British man’s b0dy rec0vered from Antarctic glacier, 65 years after disappearance

British man’s body recovered from Antarctic glacier, 65 years after disappearance

Dennis Bell in 1959 at the Admiralty Bay station – he was known for his love of the husky dogs

The remains of a British man who died in an accident in Antarctica in 1959 have been recovered from a melting glacier.

They were found in January by a Polish Antarctic expedition, along with a wristwatch, a radio, and a pipe. He has been identified as Dennis “Tink” Bell, who was 25 when he fell into a crevasse while working for the organisation that would later become the British Antarctic Survey.

“I had long given up on finding my brother. It is just remarkable, astonishing. I can’t get over it,” said David Bell, 86, speaking to BBC News.

“Dennis was one of the many brave personnel who contributed to the early science and exploration of Antarctica under extraordinarily harsh conditions,” said Professor Dame Jane Francis, director of the British Antarctic Survey. “Even though he was lost in 1959, his memory lived on among colleagues and in the legacy of polar research.”

David was the one who received the news in July 1959 at the family home in Harrow, London.
“The telegram boy said, ‘I’m sorry to tell you, but this is bad news’,” he recalled. “It was a horrendous moment.”

Speaking from his home in Australia, with his wife Yvonne beside him, David shared memories of growing up in 1940s England with his adventurous older brother.
“Dennis was fantastic company. He was very amusing. The life and soul of wherever he happened to be,” he said.

He recalled one evening when the family returned from the cinema to find Dennis had taken a motorbike engine apart on the kitchen table—though he had put newspaper down first. “I can remember his style of dress, he always used to wear duffel coats. He was just an average sort of fellow who enjoyed life,” he added.

Born in 1934, Dennis served in the RAF, trained as a meteorologist, and later joined the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey. “He was obsessed with Scott’s diaries,” David said, referring to explorer Captain Robert Scott.

In 1958, Dennis began a two-year posting at Admiralty Bay on King George Island, about 120 km off the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Records from the British Antarctic Survey describe him as “cheerful and industrious, with a mischievous sense of humour and fondness for practical jokes.”

His work included sending up weather balloons and maintaining radio contact with the UK. He was also the base’s winter cook and cared for husky dogs used for sledging. Dennis took part in mapping parts of the island that were still unexplored.

On 26 July 1959, Dennis and colleague Jeff Stokes set out to survey a glacier. In deep snow, Dennis walked ahead without skis to encourage the dogs, but fell into a crevasse. Jeff managed to make contact and lower a rope, but Dennis’s belt broke as he neared the surface, and he fell again. This time, he didn’t respond.

“That’s a story I shall never get over,” David said.

With another team member having died weeks earlier, the base decided it was too risky to attempt a recovery. David remembers his mother never being able to talk about Dennis or look at his photographs. The family received a sheepskin from two of Dennis’s colleagues, but there was no service or closure.

In 2015, David joined a voyage to Antarctica with other families of those who had died there. It brought some peace, but he thought that was the end of it.

Then, on 29 January this year, Polish researchers from the Henryk Arctowski Station found human remains at the foot of Ecology Glacier. Bones were also found on the glacier’s surface, along with personal items and equipment. The scientists marked the site to prevent the remains from being lost again.

They explained that the glacier had shifted over decades, moving Dennis from where he fell. Melting linked to climate change exposed the remains.

“Every effort was made to ensure that Dennis could return home,” the team said.

“It’s an opportunity to reassess the contribution these men made, and an opportunity to promote science and what we’ve done in the Antarctic over many decades,” said Rod Rhys Jones, chair of the British Antarctic Monument Trust.

David said he is grateful to the Polish team. “I’m just sad my parents never got to see this day.” He and his sister Valerie now plan to finally lay Dennis to rest.

“It’s wonderful; I’m going to meet my brother. You might say we shouldn’t be thrilled, but we are. He’s been found he’s come home now.”