Not Forgotten

The Bell Boys of Kangaroo Ground – WW1

By Gayle Thwaites

As a parent how does one sign a piece of paper authorizing the government to allow their son to be part of the AIF, how does one hand over a life to be used as a tool to fight somebody else’s war. I don’t know where my great great grandparents, John and Elizabeth Bell found the courage to allow a third son Jim to join the Empire Forces of World War One, especially after one son had already been killed and another son was somewhere in that mystical place of Europe. This is the story of three brothers-

Private John Charlton, Lieutenant William Rogerson and Private James Gladstone Bell.

John and Elizabeth Bell were second-generation Scottish settlers who lived at ‘Violet Bank’ in Kangaroo Ground.  They had six sons John, Frank, Roger, Alan, Colin, Jim and two daughters Maggie and Nettie.[1]  The Bell family was a farming one and the children were instilled with a very strong Presbyterian faith[2] which would be of great comfort in the times ahead.

Their eldest son John, a dairy farmer, was an older recruit at 27 years old when he joined the 24^th Battalion 13^th Reinforcement. He enlisted on the 1^st February 1916 and left Melbourne on the 28^th July 1916 aboard the HMAT A32 Themistocles, which arrived in Plymouth, England nearly forty days later.[3] Before his departure, the township of Yarra Glen held a farewell social which included singing and dancing to send John and some other local boys off.  John was presented with a fountain pen and his favourite younger sister, Nettie, had the pleasure of singing as part of the night’s entertainment.[4]

After nearly a year on the front line as part of the reinforcement with the Australian 2^nd Division, amazingly John had no recorded injuries.[5] John’s time as a solider was coming to an end. On the 4^th October 1917 the 24^th Battalion were part of the charge on Broodseinde – it was a ten-kilometre front line, and the Australian’s were in the middle flanked on either side by British troops.[6] Whilst the Australian’s managed to take the ground from the Germans, John unfortunately was killed on this day.  How does fate decide that this was the day John Charlton Bell would take his last breath in this world…?  John’s body was taken to Passchendaele New British Cemetery to be buried.  At a later date it was exhumed then reinterred at position XIII C 9,[7] where he shall remain for eternity, so far away from his beloved Yarra Valley.

The ‘Pink’ telegram[8] arrives at the Bell household in Kangaroo Ground letting Elizabeth and John know their first born son has been killed, you can only imagine the grief they both felt and they would be praying that their other son Roger was safe and out of harms’ way.

The loss of a beloved first son was hard on the Bell family; they are only left- a wallet, notebooks, letters and religious books plus memories.[9] John Senior ensured that John was remembered in both of his communities and the churches of Yarra Glen and Kangaroo Ground. In October 1918, John Senior presented to both the Yarra Glen and the Kangaroo Ground Presbyterian Church parishes, a memorial tablet – “In loving memory of Lance Corporal John Charlton Bell, Killed in Action, Broodseinde Ridge – Belgium, 4^th October 1917, Thy Will Be Done, Erected by His Parents”.[10] This also ensures that each Sunday, John will be with his family who attended services at either of the churches. John and Elizabeth also help the Kangaroo Ground community welcome home other local soldiers and they assisted with the fundraising for the Memorial Tower at ‘Garden Hill’.[11] John also makes a personal contribution of 5 Pounds to the Tower fund.[12] After retiring, to Yarra Glen in 1928[13] John Senior still continued attending both Anzac Day services at Kangaroo Ground and Yarra Glen to honor his fallen son. [14][15]

William Rogerson “Roger” Bell, John and Elizabeth’s third son,[16] enlisted in May 1916 at 23 years of age[17], just as his older brother departs for the front line. Like his brother, Roger is also a farmer, who had just recently moved to Stony Creek – Gippsland from the Yarra Valley. His fate was different from his older brother and he joined the 15^th Machine Gun Company 4^th Reinforcement. Roger departed from Melbourne on the 16^th August, on board the RMS Orontes.[18] On arriving in England, his company was transferred to Machine Gun Training Depot at Grantham and does not go to the front in France until the 1^st February 1917.

Roger was shot in the left knee on the 10^th May and was transferred to the War Hospital in Croydon – England to recover. Whilst recovering he was selected to join the Cadet Officer training program and so began his training at Cambridge in January 1918.  He was appointed to a 2^nd Lieutenant on the 1^st August 1918 and was transferred to the 5^th Machine Gun Battalion in France.[19] The 5^th Machine Gun Battalion formed part of the Australian 5^th Division, which played a major part in forcing the Germans to retreat back to the Somme in September 1918. They then assisted the American’s with the Hindenburg Line, until they were relieved by the 2^nd Division and withdrawn to the coast where Roger would stay for the rest of the war.[20]

Roger, was finally welcomed home by his parents on Monday 15^th December 1919, the day he actually arrived back from Europe. John and Elizabeth had gathered their family and friends to celebrate his return. The barn at ‘Violet Bank’ was decorated with flags and evergreens. The family celebrated with dancing, singing and recitations. The festivities go on into the long hours and supper was provided for all.[21] They have their son back!

