Corporal Frank Bell

Corporal Frank Bell, 1st/9th ( Highland ), Battalion, Royal Scots. He died from wounds in France, aged 26, on the 3rd November 1918. He had been born in Lazonby, Penrith and was the son of Robert and Helen Bell of The Club Rooms, Newcastleton. Before enlisting in September 1914 he had been employed as a gamekeeper at Spittalhaugh, West Linton. He originally joined the 2nd R.S. and was badly wounded in the leg in May 1915. He was wounded again in April 1918 and after recovery he returned to France but was gassed during the ” Advance to Victory” and died in the 15th Casualty Clearing Station. He is buried in Don Communal Cemetery, Annoeulin, France where his Headstone is inscribed “Till We Meet”. The 1st/9th Royal Scots was part of the 155th Brigade in the 51st ( Highland ) Division and after the War an impressive Memorial was raised in commemoration. It was erected overlooking “Y” Ravine on the Somme which was taken when the Division stormed the German fortress in Beaumont Hamel on the 13th November 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. A Plaque on the Memorial reads in both English and Gaelic ” Friends Are Good On The Day Of Battle”. The other photos show the Allies advancing after the retreating German army during the final 100 days of the War.