Lincoln John Bell.
Lincoln John Bell was born in 1909 in Herberton, North Queensland, Australia. He was the fourth son of John Bell and Ethel Williams. He was educated at the Herberton State School. In 1925 he passed the Clerical Entrance Exam for the Queensland Public Service.
He was present at a shooting accident near Atherton, QLD in 1928.
Along with his brothers and parents he moved to the Australian Mandated Territory of New Guinea in the mid 1930's.
Lincoln married Joan Mary Chalmer and there was at least one child, John, born at Kavieng, New Ireland in 1938.
At Kavieng on New Ireland he helped establish a leper hospital and also had an interest in the Kavieng Engineering Works.
When the Japanese invaded in Jan 1942, he had been working as a timber-getter on New Britain. He assisted some of those who were escaping from the fall of Rabaul to get to New Guinea. He was enlisted "in the field" by Keith McCarthy and skippered the pinnace "Aussie" in shuttling small groups of troops from Pondo to Iboko on New Britain. For this action he was received a civil commendation.[5][6]
On helping a large party to depart New Britain on the "Lakatoi", Lincoln opted to stay in New Britain as a Coastwatcher. He was initially enrolled in the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles as NG3023 to serve with ANGAU, back-dated to 06 Feb 1942, but as the Coastwatcher structure was regularised he was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve as a Sub-Lieutenant on 08 Jul 1942. He was operating in the area of the Wide Bay Coast on New Britain until instructed to withdraw from New Britain to the Rai Coast near Madang on the New Guinea mainland in about June 1942. During the Buna Campaign he was observing from Rooke Island when he reported 5 Japanese destroyers. Two were sunk by aircraft and the others forced to turn back.
Lincoln was leading a party of Coastwatchers on the Rai Coast when they were killed by hostile natives in about May 1943.
Submitted 22 March 2024
by Lynette Turner
