award of the Victoria Cross (VC). The VC, instituted in 1856, was the highest award for valour that could be bestowed on a soldier of the British Empire. The citation for his VC read as follows: Bell's body was never recovered so he had no known grave. Instead, his name is listed on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, which was established near Thiepval in Picardy. His brothers survived the war, although both had been wounded, and his parents died soon after the end of the war. There are several memorials to Bell's memory; he is listed on the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers memorial in Belfast, the King's Garden Memorial in Bootle, and the War Memorial in Enniskillen. There is also a plaque on the former family home in Liverpool as well as a blue plaque on the house he was born in, 1 Alma Terrace, in Enniskillen. Victoria Cross King George V presented Bell's VC to his father on 29 November 1916, in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The VC was later in the possession of his sister, who had emigrated in New Zealand in 1933. The sister also had possession of his 1914–15 Star but the whereabouts of his British War Medal and Victory Medal are not known. In 1999, a relative, Air Marshal Sir Richard Bolt, formerly New Zealand's Chief of Defence Staff, offered the VC to the museum of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. It was presented to the museum in February 2001, where it is now displayed. Notes References Further reading External links Liverpool Institute Association 1895 births 1916 deaths Irish Battle of the Somme recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers officers People from Enniskillen British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme British Army personnel of World War I British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Irish World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Military personnel from County Fermanagh