BELL, William Macdonald
| Service Number: | 3715 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 30 October 1917 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Light Horse Regiment |
| Born: | Govan, Lanarkshire, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 10 January 1873 |
| Home Town: | Newcastle, Hunter Region, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Died: | Suicide, Wickham, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, 5 December 1937, aged 64 years |
| Cemetery: |
Sandgate General Cemetery, Newcastle, NSW Sandgate Cemetery, GENERAL-30. 5. |
| Memorials: | Junction Soldier's Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Oct 1917: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3715, Camel Corps | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Apr 1918: | Involvement Private, 3715, Camel Corps, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: SS Port Darwin embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 30 Apr 1918: | Embarked Private, 3715, Camel Corps, SS Port Darwin, Sydney | |
| 10 Aug 1918: | Transferred AIF WW1, Trooper, 1st Light Horse Regiment | |
| 19 Oct 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 3715, 1st Light Horse Regiment |
Help us honour William Macdonald Bell's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Gary Mitchell
A Forgotten Digger of The Great War and Sandgate Cemetery.
82 years ago today, on the Sunday afternoon of the 5th December 1937, Private William Macdonald Bell, 1st Australian Light Horse Regiment, gold miner from Kenrick Street, The Junction, New South Wales and Hunter Street West, N.S.W., Stepfather of five, was laid to rest at Sandgate Cemetery, age 63. GENERAL-30. 5.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166686686
Born at Govan, Lanarkshire, Glasgow, United Kingdom on the 10th January 1873 to Robert Marrs and Susannah (Susanna) Bell nee Greg; husband of Mary Ellen Bell nee Cullen (married 1929, died?), William enlisted October 1917 with the Camel Corps (May 1916 to August 1917 Reinforcements) at Newcastle, N.S.W., and returned home May 1919.
Name inscribed on the Junction Soldiers' Memorial, and I believe his name would be inscribed on the Adamstown Loyal Pride (126) M.U.I.O.O.F. Roll of Honour.
Tragically, Mr Bell fell in front of a train (coroner verdict suicide) at Wickham Railway Station, N.S.W.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134995469
For 78 years William had been resting in an unmarked grave, forgotten, so I have placed a cross on the gravesite, taken a photo of the grave and uploaded the photo onto the Northern Cemetery website as a permanent record of his service.
http://sandgate.northerncemeteries.com.au/index.php/war-heroes/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103&aso=exact&s_f=id&data_search=422167#grave-photo-1
Thanks to Lynette Hutchings for the family history.
Also served 2 years Boer War (15th Battalion Berkshire Imperial Yeomanry).
Lest We Forget.
Click images to start slideshow.