PLOUDANIEL CHURCHYARD
Finistère
France
Location Information
Ploudaniel is a village and commune about 13 miles (21 kilometres) north-east of Brest, on the Landerneau-Lesneven road. Ploudaniel is on a branch railway line from Brest, but services are not frequent and the most convenient way of reaching the village is by taxi from Brest. The churchyard is on the western side of the Landerneau-Lesneven road, which runs through the village. On the eastern side of the churchyard, south of the war memorial, are the graves of one soldier and one airman belonging to the forces of the United Kingdom and two airmen of the Royal Australian Air Force.
Ploudaniel is a village and commune about 13 miles (21 kilometres) north-east of Brest, on the Landerneau-Lesneven road. Ploudaniel is on a branch railway line from Brest, but services are not frequent and the most convenient way of reaching the village is by taxi from Brest. The churchyard is on the western side of the Landerneau-Lesneven road, which runs through the village. On the eastern side of the churchyard, south of the war memorial, are the graves of one soldier and one airman belonging to the forces of the United Kingdom and two airmen of the Royal Australian Air Force.
162 Flight Lieutenant
John Napier Bell
Royal Australian Air Force
18th June 1940, aged 24.
INSCRIPTION. SO DEARLY LOVED , SO DEEPLY MOURNED.
Son of John Henry and Eva Annie Bell, of Farina, South Australia. His brother Alfred Napier Bell also fell and is buried in Lae War Cemetery in Papua New Guinea.
Click on image to enlarge
Aboard HMAS Canberra. c. February 1939. Portrait of Flight Officer John Napier Bell RAAF of No. 9 (Fleet Cooperation) Squadron RAAF embarked on the "County" class cruiser HMAS Canberra of the RAN. Bell joined the RAAF as an Air Cadet on 15 July 1935 and after training as a pilot was posted in September 1938 to No. 5 (Fleet Cooperation) Squadron RAAF at RAAF Base Richmond equipped with Supermarine Seagull V (Walrus) amphibian aircraft. On 1 January 1939, the squadron was renumbered to No 9 Squadron and in February 1939, Bell and one of the squadron's Supermarine Seagull V (Walrus) amphibian aircraft embarked in Canberra to operate in the Fleet Cooperation role. Bell remained in Canberra until August 1939 during which time he completed eighty catapult launches from the ship in fulfilling his role of fleet cooperation duties. On completion of his tour of duty in Canberra, Bell was posted to No. 10 (General Reconnaisance) Squadron RAAF based at RAF Station Mount Batten, Plymouth, Devon, England, operating Short Sunderland flying boats in the anti submarine role. Arriving in January 1940 he completed a conversion course to Sunderland aircraft and went on to fly as a captain in a number of patrols in the Bay of Biscay area. Because of his experience on Walrus aircraft, Bell was directed to carry out a secret mission on 18 June 1940 to evacuate Madame de Gaulle and her children from the Brittany area of occupied France. Tragically the mission ended in disaster when the aircraft crashed and burnt while Bell was attempting to land in foggy conditions near Ploudaniel and all occupants of the aircraft were killed. With evacuation by air now impossible, Madame de Gaulle was forced to seek other means of transport and was fortunate to secure passage for herself and her children on a British destroyer for the voyage from Brest to Britain. Bell, his wireless operator, Sergeant C. W. Harris, a RAF wireless mechanic, Corporal Nowell, and a British Intelligence Officer working with the Admiralty, Captain Hope, were buried in the village of Ploudaniel and the graves carefully tended by the local citizens throughout the German occupation until permanent headstones were erected in 1946.
Other Burials
1730 Sergeant Charles William Harris, Royal Australian Air Force, died 18th June 1940, aged 31. Son of William Charles and Denah Christina Harris; husband of Joyce Florence Evelyn Harris, of Croydon, New South Wales, Australia.
INSCRIPTION. HOW SHALL DUST HOLD THEM, THOSE WHO MET EACH DANGER WITH A SMILE".