You have to admire the strength of both Elizabeth and John when they signed papers in 1918 to allow James Gladstone “Jim” Bell, their 6th son, who was only 19 years of age, to join the AIF. Like his older brothers, Jim was also a farmer who resided in Yarra Glen when he enlisted. The government by this time had realised that soldiers had been lying about their ages and parents / guardians actually had to sign consent forms and they needed to verify their birth dates.[22] Jim’s parents signed this form on 21^st August 1918 and he began his army training at Broadmeadows on the 1^st October 1918.

Like his brother two years prior, Jim was given a community farewell at the Yarra Glen Presbyterian Church morning service on the 25^th October. Jim was a former choir singer and a regular congregation member.  Together with his mate Gordon Smedley they were presented with a fountain pen each. Unlike last time though, prayers were said to the fallen and a family mourned the loss of a son and they prayed the same fortune did not lie ahead for young Jim.  Fortunately, for Jim he never left Australia this time – World War 2 is another chapter in this family story. Jim only served 130 days, where he had passed his training to be a member of the Light horse Brigade and had volunteered to serve in Egypt. [23]

How does a parent ever overcome the grief of losing a son or daughter, is this why my great great grandfather John Bell made the journey each Anzac Day to attend both services at Yarra Glen and Kangaroo Ground? Was it to say I don’t forget and I always will remember no matter where I am? Your home is always here in the Yarra Valley John Charlton Bell – you are not forgotten: you may be one of many that perished on that Western Front in France but you will always be in our heart and prayers.

Lest We Forget.

Private John Charlton Bell – 24^th Battalion, 13^th Reinforcement, Regimental No. 4976

Lieutenant William Rogerson Bell – 5^th Machine Gun Battalion, Regimental No. 321

Private James Gladstone Bell – Training Depot Broadmeadows, Regimental No. 80033

Note – To this day nobody knows why ‘Lance Corporal” was written on J C Bell Memorial Tablet’s: it is incorrect as John was only a Private, it’s a mystery that may never be solved.

Sources:

Family Records provided by Jenny Anderson & Bill White

Photos:

Studio Portraits provided by Jenny Anderson

Map of Broodseinde from AWM –

HMAT A32 Themistocles leaving from Melbourne from AWM –

John Bell (Shire of Eltham Councillor 1914) from Yarra Plenty Regional Library. A number of photos of the Bell Family are held in the Pioneers of Eltham Photograph collection held in partnership with Yarra Plenty Regional Library and Eltham District Historical Society

Picture of Elizabeth Bell provided by Gayle Thwaites

Kangaroo Ground Memorial Tower provided by Gayle Thwaites

John C. Bell Grave – Passchendaele New British Cemetery XIII C 9

Works Cited:

Advertiser Hurstbridge, 1923.

Advertiser Hurstbridge, 1926.

Advertiser Hurstbridge, 1928.

Anon., n.d. AIF Nominal Roll. s.l.:Australian War Memorial.

Anon., n.d. Encyclopaedia of Yarra Glen and district-Presbyterian Church.

Anon., n.d. National Archives of Australia.

Anon., n.d. The Long Long Trail.

Australian War Records, n.d. Your Story, Our History.

Bell, J., n.d. John Bell’s Army Diary. s.l.:s.n.

Dean, A. & Gutteridge, E. W., n.d. The Seventh Battalion A.I.F. East Sussex: The Naval & Military Press.

Eltham and Whittlesea Shires Advertiser and Diamond Creek Valley Advocate, 1919.

Eltham and Whittlesea Shires Advertiser and Diamond Creek Valley Advocate, 1919. Trove: Digitised Newspapers and more.

Evelyn and South and East Bourke Record, 1901.

Evelyn Observer and Bourke East Record, 1916. Trove Digitised Newspapers and more.

Jackson, V., 1983. Family Story: The Bells of Scotland, Kangaroo Ground and Yarra Flats. Albury  (Victoria): Wilkinson Printers.

National Archives of Australia, n.d. Discovering our Anzacs.

Records, D. S., n.d. John Charlton Bell. Canberra(Australian Capital Territory): National Archives of Australia.

The Eltham and Whittlesea Shires Advertiser and Diamond Creek Valley Advocate, 1918. National Archives of Australia. [Online]

Unknown, n.d. Australian War Memorial: Collections. [Online]

White, B., n.d. The Bell Family [Interview] n.d.

This story was first published in “Fine Spirit and Pluck: World War One Stories from Banyule, Nillumbik and Whittlesea” published by Yarra Plenty Regional Library, August 2016