Henry Wells (officer)

Henry Wells (1945)

Sir Henry "Bomba" Wells , KBE , CB , DSO (born March 22, 1898 in Kyneton , Victoria ; † October 20, 1973 in Yarrawonga , Victoria) was an Australian lieutenant general who was last chief of the Army General Staff between 1954 and 1958 ( Australian Army ) and from 1958 to 1959 first chairman of the Committee of Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces ADF ( Australian Defense Force ) .

Life

Officer training and World War II

Wells completed military training and after completing it in 1916 found various uses as an officer and staff officer. After his promotion to lieutenant colonel on December 26, 1940, he was Chief Liaison Officer of the 1st Australian Corps between December 26, 1940 and June 3, 1941 during the Second World War , and from June 4 to October 30, 1940, General Staff Officer for Operations (G 2) of the 1st Australian Corps. During this time he took part in the Battle of Greece and the Africa campaign and the Syrian-Lebanese campaign (June 8 to July 14, 1941). Thereupon he found after his promotion to colonel on November 1, 1941 from November 1, 1941 to March 8, 1943 use as General Staff Officer (G 1) of the 9th Australian Infantry Division. During this time operations followed in the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1 to 31, 1942) and the Second Battle of El Alamein (October 23 to November 4, 1942).

On March 9, 1943 Wells was brigadier general on the staff of the II. Australian Corps and remained in this position until April 11, 1944, where he was awarded the temporary rank (Temporary Rank) of a brigadier general on April 28, 1944 . He was then from April 12, 1944 to September 16, 1945 Brigadier General in the staff of the 1st Australian Corps, with which he took part in the Battle of New Guinea and Operation Oboe (May 1, 1945 to August 15, 1945), the Liberation of Japanese- occupied Borneo .

Post-war period and chief of staff of the ADF

Lieutenant General Wells (2nd from right) as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Nations in Korea (British Commonwealth Forces Korea) with other officers during the Korean War

After the end of the war, Wells was posted to Army Headquarters from December 3, 1945 to February 3, 1946, where he initially held the post of brigadier general on the General Staff from February 4 to March 14, 1943. He then acted between March 15 and July 15, 1946 as head of the Military Operations and Planning Department at the Army Headquarters. On July 16, 1946, he was awarded the temporary rank of major general and as such was Deputy Chief of the Army General Staff from July 16 to November 30, 1946. He was then reassigned to the temporary rank of brigadier general on November 30, 1946 and was a graduate of Imperial Defense College (IDC) in London between December 1, 1946 and February 15, 1948 .

After his return, Wells served from December 16 to December 31, 1948 only as commandant of the training group. After his promotion to brigadier general and the bestowal of temporary rank as major general on January 1, 1949, he succeeded Brigadier General Eric Vowles as commandant of the Royal Military College Duntroon . He held this post until his replacement by Major General Ronald Hopkins in February 1951. He was then between February 1951 and 1953 with the temporary rank of Lieutenant General Commanding General of the Army Command South (Southern Command) . At the end of the Korean War , he succeeded Lieutenant General William Bridgeford as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Nations in Korea (British Commonwealth Forces Korea) and remained at this post until his replacement by Lieutenant General Rudolph Bierwirth in 1954.

On December 16, 1954, Lieutenant General Wells replaced Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell as Chief of the General Staff of the Army ( Australian Army ) and held this position until March 22, 1958, when Lieutenant General Ragnar Garrett succeeded him. On January 2, 1956 he was made Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), so that from then on he carried the suffix "Sir". Most recently he took over on March 23, 1958 the newly created post as Chairman of the Committee of Chiefs of Staff (Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee) of the armed forces ADF ( Australian Defense Force ) . He remained in this position until he left active military service on March 22, 1959 and was then replaced by Vice Admiral Roy Dowling . He was also awarded the title of Companion des Order of the Bath (CB) and the Distinguished Service Order .

Web links

Commons : Henry Wells  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Entry in generals.dk
• Knighs and Dames (leighrayment.com)