Herbert Bell was born in Moira, Ireland in March 1895. The first of four children to John and Emma Bell, he attended the Society of Friends Brookfield School, a Quaker school for children who had been disowned by the Quaker society.
The Bell family arrived in Fremantle around 1912 and, after initially living in Victoria Park, set up home in Cottesloe. During the week Herbert Bell worked as a warehouseman and on the weekend he played football for the YMCA club.
Herbert Bell was 21 years of age when he enlisted in the 10th Light Horse Regiment, serving as a Private. He arrived on the Gallipoli Peninsula in July 1915 but within two months had been admitted to hospital in Alexandria, Egypt, suffering from influenza.
Herbert Bell was killed in action while tending to a wounded comrade, Allen Cooke, at Hod El Fatir, Sinai, on 9 August 1916, during the Battle of Romani. He was laid to rest in the nearby Kantara War Memorial Cemetery.