Robert Bell (1889-1918)
'Shot at Dawn'
Little is known about Robert Bell as his service papers have not survived. However, from what records that have survived, and especially from the record of his court martial held at The National Archives at Kew, it is clear that Robert Bell was unmarried when he enlisted in the Army in January 1915; that he was serving in France with the Royal Engineers by December 1915; and that his mother, Mrs Annie Bell, lived at 84 Big Jug Yard, Claypath, Durham.
About 4 pm on 17 April 1918, during a rifle inspection at Senlis, Sapper Robert Bell shot dead an officer in his Field Company, Second Lieutenant Wynell Hastings Lloyd. Robert Bell was immediately arrested and imprisoned in the German POW camp at Toutencourt to await trial. At his court martial, no motive for the killing emerged and Robert Bell, who claimed that he had fired his rifle by accident, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.
Robert Bell was executed by firing squad on 22 May 1918 and buried in Toutencourt Communal Cemetery, Doullens, France.
As Robert Bell had been executed, no campaign medals were sent to his next of kin.
Where to look for more information about this person:
Julian Putkowski & Julian Sykes, Shot at Dawn (Barnsley, 1998), p. 278.
Cathryn Corns & John Hughes-Wilson, Blindfold & Alone (London, 2005), pp. 369-371.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/512466/BELL,%20ROBERT
Blindfold and Alone website: https://blindfoldandalone.wordpress.com/
https://blindfoldandalone.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/a-murder-in-the-front-line/
https://blindfoldandalone.wordpress.com/the-prosecuted/names-a-g/bell-sapper-robert-62536-123-field-company-royal-engineers/
Civil Parish: Durham St. Nicholas
Birth date: 1889
Death date: 22 May 1918
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: 84 Big Jug Yard, Claypath, Durham City.
Family: Son of Robert & Annie Bell.
Military service:
62536 Sapper Robert Bell, 123 Field Company, Royal Engineers, 1915-1918.
Medal(s): Though eligible for the 1914 -15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal, no campaign medals were sent to his next of kin.
Gender: Male
Contributed by Durham County Record Office | Durham at War Volunteer
