Victoria Cross recipient buried in Hillside Cemetery to be honoured on Remembrance Day

KAMLOOPS — Tucked among the graves in one section of Hillside Cemetery in Kamloops sits a singular military headstone – where Edward Bellew – the Interior’s only known Victoria Cross recipient, was laid to rest. Up until recently, not many people knew he was there.

According to Mike Young, President of the Rocky Mountain Rangers Regiment Association, he and several other veterans were having drinks in the Kamloops Legion a few weeks ago, and Victoria Cross medals were brought up in discussion.

“Robert Hall, one of our historians and British Columbia Regiment member, brought up the fact that there was a Victoria Cross awarded member that was buried here in Kamloops,” explains Young. After the group became aware of Bellew, they started planning a way to honour him at his gravesite on Remembrance Day.

CFJC met with Mike Young, and Robert Hall at Hillside Cemetery today (Nov. 10), to learn more about the heroic actions of Edward Bellew during World War I.

Capt. (then Lieut.) Edward Bellew was born in India in 1882, and came to Canada in 1907 after serving in the British Army. During World War I, Bellew joined the Canadian Military as a machine gun officer.

“There was one or two – Edward Bellew being one of them – that went above and beyond and exuded that valour and devotion to duty in the face of the enemy,” notes Young.

In April of 1915, Bellew was serving with the 7th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force near Keerselaere in Belgium during the second Battle of Ypres. At the time, Canadians were suffering heavy casualties during a German attack. His machine gun slowed the enemy’s advance, and as the attack moved in, Bellew and a Sergeant Peerless decided to fight it out. Sgt. Peerless was killed, and Bellew was injured, though he maintained his fire until the ammunition failed. Bellew smashed his weapon to keep enemy forces from using it and was taken prisoner. He spent nearly three years as a POW in several camps before being repatriated to England in 1918.

Bellew returned to Canada in 1919, and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.

“The Victoria Cross is actually the highest honour in the British and Canadian honour systems,” explains Young, “There’s only been 99 awarded to Canadians.”

After coming back to British Columbia, Bellew worked as a dredging inspector along the Fraser River, before retiring to the Monte Creek area. When he died in 1961, Bellew was buried in Hillside Cemetery. Though, according to Hall, his grave wasn’t marked with a military headstone until about 15 years ago.

Hall also says Edward Bellew’s Victoria Cross is believed to have been stolen from the Royal Canadian Military Institute in Toronto, sometime between 1975 and 1977. The VC has never been recovered.

Young says Bellew’s story hadn’t been on their radar partly because Bellew and his wife had no children or family members living in the region, and his service was through the Vancouver-based regiment.

“How it fell through the cracks, we don’t really know but we’ve managed to remedy it through the British Columbia Regiment and with Robert’s participation in the (Rocky Mountain Rangers) museum.”

On November 11, a ceremony for Edward Bellew will be held at Hillside Cemetery, following the Remembrance Day service at the Battle Street cenotaph.