Tag Archives: Victoria Cross
Bernard William Vann VC | Graves
LIEUTENANT COLONEL B. W. VANN VC, MC & BAR Name: Bernard William Vann VC, MC & Bar Regiment & Unit/Ship: Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment) 8th Bn. attd. 1st/6th Bn. Date of Death: 3 October 1918 Age at Death: 31 years old Buried or commemorated at: BELLICOURT BRITISH CEMETERY II. O. 1. France Awards: […]
Continue readingDonald Simpson Bell VC | Grave
SECOND LIEUTENANT DONALD SIMPSON BELL VC Name: Donald Simpson Bell Regiment & Unit/Ship: Yorkshire Regiment 9th Bn. Date of Death: 10 July 1916 Age at Death: 25 years old Buried or commemorated at: GORDON DUMP CEMETERY, OVILLERS-LA BOISSELLE IV. A. 8. France Awards: Victoria Cross Additional Info: Son of Smith and Annie Bell, of Western […]
Continue readingBell’s Redoubt – Memorial to Donald Bell VC, Contalmaison
BELL'S REDOUBT MEMORIAL, CONTALMAISON The memorial at Bell’s Redoubt, Contalmaison commemorates Second Lieutenant Donald Simpson Bell, the former Bradford Park Avenue footballer who won the British Empire’s highest military decoration awarded for valour “in the face of the enemy”, the Victoria Cross, five days before his death during the Battle of the Somme. The memorial was in large […]
Continue readingThe Story of Donald Bell VC
THE STORY OF DONALD SIMPSON BELL VC When the British Army launched its great Somme offensive in the summer of 1916, few people could have envisaged the devastation battle would bring. The opening day alone saw British casualties of almost 60,000 and by the time the slaughter had ground to a bloody halt in the […]
Continue readingThe Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross was instituted by Queen Victoria on 29 January 1856 and is the highest British military award available for gallantry. Awarded for ‘… most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy…’, the cross was available to all ranks of the […]
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