Frederick Bell

Who was Frederick Bell?

Frederick William Bell VC 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 received the Victoria Cross.

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.

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.