What does "hell's bells" refer to?

The expression "hell's bells" conveys anger, irritation, or surprise, according to CED, MW etc, but they do not explain the origin.

Were there bells in hell? What is this in reference to?

Solution 1:

The Bible makes no mention of there being bells in Hell.

Wikipedia claims https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bells_of_Hell_Go_Ting-a-ling-a-ling

"The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling" is a British airmen's song from World War I, which was created around 1911.[1]

It is apparently a parody of another popular song of the time entitled "She Only Answered 'Ting-a-ling-a-ling'"[2]

However, a more reliable source seems to be

"THE LOGBOOK OF THE NAVAL AIRCRAFT ASOCIATION OF PHILADELPHIA" by John McClure - 1918 - ‎Snippet view, (Google books) Found inside – Page 88

In the accompanying lines , dedicated to the Germans , allusion is made to the sing of the machinegun bullets , characterized as the " Bells of Hell." The Bells of Hell go ting - a - ling - a - ling For you , but not for me . For me the angels sing - a ...

[1]This seems inaccurate, or at least confusing (the English is poor), as the First World War did not break out until 1914, and the Royal Flying Corps (A section of the British Army) was not founded until 1912. I can only assume that it is a reference soldiers when training in the use of machine guns or when under machine gun fire.

[2]TING-A-LING-TING-TAY. Copyright, 1892, by T. B. Harms & Co. Words and Music by Harry Dacre. (http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/songster/37-ting-a-ling-ting-tay.htm)

Solution 2:

There is no meaning in Hell's Bells, it's just an alliterative exclamation to express anger, irritation, surprise.

The OED has the first recorded use as being in 1847: "‘H—ll's bells!’ exclaims the musician.", and shows that even the utterance of the word Hell was proscribed.