Mark Sever Bell

He helped turn the tide of a battle by leading unarmed workers forward under fire from both sides.

Mark Sever Bell, VC, CB (15 May 1843 – 26 June 1906) was a British Royal Engineers officer whose courage during the Third Anglo-Ashanti War earned him the Victoria Cross. Born in Sydney, New South Wales, and educated in London, Bell entered the Royal Engineers in 1862. His early military service included the Bhutan campaign and the Hazara Expedition, where he developed experience in demanding engineering operations.

On 4 February 1874, during the Battle of Ordahsu in the Gold Coast, Lieutenant Bell served with the advanced guard commanded by Colonel Sir John Chetham McLeod. Bell repeatedly went to the front to encourage an unarmed working party of Fante labourers exposed to enemy fire and irregular fire from troops behind them. Despite having no covering party, the labourers continued their work, materially assisting the British advance.

For this extraordinary conduct, Bell was awarded the Victoria Cross, announced in the London Gazette of 20 November 1874, issue 24153, page 5469. Queen Victoria personally presented the decoration at Windsor Castle on 26 November 1874.

Bell later served in military intelligence and reconnaissance across Asia and took part in the Burma campaign of 1886–87. His reconnaissance work brought him the MacGregor Memorial Gold Medal, listed by the awarding institution for 1889. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1893.

After further Royal Engineers commands in Britain and Ireland, Bell went on half-pay in 1898 and retired in 1900 with the rank of colonel. He died at Windlesham on 26 June 1906 and was buried at South Ascot. His Victoria Cross is preserved in the Royal Engineers Museum.