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Frederick William Bell VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Bell was born on 3 April 1875 in Perth, Western Australia he was the fist person born in Western Australia to received the Victoria Cross.
He was 26 years old, and a lieutenant in the West Australian Mounted Infantry, Australian Forces during the Second Boer War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
For many years the Queens & Kings South Africa medal pair awarded to Fred Bell were missing from his group. He had apparently sold these to raise beer money on a night out in Bristol in 1914. The two missing medals eventually turned up in the mid-1980s in Ormskirk, Lancashire. These were bought by Alan Thomas and via auction were reunited with the VC which was then with the family in Perth, Western Australia.
Frederick Bell died on 28 April 1954, and was buried in Canford Cemetery, Bristol, England. His Victoria Cross and the long lost Boer War campaign medals are now on display at the Western Australian Museum, Perth.
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