Frozen Secrets Unveiled: Lost British Researcher’s Remains Discovered After 66 Years Beneath Antarctic Ice
Before his 1959 death, Bell worked as a meteorologist for the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), the organization that later became the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Bell will now finally be laid to rest in the U.K.
How Dennis Bell Tragically Disappeared Into An Antarctic Crevasse
Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic StationDennis Bell’s remains were ultimately found among exposed rocks on the Ecology Glacier.
On July 26, 1959, Dennis Bell and surveyor Jeff Stokes headed out earlier than the rest of their four-person team to begin a survey on an ice plateau above the Ecology Glacier, according to the British Antarctic Survey.
Cautiously, Bell and Stokes navigated a field of treacherous crevasses, but the dogs pulling their sleds soon began to tire. Bell started walking out in front of his sled, without his skis, to encourage the dogs to keep moving.
In the blink of an eye, Bell was gone. He had fallen down a 100-foot-deep crevasse that had been hidden by the deep snow.
Stokes heard Bell calling up to him and sent down a rope. After Bell tied the rope to his belt, he was pulled up by Stokes and the dogs. It seemed like Stokes would be able to rescue Bell, but tragically, the belt snapped.
Roger Todd-White; Archives ref: AD6/19/2/G176The Admiralty Bay Base where Bell and his colleagues worked.
Bell immediately fell back down into the hole. Stokes called down to him, but he got no response this time. Meanwhile, weather conditions were quickly worsening and Stokes was forced to return to his base.
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