Eric Norman Frankland Bell VC (28 August 1895 – 1 July 1916) was born Enniskillen

Enniskillen

Enniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...

, County Fermanagh

County Fermanagh

Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and was a British

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 recipient of the Victoria Cross

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 forces.

Background

Bell was born on 28 August 1895 in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh to Capt. E. H. Bell.

He was 20 years old, and a Temporary Captain in the 9th Battalion, The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

, attached to Light Trench Mortar Bty. during the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, and was awarded the VC for his actions on 1 July 1916, at Thiepval

Thiepval

The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a major war memorial to 72,191 missing British and South African men who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918 who have no known grave...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, and which led to his death.

Citation

The medal

The Victoria Cross awarded to Bell was held by members of his family since it was awarded. Air Marshal Sir Richard Bolt

Richard Bolt (RNZAF officer)

Air Marshal Sir Richard Bolt, KBE, CB, DFC, AFC, was a World War II bomber pilot and a senior Royal New Zealand Air Force officer in the post-War years. He was Chief of the Air Staff from 1974 to 1976 and Chief of the New Zealand Defence Staff from 1976 to 1980 when he retired from the...

, stepson of the owner of the Cross, offered the cross to the Royal Irish Regiment. It was presented to the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Museum in February 2001

External links

• Burial location of Eric Bell "No known grave. Name of the Thiepval Memorial, France"