Lieutenant-Colonel John K. Bell
Royal Winnipeg Rifles

Symptoms at present time are similar to those which first appeared. They first appeared in the Winter of 1916-17 got progressively worse until the following summer … In 1910 he had another nervous breakdown after overwork.

(Neurological Report, 8 Mar 1919)

Born on 23 May 1886 in Aberdeen, Scotland, John Kidd Bell was a University of Glasgow educated solicitor in Winnipeg and First World War veteran. Having moved to Canada shortly before the war, he volunteered as a lieutenant with the 8th Battalion in September 1914. Gassed and captured at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915, he spent the next two and a half years in a German prison camp.

He was released to a Swiss internment camp in December 1917 with a diagnosis of neurasthenia. He remained troubled by nervous symptoms following repatriation to Canada a year later. Despite his breakdown, a neurological report predicted, “He is not neurotic, but has a very healthy outlook on his condition.” Bell resumed his law practice and joined the Winnipeg Rifles. He became commanding officer in September 1938, three years after the regiment gained the royal designation.

The RWR mobilized for active service in June 1940 but Bell relinquished command within a few months. At fifty-six years old and in ailing health, he was replaced by fellow First World War veteran and two-time Military Cross winner Major W.J. Bingham. The RWR embarked for England in late August 1940. Bell died on 17 September 1942 in Rochester, Minnesota, after a checkup at the Mayo Clinic. He was buried in Winnipeg.