The Bell-Irving Family
The Bell-Irving family descendants of Henry Bell-Irving, a Glasgow, Scotland, merchant. Bell-Irving resided in Milkbank, Dumfries County, and in 1851 he married Williamina McBean Irving. The couple had seven children, two of whom later established the family in Vancouver. The eldest son, Henry Ogle Bell-Irving (1856-1931) and his brother, Dr Duncan Bell-Irving, moved to Granville earlier in 1885. The family retained properties in Scotland, administered by a trust, later after the death of Henry Bell-Irving. Major Roderick Ogle Bell-Irving one of six sons of the Henry’s son, Henry Ogle Bell-Irving.
In Vancouver, Henry Ogle Bell-Irving went on to found and operate a number of prominent Vancouver businesses, including Anglo-British Columbia Packing Company and Bell-Irving Insurance. Dr Duncan Bell-Irving practiced medicine in Vancouver for many years. Then, in 1900 he joined his brother’s firm, H Bell-Irving Co Ltd.
Henry Ogle Bell-Irving
Henry Ogle Bell-Irving a native of Dumfries, Scotland. A Vancouver Alderman and Chairman of the Civic Board of Works, as well as President of the Board of Trade 1895-1896. But, best known as a prominent local businessman, co-founder of Bell-Irving and Paterson, and founder of H Bell-Irving Co Ltd, the Anglo-British Columbia Packing Company, and Bell-Irving Insurance Agency.
The Bell-Irving family lived in a large, rambling house, called “The Strands,” at 1210 Harwood Street in Vancouver.
Henry Ogle Bell-Irving trained as a civil engineer in Edinburgh, Scotland and Karlsruhe, Germany. He came to Canada in 1882, and his first employment as a surveying engineering on the Canadian Pacific Railway. Later in 1886, he returned to England and married Marie Isabella del Carmen Beattie (“Bella”), who returned to Canada with him.
Henry Beattie Bell-Irving DSC & Bar
First son, Henry Beattie Bell-Irving born 25 Mar 1887 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Husband of Annie Hilda (Pybus) Bell-Irving, married 25 Apr 1912 in Vancouver. Father of Henry Pybus Bell-Irving OC DSO OBE OBC ED CD.
Henry joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during the Great War, and given a commission as Sub-Lieutenant (Acting Lieutenant) on 8 December 1914. On 11 June 1917, in command of HM Drifter I.F.S. when she engaged five enemy seaplanes and destroyed two of them. For this action, Henry awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on 20 July. Awarded a bar to his DSC on 30 October 1917 in recognition of “gallantry when one of HM Minesweepers struck a mine”.
Henry died in Vancouver on 23 September 1959.
Lt-Col Richard Bell-Irving OBE
Second child and son, Richard Bell-Irving born 31 May 1888. On 27 June 1913, in Vancouver, Richard married Kathleen Hume Morris (born on June 30, 1885, in Hamilton, Ontario). Her parents Henry Hume Morris (1853-1936) and Fanny Louise Dewar (1850-1900). Henry Hume Morris the local superintendent of the branches of the Canadian Bank of Commerce. The Morris family lived at 1833 Haro Street.
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
Richard active in the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 11th C.M.R., and Canadian Railway Troops. During the war, he commanded an air training station for the Royal Flying Corps in Turnberry, Scotland, and later made a Commander in the Order of the British Empire.
After the war, Richard returned to Canada. He was involved with Vancouver sports, including golf and rugby. He worked with his father’s company, and he became the president of the company in 1931. From 1948 to 1950, Richard the chairman of the BC Division of the Canadian Manufacturers Association. Richard died in Vancouver on 29 April 1962. Kathleen died in Vancouver on 28 December 1969.
Nurse Isabel Bell-Irving
Third child, and first daughter, Isabel (Violet) Bell-Irving born 16 August 1889.
Married to Sedley Fleming Campbell Sweeny on 27 May 1915. Served as a nurse in Lady Ridley’s Hospital for wounded officers in London. Isabel died 29 October 1974.
