Selected Biographies

Bell, Albert James – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 25.12.1889.[1]  Parents: Samuel James Bell (Innkeeper) and Alice Emily [née Barber].  Family Connections: Nephew of Harry Bell [b1856]; also, cousin of George Harry Bell [b1879], Robert James Bell [b1881], Percy Alfred Bell [b1884], James Bell [b1895] and Clarence William Bell [b1893].  Home: White Hart Inn, St Marys Street, Long Melford (1891 and 1901), Paper Mill Lane, Claydon, Suffolk (1911), Green Dragon Hotel, Sudbury, Suffolk [1915 to 1918].  Occupation: Upholsterer (1911).  Service Record: Attested as Pte.3/9946[2] with 9^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, posted to France near Bethune from 30.8.1915 as part of 71^st Brigade, 24^th Division.  A month later Albert’s division saw fierce action at The Battle of Loos and the following year at the Battles of Flers-Courcelette and Morval in September, during the Somme Offensive, and in November 1917 at Cambrai.  Albert Bell, together with many other men from the Battalion were transferred on 5.2.1918 to 11^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolks.  In March and April his new battalion was to make a series of fighting withdrawals under the full weight of the German Spring Offensive, losing hundreds of men in the process.  In May 11^th Suffolks was transferred to the command of 61^st [2^nd South Midland] Division’s 183^rd Brigade, moving from the area of the Arras, north towards Valenciennes.  By the middle of summer, the tide had turned in the Allies favour and in late October 11^th Suffolks threw its weight behind the victory at the Battle of the Selle.[3]  Died: Private Bell died of wounds on 8.11.1918, three short days before the Armistice came into force.  The unit’s War Diary records that the last casualties it sustained was when a high-explosive shell scored a direct hit on battalion headquarters at Larblin, six miles south of Valenciennes, on 30.10.1918.  It may well have been here that Albert received his fatal wounds.  He is buried in St. Sever Cemetery Extension [grave ref: S.III.X.16], Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France and commemorated on the War Memorial in Sudbury, Suffolk.[4]

Bell, Clarence William James – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 15.3.1893.[5]  Parents: Ernest Edward Bell (Landlord of the Half Moon Inn) and Laura [née Sparrow].  Family Connections: Nephew of Harry Bell [b1856]; also, cousin of George Harry Bell [b1879], Robert James Bell [b1881], Percy Alfred Bell [b1884], James Bell [b1895] and Albert James Bell [b1890].  Home: The Half Moon, Gregory Street, Sudbury (1901), Dettingen Barracks, Blackdown, Frimley, Surrey (1911).  Occupation: Iron Moulder [1909].  Service Record: Clarence enlisted in 1909 as Pte.9626 with 2^nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, part of 16^th Brigade, 6^th Division stationed in Ireland.  On 8.9.1914 his unit formed part of the contingent sent to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force making its fighting retreat from the Belgian town of Mons.[6]  Died: Private Bell was recorded as missing presumed killed in action on 23.10.1914 and is commemorated on Ploegsteert Memorial [panel 8], Hainaut, Belgium and the War Memorial in Sudbury, Suffolk.[7]

Bell, Ellen – Born: Long Melford on 2.7.1914.[8]  Parents: Robert James Bell (Plumber) [for military details see below] and Ivy [née Crane].  Family Connections: Niece of George Harry Bell [b1879], Percy Alfred Bell [b1884] and James Bell [b1895].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1921), 32 New Town Road, Colchester, Essex (1939).  Occupation: Elementary School Teacher (1939).  Married: Cecil Kenneth Simmons in 1945.  Service Record: Ellen was a member the Signals Branch of ‘H’ Company, 10^th Battalion, Suffolk Home Guard.  Her name is recorded in the official tribute to the organization entitled The Lion Roared his Defiance, photographed in and around Long Melford in 1944.[9]   Died: Glamorgan, Wales in 2007.[10] 

