Frederick Bell
| Frederick William Bell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
3 April 1875 Perth, Western Australia, Australia |
| Died |
28 April 1954 (aged 79) Bristol, England |
| Buried at | Canford Cemetery, Bristol, England |
| Allegiance |
 Commonwealth of Australia United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
Australian Military Forces British Army |
| Years of service |
1899 – 1902 1907 – 1918 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
Victoria Cross Mentioned in Despatches (2) |
Frederick William Bell VC (3 April 1875 – 28 April 1954) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Bell was born on 3 April 1875 in Perth, Western Australia he was the first person born in Western Australia to receive the Victoria Cross.[1]
He was 26 years old, and a lieutenant in the West Australian Mounted Infantry, Australian Forces during the Second Boer War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
- On 16 May 1901 at Brakpan, Transvaal, South Africa, when retiring through a heavy fire after holding the right flank, Lieutenant Bell noticed a man dismounted and returned and took him up behind him. The horse not being equal to the weight fell with them, Lieutenant Bell then remained behind and covered the man's retirement till he was out of danger.[2]
For many years the Queens & Kings South Africa medal pair awarded to Fred Bell were missing from his group. He had apparently sold these to raise beer money on a night out in Bristol in 1914. The two missing medals eventually turned up in the mid-1980s in Ormskirk, Lancashire. These were bought by Alan Thomas (Medals of England) and via auction were reunited with the VC which was then with the family in Perth, Western Australia.
Frederick Bell died on 28 April 1954, and was buried in Canford Cemetery, Bristol, England. His Victoria Cross and the long lost Boer War campaign medals are now on display at the Western Australian Museum, Perth.
The Frederick Bell ward at the former Repatriation General Hospital, Hollywood was named in his honour.
References
- ↑ ""We are the Tenth Light Horse".". Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954) (Perth, WA: National Library of Australia). 17 December 1939. p. 31. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27362. p. 6481. 4 October 1901. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Boer War (Ian Uys, 2000)
- Chamberlain, M., "The Action at Brakpan", Sabretache: The Journal and Proceedings of the Military Historical Society of Australia, Vol.45, No.4, (September 2004), pp. 41–46.
External links
- H. J. Gibbney, 'Bell, Frederick William (1875 - 1954)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, p. 253.
- "Boer War Service Record - Frederick William Bell". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
- Australian War Memorial Boer War Nominal Roll: Frederick William Bell
- Australian War Memorial: Portrait of Lieutenant Frederick William Bell VC of the 6th West Australian Mounted Infantry
- Australian War Memorial, Honours and awards (gazetted): Frederick William Bell
- Location of grave and VC medal (Avon)
- The Search for Lt Col FW Bell VC (highly detailed biography & photos)
- Frederick W. Bell: The South African native problem, a suggested solution. being a paper read before the Union Club of South Africa, and the Native Affairs Society of the Transvaal, (14 October) 1909 (two principles of Apartheid in South Africa)