Ken Bell

George Kenneth "Ken" Bell (July 30, 1914 – June 26, 2000) was a Canadian photographer who served with the Canadian armed forces during the Second World War. As a Lieutenant in the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit, he participated in the Normandy Landings, disembarking at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944, with the Highland Light Infantry of Canada. Later he went on to photograph and record the liberation of France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and finally documented the occupation of Germany. After the war he had a successful career as a professional photographer, and published a number of books including Not in Vain, a collection of photographs showing the changes which had taken place in Europe since the end of the war.

George Kenneth Bell was born in Toronto, Ontario, on July 30, 1914. He was the second son and the fourth of six children born to carpenter Charles Bell (1881–c. 1958) and Edith Bell, immigrants from Yorkshire, England. Charles Bell emigrated to Canada in 1906. The family lived at 1211 Dufferin St, Toronto.

When Canada joined the war against Nazi Germany in 1939, Bell was posted to Ottawa as a public relations photographer. The Canadian Army played a major role in the 1944 Normandy landings, landing at Juno beach, somewhat to the south of the previous raid at Dieppe in 1942. Like his better known American contemporary Robert Capa, Bell took part in the first day of the D Day operation, disembarking at Juno Beach on June 6, 1944, with The Highland Light Infantry of Canada (now known as the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada), part of the 9th brigade. The 9th brigade was not in the first assault wave, but landed later in the morning and advanced through the lead brigades, which had taken heavy casualties. Many of Bell's photographs were taken in colour a first for the Canadian Army though these did not become public until around twenty years later. They are the only surviving colour photographs of the Normandy Landings. Members of the CFPU were often in the front line, and sometimes even ahead of it. During the liberation of Dieppe in 1944, as the Manitoba Dragoons awaited orders to advance, members of the CFPU including Ken Bell and Brian O'Regan were the first Allied servicemen to enter the town. Bell's war photographs – taken with a Rolleiflex camera – are housed by the Library and Archives of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. Many of the original negatives of his photographs are held by the Canadian Forces Photo Unit and the City of Toronto Archives. Ken Bell's brother William Ernest Bell also served in the war; he volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941 and served in 440 Squadron flying Hawker Typhoons in the last months of the war.

Colonel Bell was twice married. His first was to Marion "Molly" Alice Bell, with whom he adopted two daughters, Sue and Karen. After Molly's death he married Mary Lea Kenly of Toronto. His nephew Richard Williams was an animator. He died on June 26, 2000, in Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada.

He was twice awarded the Photographer of the Year award by the society of Professional Photographers of Canada, in 1965 and 1966. In 1986 he received the Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators Lifetime Achievement Award.