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Jack Bell-Smyth was born in Trinidad on 6 Dec 1868. He was educated at the Oratory School, Woodcote and commissioned into the KDG as a 2nd Lieutenant on 21 Dec 1887, when they were in India. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 April 1890 and appointed Adjutant on 23 Dec 1890. From 2 Sep 1893 he was ADC to the Governor of Natal on 2 Sep 1893. He was promoted to Captain on 15 Nov 1895.
In 1896 he was one of 3 officers of the regiment to visit Franz Joseph in Vienna to present him with the KDG Standard. He was awarded the 3rd Class Order of the Iron Cross during this visit, and Queen Victoria granted him permission to wear it. When the Boer War started his experience in South Africa stood him in good stead and he was appointed ADC to Lord Methuen on 9 Oct 1899, accompanying the 1st Infantry Division for the relief of Kimberley. After a few months with Lord Methuen, Captain Bell-Smyth was appointed adjutant of the Kimberley Mounted Corps, on 4 Mar 1900. This corps joined the column for the relief of Mafeking and Bell-Smyth was then appointed Brigade-Major, on 1 May 1900, under Brigadier-General B T Mahon. He remained in this job until 19 Nov 1900 when he was awarded a brevet of major on 29 Nov 1900. He was promoted to major on 16 July 1904, and commanded the King’s Dragoon Guards from 14 June 1914 until his death in 1922. He was appointed CMG for the regiment’s action at Hooge in 1915, but in October 1915 he was given command of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade with the temporary rank of Brigadier-General. He was married to Louisa Maria Dorothy Hope Goode. He died on 24 Mar 1922 in Lambeth, London. The photo of him as a young lieutenant at a cricket game is a detail from a group photo of officers of the King’s Dragoon Guards at Norwich in 1894. |