Major Sedley Fleming Campbell Sweeny OBE
Major Sedley Fleming Campbell Sweeny born 15 October 1888. A stock-broker with 7 months previous service in the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders. Attested as a Lieutenant with the 11th Canadian Mounted Rifles. Promoted Captain on 27 March 1916. Transferred to 72nd Battalion, 31 July 1916.
Sweeny proceeded overseas, 12 August 1916. Wounded slightly by accident at duty, 8 September 1916 (GSW back/right shoulder). Discharged from hospital on 11 December 1916. Transferred to 5th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops, 1 February 1917. To be Adjutant and to be A/Major while so employed with effect from 21 June 1917. Demobilized 31 March 1919.
Sweeny died 22 November 1940. Buried at Fort Massey Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Roderick Ogle Bell-Irving MC DSO
Fourth child, and third son Roderick Ogle Bell-Irving born 15 January 1891 in Vancouver.
Bell-Irving, a clerk with the shipping and importing firm of Balfour, Guthrie and Company, part of the contingent of Seaforths who left Vancouver to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force being assembled at Valcartier, Que. On 23 September he was taken on strength there as a lieutenant in the newly formed 16th Infantry Battalion (the Canadian Scottish), which went to England the next month.
France
The 16th Battalion crossed over to France in February 1915, but to his dismay, Roderick Bell-Irving retained at training depots in England until late April. He had been promoted temporary captain on 23 April 1915, following the desperate fighting and heavy casualties of the Germans’ first gas attack at Ypres (Ieper), Belgium.
Battle of Mount Sorrrel
Later in June 1916, Major Roderick Bell-Irving participated with distinction in the battle of Mount Sorrel. When his company held up at Armagh Wood by enemy machine-gun fire, he found a covered approach to the emplacement. His revolver plugged with mud, he bayoneted three of the machine-gunners and struggled with the fourth when help arrived.
He pushed on with his men to secure his objective, ultimately taking command of both attacking companies of the 16th before the battle ended. Awarded the Military Cross for this action, he had also advanced within the battalion command. He was appointed temporary major on 10 June, while in charge of a company, and acting major on 1 July – this rank confirmed on 15 November.
Marriage
On leave in England from October 1916, Major Roderick Bell-Irving took a course at Aldershot and later on 9 December 1916 he married Nora Benwell, who had come from Vancouver. Following a brief honeymoon, in January he rejoined his battalion and was appointed second in command. In April-June 1917 he first assumed full command, with the rank of acting lieutenant-colonel, when Lieutenant-Colonel Cyrus Wesley Peck absent.
The 16th took part in the hard-fought battle for Hill 70 in August and later in the battle of Passchendaele. While on the Arras front in France in the spring of 1918, Bell-Irving was mentioned in dispatches.
Last Hundred Days
Major Roderick Bell-Irving in command of the battalion during its last major engagement of the war. Late in September 1918 the Canadian Corps had burst through the German defences on the Canal du Nord west of Cambrai, but encountered increasing opposition as it attempted to encircle Cambrai.
On 30 September 1918, Bell-Irving received orders to capture the ground from Sancourt to Cuvillers. The 16th Battalion attacked at 5:00 a.m. on 1 October and took Cuvillers. Bell-Irving, who had been following close behind the leading companies, went ahead to join the men who were exploiting beyond this village.
Death of Major Roderick Bell-Irving
Accompanied by the Assistant Adjutant, Lieutenant Robert Owens Kerans, Roderick moved on towards the front. When a few yards ahead of the outpost line, between eight and nine a.m., Kerans drew the attention of the Acting Commanding Officer to the fact both flanks of the companies in the resistance and outpost lines were “in the air.”
When this remark made, Major Roderick Bell-Irving studying his map, and without looking up replied: “I know that, but I’m going to push on to the men in the road at M36c”, the exploitation limit. He then instructed Lt Kerans to “see to the flanks,” and moved forward. That was the last seen of Bell-Irving alive. Killed-in-action, 1 October 1918.
