Person

Mother Anne Maria Violetta Jerome from Ashbourne, Derbyshire married Sunderland-born John Henry Bell in Wales in 1877. They moved to the north east to set up home in Sunderland where John became manager of an iron works. Their oldest son, Philip, was born in 1879, followed by daughters Kathleen, Florence and Eleanor and, lastly, Edward Crosby on 5 November 1888. When Edward was born the family were living on Roker Terrace, Sunderland and the household included three visitors, a housemaid, a cook and a nurse.

At some time Edward spent two years in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and also worked as a bank clerk. When he left for Canada on 17 September 1911 he sailed from Glasgow, Lanarkshire to Quebec on board the SS Cassandra. The manifest lists him as making for Manitoba and a job as a bank clerk. Four years later, he was working in a bank but in Calgary, Alberta.

When he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in Macleod, Alberta on 2 March 1915 Edward gave his father in Sunderland as his next of kin. He mentioned his time in the army in England and became private 552541 in the 13th Canadian Mounted Rifles (CMR). A second attestation paper named Edward’s wife as his next of kin. This was signed after his marriage on 27 November 1915 to Jean Daisy Holm Adam and gave an address in Calgary. The 1916 census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta listed them couple as living in Medicine Hat, Alberta although Edward was marked as being a soldier overseas.

By 6 July 1916 Edward was in England based at Shorncliffe Camp in Kent. Later that month he was transferred to the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) Depot . He was posted to their pay office before being seconded to the main Canadian Pay Office in Horseferry Road, London. February 1917 saw private 552541 Bell at Seaford Camp, East Sussex and the following month he was posted to France with the PPCLI.

It was during the fighting at Passchendaele, on 31 October 1917, that Edward was wounded. The report of his wounding changed at the beginning of December to “killed in action”. The Circumstances of Casualty report reads “this soldier last seen taking cover in a shell hole within 50 yards of the pill box, which was used as number one company HQ. No details relative to the actual circumstances of death are available”. Edward Crosby Bell is one of the many names on the Menin Gate war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown.

Edward never lived to see his son Ian Henry Bell who was born in 1916. Ian also died a tragic death as he was the pilot of a Trans Canada Airlines plane involved in a mid air collision in April 1954 that killed everyone on board the two aircraft and a woman on the ground below. At the time it was the worst aviation accident in Canada.

Civil Parish: Sunderland

Birth date: 05-Nov-1888

Death date: 31-Oct-1917

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: North Cliff, Roker Terrace, Sunderland (1891 census)
1342 16th Avenue West, Calgary, Alberta, Canada (1915 enlistment papers)
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada (1916 census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan & Alberta)

Religion: Methodist

Employment: Bank clerk (1915 enlistment papers)

Family: Parents: John Henry Bell, Anne Maria Violetta Bell nee Jerome
Siblings: Philip Jerome Bell, Kathleen Bell, Florence Violet Bell, Eleanor Bell
Spouse: Jean Daisy Holm Bell nee Adam
Children: Ian Henry Bell

Military service:

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (pre-war)
552541
Private
13th Canadian Mounted Rifles
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry

Memorial(s): Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium

Gender: Male

Contributed by Jayell, Durham