Language selection

Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada

Search veterans.gc.ca

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

John Bell

In memory of:

Private John Bell

March 5, 1915

Military Service

Service Number:

1122

Age:

40

Force:

Army

Unit:

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regt.)

Additional Information

Born:

February 28, 1875

Commemorated on Page 5 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information

Cemetery:

MENIN GATE (YPRES) MEMORIAL
Belgium

Grave Reference:

Panel 10

Location:


The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, it consists of a Hall of Memory", 36.6 metres long by 20.1 metres wide. In the centre are broad staircases leading to the ramparts which overlook the moat, and to pillared loggias which run the whole length of the structure. On the inner walls of the Hall, on the side of the staircases and on the walls of the loggias, panels of Portland stone bear the names of the dead, inscribed by regiment and corps. Carved in stone above the central arch are the words:


TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.

Over the two staircases leading from the main Hall is the inscription:

HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.

The dead are remembered to this day in a simple ceremony that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. All traffic through the gateway in either direction is halted, and two buglers (on special occasions four) move to the centre of the Hall and sound the Last Post. Two silver trumpets for use in the ceremony are a gift to the Ypres Last Post Committee by an officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery, who served with the 10th Battery, of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Ypres in April 1915."

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Inscription– Inscription on the Menin Gate - August 2012 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

    Details

    Inscription
    Inscription – Inscription on the Menin Gate - August 2012 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Memorial– Menin Gate - October 2009 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

    Details

    Memorial
    Memorial – Menin Gate - October 2009 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Panel– Panel 10 of the Menin Gate - August 2012 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

    Details

    Panel
    Panel – Panel 10 of the Menin Gate - August 2012 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Photo of John Bell– Private John Bell, PPCLI is wearing the khaki M1903 Other Ranks seven-button Service Dress jacket and khaki M1905 Other Ranks Service Dress Cap. He wears the PPCLI cap badge and maple leaf general service collar insignia. Though on his 'Attestation Paper' John Bell put the year of his birth as 1875, he had in fact been born in Co. Durham, England, in 1865, making him 49 years old at enlistment. Prior to joining the PPCLI he had served in the Imperial Yeomanry during the Boer War. Initially joining the 55th Company, I.Y., as a Private in 1900, he served for more than a year in South Africa before returning home. However, after only 5 months back in the UK, he enlisted again, and was posted to the 118th Company, I.Y., in the rank of Quartermaster-Sergeant. He served until March 1902, before being discharged as medically unfit for military service. The ribbons for the Boer War campaign medals can be seen above his left breast pocket, from left to right the Queen's South Africa Medal and the King's South Africa Medal. Prior to his service in the I.Y., John Bell had spent 12 years (full-time and reserve) as a cavalryman in the regular army, namely the 17th (Duke of Cambridge's Own) Lancers. Private John Bell was Killed in Action on the 5th March, 1915, when No. 3 Company, PPCLI, relieved men of the Cheshire Regiment who had been manning the trenches at St Eloi, Belgium. As the War Diary shows, 2 men were killed, and 2 men wounded. The man who was killed with John Bell was 1209 Private Alfred Willey, PPCLI, aged 33. Though originally buried at the Voormezeele Enclosure No. 3, no trace of Private Bell's body was found after the war, and so he is now commemorated on Panel 10 of the Menin Gate at Ypres.

    Details

    Photo of John Bell
    Photo of John Bell – Private John Bell, PPCLI is wearing the khaki M1903 Other Ranks seven-button Service Dress jacket and khaki M1905 Other Ranks Service Dress Cap. He wears the PPCLI cap badge and maple leaf general service collar insignia. Though on his 'Attestation Paper' John Bell put the year of his birth as 1875, he had in fact been born in Co. Durham, England, in 1865, making him 49 years old at enlistment. Prior to joining the PPCLI he had served in the Imperial Yeomanry during the Boer War. Initially joining the 55th Company, I.Y., as a Private in 1900, he served for more than a year in South Africa before returning home. However, after only 5 months back in the UK, he enlisted again, and was posted to the 118th Company, I.Y., in the rank of Quartermaster-Sergeant. He served until March 1902, before being discharged as medically unfit for military service. The ribbons for the Boer War campaign medals can be seen above his left breast pocket, from left to right the Queen's South Africa Medal and the King's South Africa Medal. Prior to his service in the I.Y., John Bell had spent 12 years (full-time and reserve) as a cavalryman in the regular army, namely the 17th (Duke of Cambridge's Own) Lancers. Private John Bell was Killed in Action on the 5th March, 1915, when No. 3 Company, PPCLI, relieved men of the Cheshire Regiment who had been manning the trenches at St Eloi, Belgium. As the War Diary shows, 2 men were killed, and 2 men wounded. The man who was killed with John Bell was 1209 Private Alfred Willey, PPCLI, aged 33. Though originally buried at the Voormezeele Enclosure No. 3, no trace of Private Bell's body was found after the war, and so he is now commemorated on Panel 10 of the Menin Gate at Ypres.
  • Diary– PPCLI War Diary, 5th March 1915

    Details

    Diary
    Diary – PPCLI War Diary, 5th March 1915
  • Attestation Papers

    Details

    Attestation Papers
    Attestation Papers
  • Attestation Papers (Reverse)

    Details

    Attestation Papers (Reverse)
    Attestation Papers (Reverse)
  • Inscription on Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial

    Details

    Inscription on Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial
    Inscription on Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

Date modified: