British man's bones found in glacier 65 years after Antarctica fall
Dennis Bell was 25 years old when he fell through a crevice while working for what became the British Antarctic Survey in 1959.
His remains were never recovered and his mother 'never got over it', according to his brother David Bell. He told the BBC: 'She couldn't handle photographs of him and couldn't talk about him.'
Dennis's bones were found by a Polish Antarctic expedition in January, along with a wristwatch, radio and pipe.
Mr Bell, who now lives in Australia, said: 'I had long given up on finding my brother. It is just remarkable, astonishing. I can't get over it.'
The family lived in Harrow, London, when they received a Telegram informing them Dennis had died. 'The telegram boy said, 'I'm sorry to tell you, but this is bad news,'' he added.
'Dennis was fantastic company. He was very amusing. The life and soul of wherever he happened to be.'
Dennis, known as 'Tink', worked in the RAF and trained as a meteorologist before joining the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey to work in Antarctica.
He went to Antarctica in 1958, where he was known for his 'mischievous sense of humour'.
Records described him as the best cook in the hut, where he was in charge of sending up meteorological weather balloons and radioing the reports to the UK every three hours.
Professor Dame Jane Francis, director of the British Antarctic Survey, said: 'Dennis was one of the many brave personnel who contributed to the early science and exploration of Antarctica under extraordinarily harsh conditions.
'Even though he was lost in 1959, his memory lived on among colleagues and in the legacy of polar research.'
Mr Bell thought he had got as close to his brother as he could, after going on an expedition organised by the British Antarctic Monument Trust in 2015.
'It was very, very moving,' he said, 'it lifted the pressure, a weight off my head, as it were.And I thought that would be it.'
He was told earlier this year his brother's remains had been found.
'I'm just sad my parents never got to see this day,' he said. 'It's wonderful; I'm going to meet my brother. You might say we shouldn't be thrilled, but we are. He's been found – he's come home now.'
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