BELL, John Grenville
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Mount Mercer, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 25 January 1875 |
| Home Town: | Geelong, Greater Geelong, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Scotch College, Geelong College, University of Edinburgh, Liverpool University |
| Occupation: | Medical Practitioner |
| Died: | Tunbridge, Wells, England, 27 February 1946, aged 71 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Geelong College WW1 Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| Date unknown: | Involvement Lieutenant |
|---|
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Born at Mount Mercer, Ballarat, on 25 January 1875, the son of Robert Lewis BELL and Robina nee CARSTAIRS
John ‘Jack’ Bell attended Scotch in 1886 and 1887 before moving to Geelong College. At College he was a member of both the 1st Football XVIII and the 1st Cricket XI for four years from 1889-1892. After his father was killed by lightning, Jack travelled to the United Kingdom, where he qualified as a medical practitioner and received a doctorate.
He served in the Boer War and on the North-West Frontier in India. His ribbons showing service in Transvaal, Cape Colony and Orange Free State, and travelled to England to enlist in the Royal Army Medical Corps as an Army Surgeon in 1903.
While serving on the North-West Frontier in India he married at Lahore Cathedral on 15 January 1909, Dorothy Lemon Blaker, the daughter of Horace Campbell Blaker, and granddaughter of Mark Lemon, the first editor of Punch, and a friend of Charles Dickens. They had two children, Robert John Lawaluk Bell, born on 21 January 1911, and Nancy Bell, born on 21 April 1919.
In World War I he served with the Royal Army Medical Corps on Gallipoli and in France, rising to the rank of Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel. In January 1916 he received a Distinguished Service Order. Jack was also Mentioned in Despatches three times and was awarded the Italian Medal.
He returned to England at the end of the war, and lived for many years at Tunbridge Wells, holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Retired).
John Bell died 27 February 1946 at Tunbridge Wells, England UK aged 71 years