Description
Object description
Notebook (91pp) containing ms transcriptions of 33 letters, 7 November 1913 - 19 April 1918, written to his brother and 142 ms letters, 14 December 1917 - 22 August 1918, written to his parents whilst serving as a Chaplain to the 3/22nd Battalion London Regiment in the UK (August 1916 - December 1917), then the 22nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers (January 1918) and the 1st Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment (March 1918), on the Western Front (99th Brigade, 2nd Division), describing his clerical duties, applying to work abroad, the influence of the Church on children's education, his disappointment at the few troops attending church in Britain and his delight at much larger congregations in France, the destruction of French towns and villages and the makeshift churches at the front, encountering gas attacks, ministering to the wounded and trying to boost the morale of troops during fighting, his concern that some Chaplains do not know how to successfully minister to the troops, advising his brother about serving in France, the German Spring Offensive of 1918 and winning an MC; together with 11 ms letters and a telegram, August - September 1918, from others offering condolences to his mother after he was killed in action on 23 August; 2 photographs of him in uniform; a ts congratulatory card (1p) from Major General C E Pereira, OC 2nd Division, relating to Bell's work on 23 March 1918; a ts letter, 1 November 1918, awarding him the Military Cross; and a ts letter, 20 October 1919, giving the location of his grave in France.
Content description
Notebook (91pp) containing ms transcriptions of 33 letters, 7 November 1913 - 19 April 1918, written to his brother and 142 ms letters, 14 December 1917 - 22 August 1918, written to his parents whilst serving as a Chaplain to the 3/22nd Battalion London Regiment in the UK (August 1916 - December 1917), then the 22nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers (January 1918) and the 1st Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment (March 1918), on the Western Front (99th Brigade, 2nd Division), describing his clerical duties, applying to work abroad, the influence of the Church on children's education, his disappointment at the few troops attending church in Britain and his delight at much larger congregations in France, the destruction of French towns and villages and the makeshift churches at the front, encountering gas attacks, ministering to the wounded and trying to boost the morale of troops during fighting, his concern that some Chaplains do not know how to successfully minister to the troops, advising his brother about serving in France, the German Spring Offensive of 1918 and winning an MC; together with 11 ms letters and a telegram, August - September 1918, from others offering condolences to his mother after he was killed in action on 23 August; 2 photographs of him in uniform; a ts congratulatory card (1p) from Major General C E Pereira, OC 2nd Division, relating to Bell's work on 23 March 1918; a ts letter, 1 November 1918, awarding him the Military Cross; and a ts letter, 20 October 1919, giving the location of his grave in France.
History note
Cataloguer JHK
History note
Catalogue date 2007-11-13