Robert Francis Bell

Born in 1867 in Sandhoe, Northumberland and educated at Sandhurst, he joined the DLI as a Second Lieutenant in 1888. He served during the Boer War as a Captain, taking part in the Relief of Ladysmith, including the battles at Colenso, Vaal Krantz and Pieter's Hill, and throughout the guerilla war in the Transvaal until February 1902. He was Mentioned in Despatches in September 1901. He retired in 1913 as a Major, but was re-employed during the First World War with 14 DLI and 16 DLI. Robert Bell died at Bedale in 1935.