Major Hugh MacIntyre Urquhart
Known familiarly as B.I. and to his family as Rog, Major Roderick Bell-Irving a first-rate soldier. According to fellow officer and battalion historian Major Hugh MacIntyre Urquhart, “What he thought he said; what he felt, he fought for, and expected others to do the same.” In time, he “grew to appreciate, as did all front line men, the genuine worth of his comrades, their devotion and bravery in times of peril. . . . He would do anything and everything for the men.” Earlier in 1919, posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Order, his five brothers survived the war, Alan Duncan, Malcolm McBean, and Richard having achieved distinction in the Royal Flying Corps.
Eterpigny British Cemetery
Eterpigny a charming village in the Department of the Pas-de-Calais. From Vis-en-Artois take the D939 towards Cambrai until the roundabout. Then, take the D956 to Dury, followed by a 2 kilometre track to the cemetery.
Eterpigny British Cemetery begun by the 4th and 1st Divisions and later used from the end of August 1918, to the middle of October, with one grave brought in after the Armistice.
The cemetery contains 66 burials and commemorations of the Great War, ten of the burials unidentified but a special memorial to one casualty believed to be buried among them. The cemetery designed by W H Cowlishaw.
Lieutenant Malcolm McBean Bell-Irving DSO MC
Fifth child, fourth son Lieutenant Malcom McBean Bell-Irving born 9 April 1892 in Vancouver.
Went overseas with the 16th Battalion Canadian-Scottish and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in the British Air Service in England in 1914. The first native-born Canadian to join the RFC.
Bell-Irving the first Canadian flier and first Canadian member of RFC to merit the DSO. DSO earned in December 1915 when Lt Bell-Irving engaged three aircraft and escaped. The MC awarded after wounded by anti-aircraft fire on a reconnaissance mission.
No. 1 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps
In December 1914, joined No. 1 Squadron at Netheravon, England. The squadron’s role was visual and photographic reconnaissance. He arrived in St Omer, France on 17 March 1915 and made his first operational flight shortly afterwards. He was wounded twice during his many risky and hazardous sorties over enemy territory and was awarded the Military Cross (MC) for his skill and bravery in action.
On June 20, 1916, while flying a Morane scout plane between Lille and Ypres, Belgium with an observer named Scott, Bell-Irving attacked by three German aircraft. He shot one down in flames and drove off the others. He then evaded three more attackers and about to open fire when severely wounded in the head by fire from an anti-aircraft gun, and half-blinded by blood, he steered for the nearest airfield, and, feeling he could not last out, landed safely in a small field behind Allied lines. After giving orders for the safe delivery of his photos, he collapsed. His pluck and skill saved the life of his observer.
First Canadian Decoration in RFC
His bravery and skill in face of death earned him the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the first decoration awarded a Canadian in the RFC and also the RFC’s first victory by a Canadian. On 30 June 1916, in semi-conscious condition he was transferred to Lady Ridley’s Hospital in London, England where he remained more or less unconscious for three months.
After discharge from hospital, Bell-Irving returned to Canada to serve as liaison officer with the RFC, responsible for all matters affecting Canadians who had been seconded from the Canadian army, a post he held until the end of the Great War. He had five brothers on active service. His cousin was the first officer to be killed in the Canadian contingent. Bell-Irving had been wounded three times and ended the war with the rank of major. Malcom died June 11, 1942 in Oak Bay, (Capital Regional District,) British Columbia, Canada.
Anita Helen Bell-Irving
Sixth child, and second daughter Anita Helen Bell-Irving born 7 July 1893 in Vancouver. Married 21 July 1927 to Archibald Douglas Kerfoot. Anita died in Cochrane, Alberta on 19 June 1959.
