John Edward Bell and Alexander Law Bell
where the sons of Edward and Mary Bell of Ngaruawahia. John was a
bushman and Alexander a drover before enlisting, they embarked together
on 17 April 1915 from Wellington with the field artillery as part of
the 4th Reinforcements.
Both
served during the Gallipoli Campaign where Alexander was struck down
with Diphtheria: after several weeks of treatment in the Middle East he
was sent back to New Zealand at the end September 1915. Shortly after his
departure his brother John was wounded on 4 October 1915 he recovered and
after Gallipoli went on to France with the rest of the New Zealand
Expeditionary Force. Back in New Zealand Alexander enlisted again in
May 1917 and embarked for the second time with the 32nd Reinforcements,
New Zealand Field Artillery (NZFA) on 21 November 1917.
Sadly
before Alexander was able to be reunited with his brother at the Front
John was killed in action in Belgium on 17 June 1917, he was 27 years
old and is buried at Strand Military Cemetery, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium.
The death of his brother would no doubt have been on Alexander's mind
as he arrived at the Front. Just over a year later Alexander
himself died of his wounds on 9 August 1918 in France. His age at death
is recorded as 21 years on his CWGC (Commonwealth Grave Commission)
entry. I checked to see when Alexander's birth was registered which it
was in 1897, if this was the year he was born it would have meant
he was only 17/18 years old when he enlisted. Alexander is buried at Couin New British Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France.
The
story of two brothers enlisting together and not returning is sadly not
a unique one on the: Ngaruawahia memorial alone there are five sets of
brothers recorded who gave their lives.
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