The AIF Project

Patrick Thomas BELL

Regimental number787
Place of birthBailieborough, Cavan, Ireland
Age on arrival in Australia20
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationSeaman
Addressc/o Mrs Daisy May Bell, Government Hospital, Albany, Western Australia
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation25
Height5' 8.5"
Weight154 lbs
Next of kinSister, Mrs Daisy May Bell, May Street, Bayswater, Western Australia
Previous military serviceHad served in the Irish Fusiliers, British Army.
Enlistment date3 March 1915
Place of enlistmentBlackboy Hill, Western Australia
Rank on enlistmentSergeant
Unit name28th Battalion, B Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/45/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A11 Ascanius on 29 June 1915
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board HMAT A36 Thirty Six on 12 July 1916
Rank from Nominal RollLieutenant
Unit from Nominal Roll28th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularName given on RoH Circulars as Patrick Thomas Clark BELL.
FateKilled in Action 29 July 1917
Place of death or woundingPozi?res, France
Date of death29 July 1917
Age at death26
Age at death from cemetery records26
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
112
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

Embarked Fremantle on HMAT 'Ascanius', 29 June 1915.

Embarked Alexandria on HMT 'Ivernia' and proceeded to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, 4 September 1915; to be 2nd Lieutenant, 3 November 1915; disembarked Alexandria from HMT 'Ansonia', 10 January 1916 (general Gallipoli evacuation).

Embarked Alexandria and proceeded to join the British Expeditionary Force, 16 March 1916; disembarked Marseilles, 21 March 1916; to be Lieutenant, 30 June 1916.

Killed in action, 29 July 1916.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, BELL Patrick Thomas

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