A soldier with The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers during the First World War, he was posthumously awarded the VC for his actions on 1 July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme.

His father was an officer in the British Army's Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, serving in Burma at the time of Eric's birth.

The battalion was later posted to Cheshire and the family moved to live in Warrington, where Bell attended school.

[1] In August 1914, on the outbreak of the First World War, Bell volunteered for the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, the regiment of the British Army in which his father was serving as adjutant of the 9th Battalion.

When he had no more bombs available he stood on the parapet, under intense fire, and used a rifle with great coolness and effect on the enemy advancing to counter-attack.

[6] King George V presented Bell's VC to his father on 29 November 1916, in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

[1] In 1999, a relative, Air Marshal Sir Richard Bolt, formerly New Zealand's Chief of Defence Staff, offered the VC to the museum of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.