Donald Simpson Bell
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Photo submitted by Martin Hornby - (Gallaher Cigarette Cards) |
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Photo by Terry Macdonald |
Donald Simpson Bell was an
English 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.
Before the war, he had been a
footballer, and had played as an amateur with
Crystal Palace and
Newcastle United. In 1912 he turned professional and moved to
Bradford (Park Avenue). When
World War I broke out in 1914, he became the first professional football to enlist, initially as a
corporal; he received his commission the following year.
He was 25 years old, and a Temporary
Second Lieutenant in the 9th Bn.,
The Yorkshire Regiment (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own),
British Army during the
First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On
5 July 1916 at Horseshoe Trench,
Somme,
France, a very heavy enfilade fire was opened on the attacking company by an enemy gun. Second Lieutenant Bell immediately, on his own initiative, crept up a communication trench, and then, followed by a corporal and a private, rushed across the open under very heavy fire and attacked the machine-gun, shooting the firer and destroying the gun and the personnel with bombs. This officer lost his life five days later, on
July 10 1916 during the
Battle of the Somme, performing a very similar act of bravery.
He is buried at
Gordon Dump Cemetery,
France at the following location: 4m NE of Albert. Plot IV. Row A. Grave 8. Headstone. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the
Green Howards Museum in
Richmond,
Yorkshire.
*
Monuments To Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*
The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*
VCs of the First World War - The Somme (Gerald Gliddon, 1994)
*{{cite web|
title= Somme memorial to mark English football's VC |
url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2000/06/28/nvc28.xml |
work=Daily Telegraph|
This page has been
migrated from the
Victoria Cross Reference with permission.
