Frederick William Bell

Gave up his horse and covered a stranded soldier under fire.

Frederick William Bell was born in Perth, Western Australia, on 3 April 1875. Educated locally, he entered the Western Australian public service in 1894, working in the Customs Department and later becoming a cashier. When the South African War began in 1899, he enlisted as a private in the 1st Western Australian Mounted Infantry contingent.

Bell fought in the South African campaign, including the operations around Johannesburg and Pretoria and the battles of Diamond Hill and Wittebergen. Seriously wounded at Palmeitfontein on 19 July 1900, he was evacuated to England. He returned to Perth in February 1901, obtained a commission as a lieutenant in the 6th Western Australian contingent on 8 March, and went back to South Africa.

On 16 May 1901 at Brakpan, his unit was withdrawing under heavy fire after holding the right flank. Bell saw a soldier who had lost his mount, returned for him and lifted him onto his own horse. The animal fell under their combined weight. Bell gave his horse to the other man and stayed behind to cover the withdrawal until his comrade was safe. This action earned him the Victoria Cross, announced in the London Gazette on 4 October 1901. He was the first Western Australian-born recipient.

After discharge in May 1902, Bell joined Australia's contingent for King Edward VII's coronation. His later career combined military service with colonial administration. He entered the British colonial service in 1905, working in British Somaliland, then Nigeria and Kenya. A lion severely mauled him during a hunt in 1909, but he recovered. He also held a British cavalry reserve commission from 1907.

During the First World War, Bell served in France with the Royal Irish Dragoon Guards. Mentioned in despatches, he became a captain in October 1915. Back in England, he commanded a rest camp as a major and subsequently an embarkation camp at Plymouth as a lieutenant colonel. Two of his brothers died serving with the Australian Imperial Force.

After the war he returned to Kenya as a district commissioner, retiring to England in 1925. He married Mabel Mackenzie Valentini in 1922. After her death in 1944, he married Brenda Margaret Cracklow in 1945. He revisited Western Australia in 1947 and died at Bristol on 28 April 1954, survived by Brenda.

Victoria Cross citation West Australian Mounted Infantry: Lieutenant F. W. Bell.

At Brakpan on the 16th May, 1901, 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.