Bell, George Harry – Born: Clare, Suffolk on 15.9.1879.[11][12]  Parents: Harry Bell [see above for details] (Plumber and House Painter) and Susannah Mary [née Wood].  Family Connections: Brother to Robert James Bell [b1881], Bertie William Bell [b1882], Percy Alfred Bell [b1884] and James Bell [b1895]; also, uncle of Ellen Bell [b1914], cousin of Albert James Bell [b1889] and Clarence William Bell [b1893], and brother-in-law of Ernest Charles Markby [b1884].  Home: 88 Melbourne Road, Tottenham, London (1881), Hall Street, Long Melford (1891 and 1901), Park Cottage, High Street, Long Melford (1911 to 1921), Hall Street, Long Melford (1939).  Occupation: Plumber and Painter (1901), Horsehair Factory Manager (1911), Master Plumber and Decorator (1939).  Married: Nellie Bear in 1905 (served as a nurse with the Voluntary Aid Detachment during the Second World War).  Service Record: A member of the Cyclist Company, 2^nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment in 1902.  In 1908 he served as CSM.138 in ‘C’ Company, 5^th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment [Territorial].  In 1914 as Regimental Sergeant Major of 1/5^th Battalion, Suffolks he was posted on 10.8.1915 to Suvla Bay, Gallipoli.  Within hours of landing his unit was moved forward into frontline trenches on the south face of a steep and rocky hill called Karakol Dagh.  At dawn two days later the Suffolks and the three other untested battalions of 163^rd Brigade were ordered to secure the heights to the east.  Advancing nearly a mile through a hail of Turkish artillery and machine gun fire, by the end of the day the enemy had been held at bay and a secure forward defence line established.  When Bertie and the other men were finally relieved by fresh troops after three gruelling days, they were found in a sorry state, having baked under the searing heat they had run desperately short of drinking water and been plagued by swarms of flies attracted by the dead and dying around them. When the Roll was called it was found the Suffolks alone had lost 186 men either dead or wounded with a further 150 laid low by dysentery.[13]  At the baptism of his son in 1917 he is recorded as the RSM of 1/1^st Nottingham Yeomanry [South Nottinghamshire Hussars].[14]  His Medal Roll and Medal Index Card show that he was also transferred as N^o. 281575 to 1/1^st Royal North Devonshire Yeomanry.[15]  All units served in Gallipoli, Egypt, and Palestine.  George was discharged in May 1920.[16]  In 1922 George is recorded as a committee member of the Long Melford Ex-Service Men’s Club and from 1951 as Warden of Holy Trinity Hospital.  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk on 2.3.1970.[17]

Bell, Harry – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk in 1856.  Parents: James Bell (Police Constable) and Mahala [née Jarvis].  Family Connections: Father of George Harry Bell [b1879], Robert James Bell [b1881], Percy Alfred Bell [b1884] and James Bell [b1895]; also, uncle of Albert James Bell [b1890] and Clarence William Bell [b1893], and father-in-law of Ernest Charles Markby [b1884].  Home: 3 New Road, Sudbury, Suffolk (1861), 69 Melford Road, Sudbury (1871), 88 Melbourne Road, Tottenham, London (1881), Hall Street, Long Melford (1891) to [1922].  Occupation: House Painter (1871 and 1881), Plumber and House Painter (1891 to 1911), Builder [1916 to 1937], trading as H. Bell and Sons [1937].[18]  Married: Susannah Mary Wood in 1878.  Service Record: Harry was a founding committee member and Sergeant with the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps in 1915.[19]  He also acted as a canvasser for the village recruiting drives in December 1915 and 1917.  Died: Long Melford, Suffolk on 25.5.1922.

Bell, James – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 27.1.1895.[20]  Parents: Harry Bell [see above for details] (Plumber and House Painter) and Susannah Mary [née Wood].  Family Connections: Brother to George Harry Bell [b1879], Robert James Bell [b1881], Bertie William Bell [b1882] and Percy Alfred Bell [b1884]; also, cousin of Albert James Bell [b1889] and Clarence William Bell [b1893], and bother-in-law of Ernest Charles Markby [b1884].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1901), living with Stephen Langton (uncle) at 53 Market Street, Watford, Hertfordshire (1911), Hall Street, Long Melford (1939).  Married: Winifred Tripp in 1918.[21]  Occupation: Motor Engineer (1911 to 1939).  Service Record: James enlisted on 19.2.1915 as Private, later Sergeant Fitter N^o. M2/049560 with the Army Service Corps, being posted to France from 6.7.1915 to 7.8.1916 with 177^th [Mechanical Transport] Company, ASC, as part of 15^th Divisional Supply Column, where his unit was involved in bringing forward supplies during the Battle of Loos in 1915 and the Somme Offensive the following year.  He returned to England in August 1916 returning to France with 916^th [MT] Company, ASC from 1.4.1917 to 3.4.1918.  The rest of his career up to his discharge in February 1920 appears to have been served in England.[22]

