Sergeant David Bell, M.M. and Bar

Sergeant David Bell, 21st ( Eastern Ontario ) Battalion, Canadian Infantry, M.M and Bar. He was killed in action in France on the 27th August 1918, aged 31, during the ” Advance to Victory”. He had been born in Galashiels in 1887 and was the son of the late George and Mary Bell of Galashiels and is buried in Wancourt British Cemetery, France. In 1901 he had been living with two of his sisters in Selkirk and by 1911 he had emigrated to Canada where he was employed as an electric crane operator He married Annie Bell of Port Hope , Ontario in 1912 and enlisted in Kingston, Ontario in November 1914. He was awarded his first Military Medal in December 1916, promoted Corporal in October 1917, awarded a second Military Medal in April 1918 and promoted Sergeant in August 1918. The photographs show Allied troops advancing after the retreating Germans during the final 100 days of the War.