Frederick Bell
{{Short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{for|the English cricketer|Frederick Bell (cricketer)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Frederick William Bell
|image= Frederick Bell VC.jpg
|caption=
|nickname=
|birth_date= {{birth date|1875|04|03|df=yes}}
|birth_place= Perth, Western Australia
|death_date= {{death date and age|1954|04|28|1875|04|03|df=yes}}
|death_place= Bristol, England
|placeofburial= Canford Cemetery, Bristol, England
|allegiance= Australia
United Kingdom
|branch= Australian Military Forces
British Army
|serviceyears= 1899–1902
1907–1918
|rank= Lieutenant Colonel
|unit=
|commands=
|battles= Second Boer War
|awards= Victoria Cross
Mentioned in Despatches (2)
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
Frederick William Bell, VC (3 April 1875 – 28 April 1954) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Early life and career
Bell was born on 3 April 1875 in Perth, Western Australia, and was the first person born in Western Australia to receive the Victoria Cross.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58975406 |title="We are the Tenth Light Horse". |newspaper=Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 – 1954) |location=Perth, WA |date=17 December 1939 |accessdate=26 February 2014 |page=31 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
He was 26 years old, and a lieutenant in the West Australian Mounted Infantry during the Second Boer War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
{{Blockquote|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.{{London Gazette|issue=27362|date=4 October 1901|page=6481}}}}
Following the end of the war, he went to the United Kingdom and received the decoration from the Prince of Wales during a large coronation parade of colonial troops in London on 1 July 1902.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Prince and the Colonial Contingents |date=2 July 1902 |page=12 |issue=36809}}
Bell died on 28 April 1954, and was buried in Canford Cemetery, Bristol, England.
The Frederick Bell ward at the former Repatriation General Hospital, Hollywood was named in his honour.
Medals
The Western Australian Government bought Bell's medals in 1984 from a stepson living in Canada, and the set was placed in the collection of the Western Australian Museum. In July 2016 the medals went on loan to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, where they were on display until June 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/media/releases/rare-boer-war-victoria-cross-medal-group-goes-display-australian-war-memorial/|title=Rare Boer War Victoria Cross medal group goes on display at Australian War Memorial|date=14 July 2016|publisher=Australian War Memorial|accessdate=2 December 2016}}{{Update after|2019|06}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Further reading
- 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, [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070250b.htm 'Bell, Frederick William (1875–1954)'], Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, Melbourne University Press, 1979, p. 253.
- {{cite web|url=http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/870446 |title=Boer War Service Record – Frederick William Bell |date=30 October 2013 |publisher=National Archives of Australia |accessdate=October 9, 2014}}
- [http://www.briggs13.fsnet.co.uk/fw.htm The Search for Lt Col FW Bell VC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041211002819/http://www.briggs13.fsnet.co.uk/fw.htm |date=11 December 2004 }} (highly detailed biography & photos)
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Frederick William}}
Category:Australian Army officers
Category:Australian recipients of the Victoria Cross
Category:British Army personnel of World War I
Category:Second Boer War recipients of the Victoria Cross
Category:Military personnel from Perth, Western Australia