Bell, Percy Alfred – Born: Sudbury, Suffolk on 8.11.1884.[23]  Parents: Harry Bell [see above for details] (Plumber and House Painter) and Susannah Mary [née Wood].  Family Connections: Brother to George Harry Bell [b1879], Robert James Bell [b1881], Bertie William Bell [b1882] and Percy Alfred Bell [b1884]; also, cousin of Albert James Bell [b1889] and Clarence William Bell [b1893], and bother-in-law of Ernest Charles Markby [b1884].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1891), living with Ernest Edward Bell (Uncle) at The Half Moon, Gregory Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1901), lodging with Arthur Cheverton at 8 Rowley Lane, Kelvedon, Essex (1911), emigrated to the USA [1912], 141 West End Avenue, Brighampton City, New York [1918].  Occupation: Draper’s Assistant (1901), Butcher (1911), Leather Cutter [1912], Shoe Factory Worker [1918].  Married: Ethel Grout in 1916.  Service Record: Percy completed a US military Draft Registration, it is not known however, whether he was called for active service.[24]  Died: Johnson City, New York in 1921.[25]

Bell, Robert James – Born: Tottenham, Middlesex on 18.5.1881.[26]  Parents: Harry Bell of Long Melford [see above for details] (Plumber and House Painter) and Susannah Mary [née Wood].  Family Connections: Father to Ellen Bell [b1914] and brother of George Harry Bell [b1879], Percy Alfred Bell [b1884] and James Bell [b1895]; also, cousin of Albert James Bell [b1889] and Clarence William Bell [b1893], and bother-in-law of Ernest Charles Markby [b1884].  Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1891 to 1939), Barton Court, Minster, Isle of Sheppey, Kent [1974].  Occupation: Plumber and Painter (1901), Plumber (1911), Taxi Driver (1939).  Married: Ivy Crane [d1959] in 1909 and Daisy Winifred Cork in 1962.  Service Record: Robert enlisted in 1899 as Pte.4944 with 7^th [Queen’s Own] Hussars, being discharged in 1900 as ‘medically unfit’.  He re-enlisted on 31.8.1914 as Pte.3/9654, later of 3^rd [Reserve] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, transferring as Pte.47310 to 8^th [Service] Battalion, Suffolks, then on 12.7.1915 to 10^th [Reserve] Battalion, Suffolks and finally on 1.9.1916 as Pte.TR/9/4055 to 26^th [Training Reserve] Battalion.[27]  Died: Isle of Sheppey, Kent on 26.4.1974.[28]