Major Allan Duncan Bell-Irving MC & BAR, Croix du Guerre
Seventh child, and fifth son, Allan Duncan Bell-Irving born 28 August 1894, in Vancouver, enlisted 24 June 1914. Srved with the 16th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders and Royal Flying Corps.
Alan Bell-Irving signed attestation papers on 24 September 1914 at Valcartier, Quebec, and later posted to the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish). Commissioned as a second lieutenant (on probation) in the 3rd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders on 22 January 1915, and later confirmed in rank on 22 June 1915.
Royal Flying Corps
On 22 November 1915 Bell-Irving seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, as a flying officer (observer) in No. 7 Squadron RFC. However, he must have serving in this role before that date as he was shot down in September 1915, escaping unscathed. Later wounded in action on 14 December 1915.
After recovering from his injuries he then trained as a pilot, being granted Royal Aero Club Aviator’s Certificate No.2664 after soloing a Maurice Farman biplane at the Military School, Farnborough, on 31 March 1916. Promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant the next day, 1 April, and later on 15 May, appointed a flying officer.
No. 60 Squadron
Bell-Irving was posted to No. 60 Squadron RFC, flying the Morane-Saulnier N single-seater scout out of Galand airfield, near Amiens, France. Received a regimental promotion to lieutenant in the Gordon Highlanders on 11 July 1916.
Bell-Irving shot down his first enemy aircraft on his twenty-second birthday, 28 August 1916, destroying a Roland two-seater reconnaissance aircraft over Bapaume. His squadron then re-equipped with Nieuport 17 fighter aircraft, and on 14 September, he shot down a enemy observation balloon at low level over Avesnes-lès-Bapaume, and was subsequently awarded the Military Cross on 20 October 1916.
Military Cross Citation
Second Lieutenant (Temporary Lieutenant) Alan Duncan Bell-Irving, Gordon Highlanders, Special Reserve, and Royal Flying Corps. “For gallantry and skill in attacking a hostile balloon at 1,000 feet under heavy fire and bringing it down in flames. On a previous occasion he brought down a hostile machine.
London Gazette
On 23 September 1916 he shot down his second enemy aircraft, another Roland two-seater, over Croisilles. He gained his fourth and fifth aerial victories, which made him an ace, later on 30 September 1916, shot down two Roland two-seaters in flames over Villers-au-Flos. He gained his two final victories on 15 October, destroying and driving down two two-seaters over Ervillers.
Bell-Irving shot down again on 21 October 1916, but again escaped unhurt, managing to crash-land his aircraft among the British trenches. On 3 November 1916 appointed a flight commander with the temporary rank of captain, but on 9 November shot down a third time, by Otto Höhne, and severely wounded in the legs, ending his active combat career.
On 9 January 1917 Bell-Irving awarded a Bar to his Military Cross.
Military Cross (Bar)
Second Lieutenant (Temporary Lieutenant) Alan Duncan Bell-Irving, M.C., Gordon Highlanders, Special Reserve, and Royal Flying Corps. “For conspicuous gallantry in action. He displayed great courage and skill when escorting a bombing raid. He engaged several enemy machines and drove them off. Afterwards, although his own machine was damaged, he continued to fight against superior numbers of the enemy.”
London Gazette
On 1 May 1917 Bell-Irving received permission to wear the Croix de Guerre conferred on him by France, and on 15 June 1917 promoted to captain in the Gordon Highlanders. Bell-Irving’s injuries prevented him from returning to front line service, but he served at, and eventually commanded the School of Special Flying at Gosport.
Chief Flying Instructor
On 31 January 1918 appointed squadron commander with the temporary rank of major, with seniority from 1 October 1917. Later that year, serving as Chief Flying Instructor at Gosport, he invented a non-electrical aircraft intercom system that became standard equipment in training aircraft. On 24 June 1919 Bell-Irving relinquished his commission owing to ill-health contracted on active service.
Married Mary Elizabeth (Pybus) Bell-Irving on 5 August 1919. Mary the daughter of Commander Henry Pybus, RNR. Alan Duncan Bell-Irving died 24 April 1965.
