It was not expected that the ice would give anything back. Yet among rocks newly exposed by a retreating glacier on King George Island, a set of human remains was found and documented. A Polish research team working near Admiralty Bay recorded the site and began recovery. DNA testing has now confirmed the remains belong to Dennis Bell, a British meteorologist who died there in 1959. He had been part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, the organisation that later became the British Antarctic Survey. His body was never recovered at the time. 66 years on, shifting ice and patient fieldwork have altered that fact, and a long-unresolved loss has taken a different shape.
DNA confirms identity of meteorologist Dennis Bell who died in 1959 Antarctic accident
The remains were transported aboard the British Antarctic Survey research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough to the Falkland Islands and then onwards to the United Kingdom. Malcolm Simmons, Coroner for the British Antarctic Territory, accompanied them from Stanley to London with support from the Royal Air Force.Professor Denise Syndercombe Court of King’s College London carried out forensic DNA testing. Samples matched those of Bell’s brother David and sister Valerie Kelly. The results were described as more than one billion times more likely to indicate relation than not. For the family, the confirmation ended decades of uncertainty.
Personal artefacts recovered from glacier site
More than 200 personal items were documented during the recovery effort near the Ecology Glacier. These included fragments of radio equipment, a torch, ski poles, an inscribed wristwatch, a Swedish Mora knife and part of an ebonite pipe stem.The items were found among rocks exposed as the glacier receded. A multidisciplinary team from the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station returned to the site in February 2025 for a more detailed archaeological survey. Additional bone fragments and artefacts were collected during that work.
1959 crevasse accident at Admiralty Bay
Dennis Bell was 25 when he fell into a crevasse on 26 July 1959. He had joined the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1958 as a meteorologist and was stationed at Admiralty Bay on King George Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula.On the day of the accident, Bell and surveyor Jeff Stokes were ascending a glacier with dog teams. Believing they had passed the worst of the crevassed ground, Bell moved ahead to encourage the dogs. He was not wearing skis at the time. Snow gave way beneath him, and he fell.Stokes managed to lower a rope. Bell responded and tied it to his belt. As the dogs pulled, his body jammed against the lip of the crevasse. The belt broke. He fell back. A later search in worsening weather found no sign of survival.
Life and legacy of a British Antarctic Survey predecessor member
Bell grew up in Harrow in northwest London and later served in the Royal Air Force before heading south. Colleagues remembered his humour and restless energy at base.A headland on King George Island, Bell Point, bears his name. The family has said it was shocking and astonishing to learn that he had finally been found. How his memory will be marked now is a private decision. The ice has shifted. The record has shifted with it.
