Born in Australia on 24 June 1900, he was educated at the University of Melbourne. He soon came to England and studied orthopaedics at Liverpool. He was appointed orthopaedic surgeon to the Ipswich and East Suffolk Hospital in 1937. Ipswich was one of the first towns to be severely bombed in the German air raids of 1940-41, and Bell Jones was actively engaged in treating casualties. After the war he planned and built a new orthopaedic department and developed an efficient service for the combined town and country area. His operations attracted many surgical visitors. He was a founder member of the East Anglian Orthopaedic Club in 1948. Bell Jones died suddenly on 10 May 1959, aged 58, survived by his wife. He was a forthright, robust personality, but precise in his work. His recreations were gardening and fishing.