141140 Captain Norman Edwar Hope, Intelligence Corps, died 18th June 1940.
565931 Corporal Bernard Felix Nowell, W. E. Mechanic in 810 Squadron, Royal Air Force, died 18th June 1940, aged 25.
Son of Lawrence and Gertrude Nowell; husband of Susan Ann Nowell, of Bognor Regis, Sussex. INSCRIPTION. IN CONSTANT MEMORY OF A DEVOTED HUSBAND, A LOVING SON AND A DEAR DADDY.
John Napier Bell
Royal Australian Air Force
18th June 1940, aged 24.
INSCRIPTION. SO DEARLY LOVED , SO DEEPLY MOURNED.
Son of John Henry and Eva Annie Bell, of Farina, South Australia. His brother Alfred Napier Bell also fell and is buried in Lae War Cemetery in Papua New Guinea.
Click on image to enlarge
Aboard HMAS Canberra. c. February 1939. Portrait of Flight Officer John Napier Bell RAAF of No. 9 (Fleet Cooperation) Squadron RAAF embarked on the "County" class cruiser HMAS Canberra of the RAN. Bell joined the RAAF as an Air Cadet on 15 July 1935 and after training as a pilot was posted in September 1938 to No. 5 (Fleet Cooperation) Squadron RAAF at RAAF Base Richmond equipped with Supermarine Seagull V (Walrus) amphibian aircraft. On 1 January 1939, the squadron was renumbered to No 9 Squadron and in February 1939, Bell and one of the squadron's Supermarine Seagull V (Walrus) amphibian aircraft embarked in Canberra to operate in the Fleet Cooperation role. Bell remained in Canberra until August 1939 during which time he completed eighty catapult launches from the ship in fulfilling his role of fleet cooperation duties. On completion of his tour of duty in Canberra, Bell was posted to No. 10 (General Reconnaisance) Squadron RAAF based at RAF Station Mount Batten, Plymouth, Devon, England, operating Short Sunderland flying boats in the anti submarine role. Arriving in January 1940 he completed a conversion course to Sunderland aircraft and went on to fly as a captain in a number of patrols in the Bay of Biscay area. Because of his experience on Walrus aircraft, Bell was directed to carry out a secret mission on 18 June 1940 to evacuate Madame de Gaulle and her children from the Brittany area of occupied France. Tragically the mission ended in disaster when the aircraft crashed and burnt while Bell was attempting to land in foggy conditions near Ploudaniel and all occupants of the aircraft were killed. With evacuation by air now impossible, Madame de Gaulle was forced to seek other means of transport and was fortunate to secure passage for herself and her children on a British destroyer for the voyage from Brest to Britain. Bell, his wireless operator, Sergeant C. W. Harris, a RAF wireless mechanic, Corporal Nowell, and a British Intelligence Officer working with the Admiralty, Captain Hope, were buried in the village of Ploudaniel and the graves carefully tended by the local citizens throughout the German occupation until permanent headstones were erected in 1946.
Other Burials
1730 Sergeant Charles William Harris, Royal Australian Air Force, died 18th June 1940, aged 31. Son of William Charles and Denah Christina Harris; husband of Joyce Florence Evelyn Harris, of Croydon, New South Wales, Australia.
INSCRIPTION. HOW SHALL DUST HOLD THEM, THOSE WHO MET EACH DANGER WITH A SMILE".
141140 Captain Norman Edwar Hope, Intelligence Corps, died 18th June 1940.
565931 Corporal Bernard Felix Nowell, W. E. Mechanic in 810 Squadron, Royal Air Force, died 18th June 1940, aged 25.
Son of Lawrence and Gertrude Nowell; husband of Susan Ann Nowell, of Bognor Regis, Sussex. INSCRIPTION. IN CONSTANT MEMORY OF A DEVOTED HUSBAND, A LOVING SON AND A DEAR DADDY.
