Don Bell (radio broadcaster)
Encyclopedia
Clarence Alton Beliel, commonly known as Don Bell, is an American radio broadcaster best known for his radio work broadcasting from the Philippines
in the years leading up to World War II
.
Bell wanted to be a foreign correspondent from an early age, so he joined the US Marines
in 1926 as the quickest way of getting abroad. He served in China for six years, based in the international settlements of Shanghai
and Tientsin
. After his discharge he joined the Shanghai Evening Post & Mercury, an American-owned, English-language daily newspaper. When it acquired a radio station, Bell added broadcasting to his other journalistic duties. With the Japanese invasion of 1937
, Bell fled to Manila in the Philippines
.
In Manila, Bell worked as a publicity director for an American department store, Heacock's, as well as serving as a foreign correspondent for NBC
and serving as news co-ordinator with the British Ministry of Information, the Free French Committee and the Free Czech Committee. Bell also worked for Radio Manila, also known as Radio KZRH, and his broadcasts were one of the main sources of news for the Anglophone population in the Far East.
As the Japanese invasion neared, Bell was commandeered by the Philippine Government and by General MacArthur
's headquarters to help maintain morale by continuing to broadcast hourly. This he did until the radio transmitters had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy.
At the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, Bell dropped his radio name and assumed his real name of Clarence Beliel, and arranged to be taken by the Japanese while working at Heacock's Department Store. The deception was maintained by all who knew him as Don Bell; to have revealed
that he was the person who had made many anti-Japanese broadcasts would have had dire consequences. Bell was interned together with his wife Lilia and two sons Clarence and Richard, at Santo Tomas University in Manila. During this period, Bell was erroneously reported as dead, and was told of a "beautiful memorial broadcast [a non-interned Filipino friend] had heard over KGEI, a short-wave radio station broadcasting from San Francisco. It seems that Don Bell was captured, tortured because he wouldn't give information to the enemy, paraded through the streets and then executed; the first war correspondent
to die in World War II." LIFE
magazine reported in its issues dated 30 March and 13 April 1942 that Bell was dead. The camp was liberated in February 1945, and Bell was greeted by General MacArthur with the words "Hello, Lazarus, I am happy to see you have returned from the dead".
Almost immediately after his liberation, Bell went back to war reporting. On 22 March 1945 the plane he was in was shot down over Amoy
Harbour in China while on a bombing mission. Bell and seven other survivors were hidden from the Japanese by Chinese guerilla fighters and smuggled to Chunking in China, and from there back to Manila. Bell covered the Australian landings at Balikpapan
in Borneo on 1 July 1945
After the war Bell reported on some of the atomic bomb tests at the Bikini Atoll
in 1946, and then returned to the United States where he worked for NBC
as well as various radio stations such as WGAY in Silver Spring, Maryland in 1947, where he was director of news and special events, and KOME in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
In February 1954 Bell moved to Palm Beach, Florida
, where he met his second wife, Ginny. In 2000 Don Bell was living in retirement in Florida.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
in the years leading up to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Bell wanted to be a foreign correspondent from an early age, so he joined the US Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
in 1926 as the quickest way of getting abroad. He served in China for six years, based in the international settlements of Shanghai
Shanghai International Settlement
The Shanghai International Settlement began originally as a purely British settlement. It was one of the original five treaty ports which were established under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking at the end of the first opium war in the year 1842...
and Tientsin
Concessions in Tianjin
The Concessions in Tianjin were concession territories ceded by the Chinese imperial Qing Dynasty to the great powers in Tianjin, also known as Tientsin or Tien-Tsin.-General context:...
. After his discharge he joined the Shanghai Evening Post & Mercury, an American-owned, English-language daily newspaper. When it acquired a radio station, Bell added broadcasting to his other journalistic duties. With the Japanese invasion of 1937
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, Bell fled to Manila in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
In Manila, Bell worked as a publicity director for an American department store, Heacock's, as well as serving as a foreign correspondent for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and serving as news co-ordinator with the British Ministry of Information, the Free French Committee and the Free Czech Committee. Bell also worked for Radio Manila, also known as Radio KZRH, and his broadcasts were one of the main sources of news for the Anglophone population in the Far East.
We also went to listen regularly to Don Bell who broadcast an excellent Far Eastern news bulletin from Radio Manila at 12.45pm daily. Every Englishman and American living in the Far East at that time will remember him. He was an excellent newscaster of Far Eastern affairs, and left any other station cold.
As the Japanese invasion neared, Bell was commandeered by the Philippine Government and by General MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
's headquarters to help maintain morale by continuing to broadcast hourly. This he did until the radio transmitters had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy.
At the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, Bell dropped his radio name and assumed his real name of Clarence Beliel, and arranged to be taken by the Japanese while working at Heacock's Department Store. The deception was maintained by all who knew him as Don Bell; to have revealed
that he was the person who had made many anti-Japanese broadcasts would have had dire consequences. Bell was interned together with his wife Lilia and two sons Clarence and Richard, at Santo Tomas University in Manila. During this period, Bell was erroneously reported as dead, and was told of a "beautiful memorial broadcast [a non-interned Filipino friend] had heard over KGEI, a short-wave radio station broadcasting from San Francisco. It seems that Don Bell was captured, tortured because he wouldn't give information to the enemy, paraded through the streets and then executed; the first war correspondent
War correspondent
A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
to die in World War II." LIFE
Life
Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...
magazine reported in its issues dated 30 March and 13 April 1942 that Bell was dead. The camp was liberated in February 1945, and Bell was greeted by General MacArthur with the words "Hello, Lazarus, I am happy to see you have returned from the dead".
Almost immediately after his liberation, Bell went back to war reporting. On 22 March 1945 the plane he was in was shot down over Amoy
Xiamen
Xiamen , also known as Amoy , is a major city on the southeast coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of and population of 3.53 million...
Harbour in China while on a bombing mission. Bell and seven other survivors were hidden from the Japanese by Chinese guerilla fighters and smuggled to Chunking in China, and from there back to Manila. Bell covered the Australian landings at Balikpapan
Battle of Balikpapan (1945)
The Battle of Balikpapan was the concluding stage of the Borneo campaign . The landings took place on 1 July 1945. The Australian 7th Division, composed of the 18th, 21st and 25th Infantry Brigades, with support troops, made an amphibious landing, codenamed Operation Oboe Two a few miles north of...
in Borneo on 1 July 1945
After the war Bell reported on some of the atomic bomb tests at the Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
in 1946, and then returned to the United States where he worked for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
as well as various radio stations such as WGAY in Silver Spring, Maryland in 1947, where he was director of news and special events, and KOME in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
In February 1954 Bell moved to Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
, where he met his second wife, Ginny. In 2000 Don Bell was living in retirement in Florida.
External links
- Webpage with information on Bell and link to a clip of his war reportage from Santo Tomas Internment Camp (film)
- Don Bell in LIFE magazine
- Don Bell Reports: autobiographical sketch
- Details of a broadcast made by Bell while in the camp
- Newspaper report on Bell's 1945 Army Citation
- There are many recordings of Bell reporting for the Mutual Broadcasting System in the United State Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service miscellaneous records at the Hoover Institution Archives.