BELL, Irwin McKay
(Service number 18389)
| First Rank | Trooper | Last Rank | Trooper |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 26 October 1890 | Place of Birth | Hook, Waimate |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Hook, Waimate | ||
| Occupation | Farmer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | |||
| Next of Kin | W. H. BELL (brother), Waimate | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 20th Reinforcements, New Zealand Mounted Rifles | ||
| Date | 14 December 1916 | ||
| Transport | Moeraki; transferred to Mooltan at Sydney | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Suez, Egypt | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Canterbury Regiment | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 19 July 1952 | Age | 61 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Timaru | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Geraldine Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Irwin McKay Bell, known as Mac, was born on 26 October 1890 at Hook, Waimate, the fourth son of Robert and Robina (formerly Johnston, née McKay) Bell. His parents farmed “Minniemoore” at Hook. His father died in 1902 and his mother, who was “well and widely known for her hospitality”, died unecpectedly in 1913. When Mac enlisted, he was farming at Hook and named his oldest brother, William Henry Bell, as next-of-kin. He did have an older half-brother, Alexander Johnston.
Trooper I. McK. Bell, 18389, 20th Reinforcements, was reported in Casualty List No. 823/8 on 7 April 1918. I. McK. Bell, 18389, returned to New Zealand from Egypt, in a draft of 1095, per the “Ulimaroa”, which was due at Auckland on 6 August 1919. He married Annie Cromie on 31 March 1920 at Waihao Downs. His younger brother, Stanley Ferguson Bell, was killed in action in France in 1917, and an older brother, Robert Alfred Bell, also served in World War One.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [29 October 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [09 November 2020]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [09 November 2020]; Geraldine Cemetery headstone image & burial records (Timaru District Council) [09 November 2020]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry,com,au) [09 November 2020]; Press, 13 November 1913, NZ Times, 31 July 1919, Timaru Herald, 8 May 1920 (Papers Past) [29 October 2020; 09 November 2020]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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