The story of Bell Equipment began when Irvine Bell and his new bride and Company Co-Founder Eunice, settled in Zululand a few years after the Second World War.
Having completed his trade apprenticeship as a Fitter and Turner on a Northern Natal Colliery where he had grown up and after serving five years in the Army Corps of Engineers during the War, Irvine Bell applied his engineering skills in building a home-made water boring machine powered by an engine from a Willys Jeep.