IN THE SERVICE OF THE CROWN, The Story of Budge and Nancy Bell-Irving, by Raymond Eagle (1st Ed. SIGNED)
IN THE SERVICE OF THE CROWN, The Story of Budge and Nancy Bell-Irving, by Raymond Eagle (1st Ed. SIGNED)
Author: Raymond Eagle. Published by Golden Dog Press, Ottawa, ON., 1998, 1st Edition. RARE: Signed and Dated by the Author AND by the subject. Printed in Canada by Arrimage of Montreal. Like New Condition SOFTCOVER Book. Size: 9 x 6 inch, 359 pages including Index.
IN THE SERVICE OF THE CROWN, is the remarkable story of the career of Budge Bell-Irving, who rose to prominence and public recognition during World War II as the commander of the Seaforth Highlanders and the Loyal Edmonton regiments, and went on to become the lieutenant-governor of British Columbia, Canada.
Henry Pybus "Budge" Bell-Irving, OC DSO OBE OBC ED CD (January 21, 1913 – September 21, 2002) was the 23rd Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 1978 to 1983. Henry Pybus (Budge) Bell-Irving was born in January 1913. After attending school in Scotland he worked in the canneries of the Anglo-British Columbia Canning Company, begun by his grandfather, H.O. Bell-Irving , and Budge's letters home reveal much about cannery operations and cannery life. In 1932 he joined the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada militia which, given his family's military tradition is not surprising. In WWI his father and three of his uncles, between them had won nine bravery decorations. In November 1939 Budge went overseas with the Seaforths. The regiment took part the invasion of Sicily in June 1943, from which time he saw intense action right from Sicily and into Northern Europe. Budge eventually commanded the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada from central Italy and into Holland, earning two D.S.O.'s; one in Sicily and the other in the last battle of the war, on Holland's Ijsell River. By the end of the was had risen to the rank of Brigadier.
Budge later became B.C.'s 23rd Lieutenant-Governor. During his five years in Government House he kept a daily diar, and many of his insights from it are contained in this biography. Bell-Irving met his wife, Nancy, while attending UBC and was married in April 1937.