Donald Simpson Bell

Second Lieutenant Donald Simpson Bell, VC (3 December 1890 – 10 July 1916) was an English school teacher and professional footballer. During World War I he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for actions during the Battle of the Somme in mid-1916, becoming the only English professional football player to be awarded the VC. A noted sportsman at college, he played as an amateur with Crystal Palace and later for Newcastle United. He returned to Harrogate and became a schoolteacher at Starbeck Council School (now Starbeck Primary School) and a member of the National Union of Teachers. To supplement his salary, in 1912 he signed professional forms with Bradford (Park Avenue). He played 6 games for the club as a defender or midfielder between 1912 and 1914.

World War I When World War I broke out, he became the first professional footballer to enlist into the British Army – joining the West Yorkshire Regiment in 1915. He was promoted to Lance Corporal and then commissioned into the 9th Battalion, Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales' Own Yorkshire Regiment), going to France in November 1915. While on leave in June 1916 he married Rhoda Margaret before returning to the front. After being in reserve for the opening of the battle of the Somme, the 9th battalion were ordered into the front line on 5 July.

Describing the deed in a letter to his parents, Bell stated that "I must confess that it was the biggest fluke alive and I did nothing. I only chucked one bomb, but it did the trick". His Victoria Cross was formerly displayed at the Green Howards Museum in Richmond, Yorkshire. On 25 November 2010 it was auctioned by London medal specialists, Spink. It was purchased for a reported £210,000 by the Professional Footballers' Association and is on display at the National Football Museum in Manchester.

Legacy On 9 July 2000, through the initiative of "The Friends of the Green Howards Museum", General The Lord Dannatt, then Colonel of the regiment unveiled a memorial dedicated to Bell on the spot where he lost his life at Contalmaison, now known as Bell's Redoubt. The event was covered by television and every year since then a small service has been held there. In 2010, the tenth anniversary of the unveiling was celebrated and in 2016, at Bell's Redoubt, with a much improved memorial, there was scheduled to be a remembrance service on the hundredth anniversary of Bell's heroism.. There is a memorial plaque to him in Wesley Methodist Church, Harrogate, where he was a Sunday School Teacher. There is also a memorial window to him in the chapel of Westminster College, Oxford - which was transferred from the previous college site in London, where Bell trained.

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