Bell continued writing while serving in the Navy in World War II.

In May 1944 he was observed pecking at a typewriter in a stateroom on his ship, the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73).

[1] In World War II Bell was a lieutenant assigned as an intelligence officer to Composite Squadron VC-10 aboard the USS Gambier Bay, an escort carrier.

Bell rushed to the ready room to put on his flying gear but was ordered by the VC-10 commander, Lt. Cdr.

Bell survived the sinking of the Gambier Bay that morning but succumbed to exposure and delirium sometime during the evening of the 26th.