Captain Robert Bell-Irving
Cousin Robert Bell-Irving born 30 July 1893. Son of Dr Duncan & Ethel (Hulbert) Bell-Irving. Brother of Duncan Peter Bell-Irving (died 1915). He stood six feet, 173 pounds at his attestation on 10 October 1914. Previous service with North Vancouver Engineers & OTC. Royal Engineers from 27 January 1915. Attached to Royal Flying Corps, 20 March 1916.
Canadian Railway Troops
Taken-on-strength, 27 December 1916, Bordon, England. Transferred to Depot CRT at Purfleet, 27 December 1916, and To be Lieutenant CRT, 29 December 1916. Medical examination for CRT 24 March 1917. Arrived in France 30 April 1917. To be Temporary Captain, CRT, 20 April 1918. Medical complications began at Purfleet while in training for Canadian Railway Troops to which he transferred in December 1916 while at P.T. had a faint losing consciousness, which was followed by shortness of breath of increasing intensity and rapid heart action.
France
Went to France on 20 March 1918 with 13th CRT and carries on until 20 August 1918 but all the time suffering from attacks of dyspnoea and rapid heart action with continuous diarrhoea 5-6 per day. Has attacks of dizziness and at times pains over the heart but greatest disability has been shortness of breath. Invalided to Canada as requiring more than six months of treatment – 19 September 1918, Granville Canadian Special Hospital.
Robert died 3 June 1949.
Mary McBean Bell-Irving
Mary McBean Bell-Irving the eight child, third daughter born 24 April 1896 in Vancouver. Married Hugh Anselm Boulton Robb, born 8 February 1897, in Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire. Mary died June 1975 in Devizes, Wiltshire, England.
Lieutenant Aeneas McBean Bell-Irving CD OBE
Lieutenant Aeneas McBean Bell-Irving the ninth child, sixth and last son born 3 May 1898 in Vancouver. Served with the Royal Artillery in the Great War. Commanding officer of the 2nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, stationed east of London, to protect England from German planes in the Second World War. For this service awarded the OBE. Aeneas died 20 October 1966.
Lieutenant Duncan Peter Bell-Irving
Cousin Duncan Peter Bell-Irving born 3 January 1888. Son of Dr Duncan & Ethel (Hulbert) Bell-Irving. Brother of Robert Bell-Irving. Graduated from the Royal Military College, Kingston in 1908. Articled to Mr G H Dawson, BCLS, former Surveyor-General, and obtained his commission as a British Columbia Land Surveyor in 1913. Entered into partnership with the late Captain K C C Taylor DSO BCLS, under the form name of Taylor and Bell-Irving of Vancouver.
Engaged in a survey on the Naas River when war broke out. Went overseas as a Lieutenant with the 2nd Field Company, Canadian Engineers, and reached France in January 1915. On 25 February 1915, while in charge of a working party, shot by a sniper. Died early the next day, Le Touquet, Belgium.
Strand Military Cemetery
Strand Military Cemetery is 13 Kms south of Ieper town centre. On the Rijselseweg N365, which connects Ieper to Wijtschate, Mesen and on to Armentieres. From Ieper town centre the Rijselsestraat runs from the market square. Through the Lille Gate (Rijselpoort) and directly over the crossroads with the Ieper ring road. The road name then changes to the Rijselseweg. The cemetery lies on the N365, 4 Kms beyond Mesen and immediately before the village of Ploegsteert on the left hand side of the road.
‘Charing Cross’ the name given by the troops to a point at the end of a trench called the Strand, which led into Ploegsteert Wood. In October 1914, two burials made at this place, close to an Advanced Dressing Station. The cemetery not used between October 1914 and April 1917, but in April-July 1917 Plots I to VI completed. Plots VII to X made after the Armistice, when graves brought in from some small cemeteries and from the battlefields lying mainly between Wytschaete and Armentieres. The cemetery in German hands for a few months in 1918, but very little used by them.
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