Studio portrait of 1337 Private (Pte) Herbert Charles Wells, 19th Battalion, of West Narrabri, ...

Studio portrait of 1337 Private (Pte) Herbert Charles Wells, 19th Battalion, of West Narrabri, NSW. A labourer prior to enlisting in February 1915, aged 21, Pte Wells embarked from Sydney on board HMAT Ceramic (A40) on 25 June 1915. He served at Gallipoli from August until the evacuation in December 1915. Pte Wells arrived in France for service on the Western Front in March 1916 and was promoted to Lance Corporal in September. On 5 November he was appointed Temporary Corporal and was wounded in action nine days later. He rejoined his unit in France on 8 March 1917 and was promoted to Corporal the same day. Promotion to Sergeant (Sgt) followed in August 1917. Sgt Wells was wounded in action for second time by a gas attack in France on 26 April 1918 and did not return to the Front. Sgt Wells' three brothers had also enlisted, two had died; 2147 Pte David John Wells, 33rd Battalion, of pneumonia in France on 3 December 1916 and 5104 Pte Reuben Clarence Wells, 19th Battalion, killed in action in Belgium on 13 January 1918. The third brother 7335 Pte Albert George Wells, 5th Machine Gun Battalion, was still serving in France. He was to return to Australia in 1919. With two of his brothers dead, Sgt Wells was granted a discharge on compassionate grounds in order to support his elderly father and ill sister. Sgt Herbert Charles Wells arrived home in November 1918. He later married and had six children. He died in 1941.