Our soldier's stories -1

Born in Harrogate in 1890, Donald Simpson Bell was the first professional footballer to enlist in the British Army when he joined the West Yorkshire Regiment in 1915.
 

On 5 July 1916, at Horseshoe Trench in the Somme, Bell defeated a heavy attack by creeping up a trench, sprinting across the no-man’s land under very heavy fire and attacking the machine gun, as well as shooting the firer and destroying guns and enemy soldiers with bombs. His act saved many lives and saw him receive the Victoria Cross in the village of Contalmaison. Only five days later, a similar act of bravery resulted in Bell’s death. He is buried at Ovillers-la-Boisselle.