taken in colour - a first for the Canadian Army - though these did not become public until around twenty years later. They are the only surviving colour photographs of the Normandy Landings.

Members of the CFPU were often in the front line, and sometimes even ahead of it. During the liberation of Dieppe in 1944, as the Manitoba Dragoons awaited orders to advance, members of the CFPU including Ken Bell and Brian O'Regan were the first Allied servicemen to enter the town.

Bell's war photographs – taken with a Rolleiflex camera – are housed by the Library and Archives of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. Many of the original negatives of his photographs are held by the Canadian Forces Photo Unit and the City of Toronto Archives.

Ken Bell's brother William Ernest Bell also served in the war; he volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941 and served in 440 Squadron flying Hawker Typhoons in the last months of the war.

Post-war career

After the war Bell had a successful career as a professional photographer, publishing a number of collections of photographs taken during and after the war.

He also continued with an active role in the Canadian Army as an Officer Commanding of the Royal Regiment of Canada and then as the regiment's Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel.

In 1953 he published Curtain Call, a collection of photographs in which he "tried to show the changes brought by man and nature in the 5 years since VE day". This was followed in 1973 by Not in Vain, published by the University of Toronto Press, a collection of photographs taken partly during the war, and partly 25 years later when he returned to the same locations in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

During the 1970s he worked as a freelance photographer, specialising in fashion, food and work in the advertising industry. He also had a long professional association with the National Ballet of Canada.

In 1990, he collaborated with Desmond Morton to publish a book detailing the history of the Royal Canadian Military Institute on the occasion of the Institute's 100th Anniversary.

Family life

Colonel Bell was twice married. His first was to Marion "Molly" Alice Bell, with whom he adopted two daughters, Sue and Karen. After Molly's death he married Mary Lea Kenly of Toronto.

His nephew Richard Williams was an animator.

He died on June 26, 2000, in Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada.

Awards

He was twice awarded the Photographer of the Year award by the society of Professional Photographers of Canada, in 1965 and 1966. In 1986 he received the Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators Lifetime Achievement Award.

Published works

  • Curtain Call, Intaglio Gravure Limited 1953
  • Not in Vain, University of Toronto Press, 1973, ASIN: B001PQT32Y
  • 100 years: The Royal Canadian Regiment, 1883-1983, Collier Macmillan Canada, 1983 ASIN: B000KFWQ16
  • The Way We Were, University of Toronto Press, 1988
  • Royal Canadian Military Institute: 100 Years 1890-1990, Morton and Bell, 1990.

Gallery

File:Sergeant H.A. Marshall of the Sniper Section, The Calgary Highlanders.jpg|Sgt H A Marshall of the Sniper Section, Calgary Highlanders. File:Panzerschreck a169257-v6.jpg|Panzerschreck File:Royal Winnipeg Rifles - Spring.jpg|Royal Winnipeg Rifles File:Crowded beach at Courseulles-sur-Mer.jpg|Crowded beach at Courseulles-sur-Mer File:Canadian infantry reinforcements arrive at Courseulles-sur-Mer.jpg|Canadian infantry reinforcements arrive at Courseulles-sur-Mer. File:Infantrymen of The Regina Rifle Regiment outside a damaged building, Caen, France, 10 July 1944.jpg|A Canadian soldier fires on the enemy in a house in Caen, July 10, 1944. File:9th Canadian infantery brigade in Carpiquet.jpg|Unidentified Canadian Infantry in a Bombed Out Church in Carpiquet, near Caen, July 12, 1944 File:Scout of the Calgary Highlanders advancing north of Kappellen, October 1944.jpg|Highlanders File:Private G.R. MacDonald of The Toronto Scottish Regiment (M.G.) giving first aid to an injured French boy, Brionne, France, 25 August 1944, a135956-v6.jpg|Canadian Private MacDonald gives first aid to a child File:1st Canadian generals.jpg|1st Canadian generals File:Wayne and Shuster.jpg|Wayne and Shuster File:Canadian Soldiers Juno Beach Town.jpg|Canadian Soldiers Juno Beach

References

Notes

References

  1. Toronto Census, 1921
  2. UK census records, 1911
  3. Hunter, Martin, p.35
  4. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/712714/Ken-Bell/ "Ken Bell"] Encyclopædia Britannica online Retrieved August 9, 2010
  5. [http://www.members.shaw.ca/junobeach/juno-4-0.htm Juno Beach webpage] Retrieved September 2012
  6. O'Regan p18
  7. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HKWT_aFJt_YC&dq=ken+bell+photograph&pg=PA80-IA12 ''Battle Diary: From D-Day and Normandy to the Zuider Zee and VE Day'', by Charles Cromwell Martin and Roy Whitsed] Retrieved September 2011
  8. ''Shooters, documentary by Brian O'Regan''
  9. [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/framingcanada/026020-2003-e.html Canadian National Archive] {{webarchive. link. (2007-10-01 . Retrieved August 9, 2010)
  10. Official RCAF Records A-2021-08996/PL Library & Archives Canada
  11. ''Not in Vain'', University of Toronto Press, 1973
  12. [https://books.google.com/books?id=gquqnLOBH9gC&dq=ken+bell+photograph&pg=PA496 ''Art et Architecture au Canada : Bibliographie et Guide'', by Loren Ruth Lerner, Mary F. Williamson] Retrieved September 2011
  13. Canadian Army 1943 Attestation Paper
  14. link. (2011-07-06 Society of Professional Photographers of Canada)
  15. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/712714/Ken-Bell/ Encyclopædia Britannica online] Retrieved August 9, 2010
  16. [https://books.google.com/books?id=02MTAQAAIAAJ&q=ken+bell+caen Bell, Ken, ''The Way We Were'', University of Toronto Press, 1988] Retrieved September 2011

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war-photographers20th-century-canadian-war-artists1914-births2000-deathscanadian-photojournalistsphotographers-from-torontocanadian-army-officerscanadian-army-personnel-of-world-war-iicanadian-military-personnel-from-ontario