Early Life and Career
Wells was born in the Victorian town of Kyneton on 22 March 1898, the youngest of seven children to Arthur Wells, a draper, and his wife Elizabeth (née Carter). Educated at Kyneton High School, Wells entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in February 1916, where he was a keen sportsman. Graduating from the college in December 1919, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Australian Army, and posted to England for further training.
On his return to Australia, Wells was appointed as adjutant and quartermaster of the 8th Light Horse Regiment in 1921. The following year, he was allocated to the 9th Light Horse Regiment. In February 1926, Wells was briefly appointed brigade major of the 6th Cavalry Brigade, before becoming an instructor at the Small Arms School, Sydney, during July. On 14 December that year, Wells married Lorna Irene Skippen in a ceremony at St John's Church of England, Cessnock; the couple would later have two sons.
During 1927, Wells was assigned to the Royal Military College, Duntroon as a company commander and promoted to captain that December. Returning to the Small Arms School as an instructor in 1931, he was dispatched to England and attended the Staff College, Camberley between 1935 and 1936. Arriving back in Australia, Wells was made adjutant and quartermaster of the 4th/3rd Battalion, and later brigade major of the 1st Infantry Brigade. During 1938, he was reposted to Royal Military College, Duntroon as a lecturer on tactics.
Read more about this topic: Henry Wells (general)
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or career:
“Humanity has passed through a long history of one-sidedness and of a social condition that has always contained the potential of destruction, despite its creative achievements in technology. The great project of our time must be to open the other eye: to see all-sidedly and wholly, to heal and transcend the cleavage between humanity and nature that came with early wisdom.”
—Murray Bookchin (b. 1941)
“You must not eat with it anything leavened. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it -the bread of affliction -because you came out of the land of Egypt in great haste, so that all the days of your life you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 16:3.
“Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.”
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964)