On Tower Hill Memorial is the name of Chief Engineer Officer John Turnbull Bell, serving on S.S. British General (London) with the Merchant Navy who died 06/10/1940.

In Gosforth (Hollywood Avenue) Cemetery is a family headstone which reads:

In loving memory of
Ivy Bell
died 14 June 1946 aged 63

Also her husband
John Bell
lost at sea Oct. 1940 aged 54

Also their son Brian
killed near Arras France May 1940
aged 20

And the dear sisters of the above
Gertrude Longshaw
died 19 April 1954 aged 56

Winifred Longshaw
died 6 Aug. 1956 aged 77.

At 18.55 hours on the 6th October 1940 the unescorted British General (Master,  Frank Oswald Armstrong), dispersed from convoy OA-222. It was hit underneath the bridge by one torpedo from U-37 550 miles west of Valentia Island. The hit had not much effect but the tanker stopped after being hit aft by a second torpedo at 23.10 hours.

The U-boat stayed nearby during the night to wait for the ship to sink, but the disabled British General remained afloat. U-37 could not sink with the deck gun because she was armed. Around noon the tanker crew tried to communicate with the U-boat by Morse signals. The tanker finally sank in 5142N/2450W at 20.00 hours on the 7th October, after being hit by two shots. The master, 45 crew members and one gunner were lost.

John Turnbull Bell is remembered at Gosforth on G9.17 and in our List of Ships’ Crews.