216943 Pte. John Bell British Army 10th Btn. Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) from:Dublin (d.1st Aug 1917) Jack Bell enlisted in Glasgow and was killed in action in Flanders aged 21. He was the son of the late Ellen Bell and the late Cpl. John Bell (5/7177. Royal Dublin Fusiliers), of 20, Quinn's Cottages, Dunne St., Dublin, formerly of 26 Corporation Street. He May have enlisted in the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers before the war. Jack is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.
Update: Pte. Bell was know as 'Jack', his real name being John. In early 1917 he enlists in Glasgow with the 3rd. btn of the Royal Scots and his service number is 38948. On arrival in France, he is assigned to the 11th Btn of the Royal Scots, but by July of that same year he is drafted to the 10th. Cameronians, and here he is given a new service number of 41614. His new unit were stationed in the Ypres area, and this was to be the last draft of men received by that unit before the battle in which Jack is killed.
In the June and July of that same year, The 10th Cameronians had seen heavy fighting and had taken raids on enemy trenches. There was a huge loss of men on both sides, but little ground gained. The battle had commenced on 31st July and was know as the Third Battle of Ypres. There had been strong enemy counter attacks and in less that 48 hours Jack's regiment had gone from 100 men to just 12. Jack was missing and his body never found, it was thought that he had been killed by artillery fire. He is remembered, with the thousands of other soldiers with no known grave, on the Menin Gate Memorial in Belgium.
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