Pte. Joseph Russell Bell
British Army 10th Btn. Durham Light Infantry
from:Bishop Auckland
(d.24th Jul 1943)
Joseph Russell Bell 4456672 10th Battalion DLI, was part of the BEF fighting a retreating battle against the overwhelming numbers of the German Army. He was shot, wounded and captured near Villiers, northern France on 20th May 1940 then taken to Stalag XXA,Thorn on 10th June 1940, where he became POW No 10558, he was held at various forts until he was "shot while trying to escape" on 24th July 1943 whereupon he was buried in the garrison cemetery at garnison freidhof then later exhumed and re- buried in the Malbork commonwealth cemetery.
Russell was also "mentioned in despatches" and because our relative is reluctant to give details of his citation we dont know whether he earned this award during the fighting or in his captive time. During his time in Thorn he was sent to work in the brickworks near Tuchola where he was befriended by a Pole called Jan Glowacki who's son Lucjan used to to sneak food parcels in for them despite the enormous risks, sometime later the two comrades became separated for ever.
Years later in 2011 when we were planning to visit Malbork to honour his grave Russells sister Doreen gave us a letter written in german by Jan asking Russell to write back and tell him about his story, anyway we showed this letter to the lady who was organising our trip and she said "Tuchola is a small village, I'll be able to track down the Glowacki family and maybe arrange for you to meet them", well she did, we visited the three forts where Russell was held then actually met Lucjan who despite his age remembered His father and his friend, what a moving moment it was! Anyway thats Russells story, now I'm hoping someone somewhere will have a soldier who knew Russell Bell either in the prison or in battle who can maybe "put some flesh on the bones" of this enigmatic man.