Related Biography

Markby, Ernest Charles – Born: Bournemouth, Hampshire on 11.6.1884.[29]  Parents: Henry Markby (Cabman) and Emily [née Dickenson].  Family Connections: Son-in-law of Harry Bell [b1856]; also, brother-in-law of George Harry Bell [b1879], Robert James Bell [b1881], Percy Alfred Bell [b1884] and James Bell [b1895].  Home: 2 Purbeck Terrace, Bournemouth, Hampshire (1891), Surrey Villas, North Lodge Road, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset (1901 and 1911), Hall Street, Long Melford [1913 to 1917], Rhossilly, 40 Queens Road, Poole, Dorset [1928 to 1931],[30] Bridge House, St Osmunds Road, Parkstone, Poole (1939) to [1963].  Occupation: Carpenter and Joiner (1901 and 1911), Builder and Contractor (1939).  Married: Kate Ethel Bell of Long Melford in 1913.  Service Record: Prior his conscription on 9.12.1915 as Spr.170094 with the Royal Engineers, Ernest spent three years in the Royal Field Artillery Territorials.  He was posted to France from 7.1.1917 to 31.10.1917 as Pte.24/47883 to 24^th [Service] Battalion [1^st Tyneside Irish], Northumberland Fusiliers, being posted to France from 7.1.1917 as part of 103^rd Brigade, 34^th Division.  From March the Battalion was entrenched near Arras, taking part in the First Battle of the Scarpe on 9.4.1917.  Private Markby contracted trench fever in May 1917 and was sent to N^o. 26 General Hospital at Étaples for several months of treatment.  In his absence his unit had amalgamated with 27^th Battalion, a sister unit from the same Regiment.  He returned to the Front on 23.8.1917, serving briefly with 24^th/27^th Battalion, before joining 20^th [Service] Battalion [1^st Tyneside Scottish], Northumberland Fusiliers at the end of the month, as a stretcher bearer.  His new battalion was manning an active sector area, 40 miles southeast of Arras, at Cologne Farm.  Casualties from trench raids and enemy shelling, from late August to the end of September, saw the loss of over 150 men to Ernest’s unit alone.  Markby was with this unit barely a month when he fell ill again, returning to England on 31.10.1917.[31]  His final move appears to have been to 3^rd [Reserve] Battalion based in Sunderland on 11.1.1918, being issued with a Silver War Badge on 24.8.1918 and discharged as ‘no longer physically fit for War Service’.[32]  During the Second World War he was a member of the Air Raid Precaution Casualty Service.  Died: Poole, Dorset on 19.2.1963.[33]

Notes – [1] Date of birth from Admission Register 6.1.1896, St Catherines Infants School, Long Melford. [2] The prefix ‘3’ to Albert Bell’s regimental number suggests that he served in 3^rd [Militia] Battalion, Suffolk Regiment before the Great War. [3] For details of 9^th and 11^th Suffolks movements see War Diaries [WO 95/1625/1] and [WO 95/2458/3 and WO 95/3062/2].  See also Murphy, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927 [London: Hutchinson and Co, 1928], pp.120-26, 194-99, 277-82 and 296-300.  Also see his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [4] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record, British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 796839]; also, his entry in the National Probate Calendar.  [5] Baptism Register 25.4.1893 for St Peters Church, Sudbury, Suffolk. [6] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [7] British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref: 252709] and Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.  [8] 1939 Register.  [9] Published by Marten & Son, Ltd., of Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk in 1946.  [10] My thanks to Ann Clegg for sharing the civilian portrait of Ellen.  [11] 1939 Register.  [12] 1939 Register. [13] For details of 1/5^th Suffolk’s movements in Gallipoli see War Diary [WO 95/4325] and Capt. A. Fair [mc] and Capt. E. D. Wolton [compiled by] “The Suffolk Regiment”: the history of the 1/5^th Battalion [London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1923], pp.13-37. [14] For his son’s Baptism see Register of Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [15] For details of 1/1^st Notts and Royal North Devons see War Diaries [WO 95/4405] and [WO 95/4446]. [16] Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [17] National Probate Calendar.  [18] For business details see Kelly’s Directory Suffolk 1916.  [19] Training Corps article see Bury Free Press 20.2.1915 and Suffolk and Essex Free Press 10.3.1915.  [20] 1939 Register.  [21] Spouse’s forename from the 1939 Register, however no definitive marriage record has been found. [22] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [23] Date of birth and address taken from his US Draft Card.  [24] United States World War I Draft Registration Card [ref: 3391].  [25] www.finda grave. com/memorial/57657404/percy-a-bell.  [26] 1939 Register. [27] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363].  [28] National Probate Calendar.  [29] 1939 Register. [30] Electoral Roll.  [31] For details of 24^th, 24^th/27^th and 20^th Battalion’s movements see War Diaries [WO 95/2466/2], [WO 95/2467/2] and [WO 95/2462/4].  [32] He is recorded as Ernest Markley [sic] on his Soldiers’ Documents and Pension Claims, First World War [WO 364].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War, Silver War Badge [WO 329] record [ref. 404294], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372]. [33] National Probate Calendar.