Cecil Amos Bell was born in Brooke Township, Lampton County, Ontario, one of six children born to Franklin and Deboris Bell. He married Evelyn Elizabeth Payne Bell in March 1940 while in training and before going overseas. He enlisted in 11^th Field Company in Sarnia, Ontario on 11 September 1939. He declared his trade as Mechanics Helper. He started his sapper training in Camp Petawawa, Ontario and was shipped to the UK in September 1940. He was classified as a painter and received trades pay as such, even though he had completed training and had the aptitude to be an Engine Hand. Cecil participated in Operation JUBILEE, the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942 and was fortunate enough to return uninjured.  Later that year, his mechanical skills were finally recognized and he was classified as Engine Hand Group ‘C’.

The 11^th Field Company arrived in France on 7 July as part of 2^nd Canadian Division Engineers. They participated fully in all operations during the Battle of Normandy and the advance across the Seine, through the Channel Ports and into Belgium, clearing routes and building bridges. The Division was then moved north of Antwerp in preparation for the Battle of the Scheldt. While the battle officially began on 2 October 1944 when the 2^nd Canadian Division crossed the Antwerp-Turnhout Canal to clear the Beveland approaches, for the RCE, the Battle of the Scheldt started before that date. 

On the night of 30 September, the 11^th Field Company struggled under fire to build an 80-foot Class 40 bridge across the canal just west of a weakened bridge built the night before by the 7^th Field Company near Lockenberg. The task was costly when a direct hit on the bank seat party killed two and wounded four more, three of whom would die of wounds that day. Continued mortaring slowed the work during the day, but the bridge was open to traffic before the evening.

Sapper Cecil Amos Bell died of wounds at Number 9 Canadian Field Dressing Station that day. He is buried in the Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery in Holland. In 1948, the Belgium Government awarded the Croix de Guerre 1940 avec Palme to Sapper Bell in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the liberation of that country. The medal was presented by the Belgian Embassy to his wife in Ottawa.

Return to Part 5: Tributes to the Fallen Sappers of the Scheldt