Bell, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Moore (Robin) Biography 1971

BELL, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Moore (Robin)
MBE [Member of the Order of the British Empire], ED [Efficiency Decoration]
Farmer, Ngahere & Roundaway, Waipawa, Hawke’s Bay
Born: Penang Straits Settlements, 16 January 1907; son of Leonard Moore Bell; married 1938 Grace Alix, daughter of Guy Rochfort; 3 sons, 1 daughter
Education: Tonbridge School, Kent, England, Auckland University; graduate Senior Staff College (military), Haifa, Palestine, awarded psc [passed staff course, British Army]
Farming own account, supervision of beef & cattle properties Hawke’s Bay, trustee farming estates; director Wellington Publishing Company 1960-70; Waipari Land Company Ltd; Patangata County Council 1945-54; member Napier Harbour Board 1954-; trustee Woodford Trust Board 1949-69 (chairman 1955-64); Te Aute Trust Board 1962-70; Wanganui College Board of Trustees 1964-, (president Friends of School Association 1964-66); trustee Hawke’s Bay Children’s Homes 1955-; France Trust 1955-; Hawke’s Bay Land Settlement Board 1946- (rehabilitation returned servicemen)  and civilian settlement; member Hawke’s Bay Regional Committee NZ Historic Places Trust; Committee Scouts Hawke’s Bay area 1954-62; vice-president Royal Agricultural Society 1967-68,  Hawke’s Bay Agricultural & Pastoral Association 1964-67, president 1968-70; president Hawke’s Bay Agricultural & Pastoral Society 1968-70; vestryman & synodsman, St James Mahora, Hastings 1962-64
War service: 2nd NZ Expeditionary Force (lieutenant-colonel) 1939-44, wounded 3 times, des [mentioned in despatches] twice; Intelligence Officer to General Freyberg; served in the Middle East World War II with 2nd NZ Division in Greece, Crete, African desert & Italy, at times seconded to British forces
Publications: Historical Maps of NZ (Lake Taupo, Taupo Rd, Rotorua, Mokoia Is. Taranaki & Hawke’s Bay); The Fact & Fable Series; Maps of Rotorua & NZ; Roundaway, The Story of a Sheep Farm; History of St James
Recreation: gardening, boating, historical research in the field
Private address: Ngahere, RD 1, Waipawa, Hawke’s Bay