Henry Wells (general) - Senior Command

Senior Command

In March 1946, Wells was briefly posted as director of military operations at Army Headquarters, before being promoted to temporary major general and appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff. The following year, he embarked for the United Kingdom where he attended the Imperial Defence College in London. During this time, Wells attended an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, where he was presented with his Commander of the Order of the British Empire by King George VI. On his return to Australia in 1949, Wells was made Commandant of the Royal Military College, Duntroon. He served in this position until February 1951, when he was appointed General Officer Commanding Southern Command with the rank of temporary lieutenant general. In June of that year, Wells acted as one of the ten pallbearers to Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey at his state funeral in Melbourne.

Wells was appointed Commander-in-Chief, British Commonwealth Forces Korea, in 1953. Assuming the role on 11 February, he led the Commonwealth contingent for the next twenty-one months as the Korean War was coming to an end. Like his predecessors in the position, Wells exercised administrative command only, and had no direct control over battlefield operations. Though its incumbents were considered to have performed well, the role garnered little credit for helping facilitate combat success but was a soft target for criticism when operations did not run smoothly. Wells had been sent to Korea with no instructions regarding the withdrawal of troops and—as armistice talks appeared on the verge of success—he was closely involved in liaison with the heads of Commonwealth governments regarding General Mark Clark's requests for their commitment to retain forces in the theatre for some period following the end of hostilities.

Raised to substantive lieutenant general on 12 April 1954, Wells was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the Queen's Birthday Honours that June. He was commended for his "exceptional meritorious service" in Korea, and awarded the United States Legion of Merit in the degree of Commander. Presented with the decoration by General John E. Hull on 19 October, Wells returned to Australia three days later. In December, he was made Chief of the General Staff; the professional head of the Australian Army. Wells' appointment coincided with the commitment of Australian forces to the Malayan Emergency, and as such he presided over the deployment of soldiers to the engagement as well as the formation of the first regular brigade group. He was upgraded to a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1956 New Years Honours.

On 23 March 1958, Wells was appointed the first Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC); the professional head of the Australian Military. The position had previously existed as an extension to the responsibilities of the senior service chief—either the Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of the General Staff or Chief of the Air Staff—but Wells was the first to occupy the position as a separate post. The chairmanship of COSC was created as part of the Australian Government's response to a review of the Defence group of departments conducted by Lieutenant General Sir Leslie Morshead in 1957, which recommended greater centralisation of the armed forces. Although the Chairman was the Government's principal military advisor and reported directly to the Minister for Defence, Wells was not promoted and remained at the same rank as the heads of the Navy, Army and Air Force. He was also hampered by being given only a small staff. The role of the Chairman, COSC was not strengthened until 1965, when Air Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger—who had been appointed to the position in 1961—was promoted to air chief marshal so that he out-ranked the service heads. Wells served in this capacity until his retirement from the Australian military on 22 March 1959.