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Pte. Henry WELLS 25th Battalion, Middlesex Regt.
1876 - 8th February 1919

Born in Foots Cray in 1876, Henry Wells was a gardener on one of the big estates. Marrying
in St. James Church on 28th November 1908, he was aged 33 years, and his bride, Mary
Cliff, just 22-years-of-age. The newly weds settled down to married life in Henry's widowed
mother’s tiny terraced home in Pretoria Cottages. When war was declared in 1914, the
couple had three small children and Henry, who was now 39-years-old and generally worn
out and prematurely aged from so much physical hard work, inadequate diet and poor
living conditions, was not suitable for warfare.

But there was no getting away from the pressure to “do one’s duty for King and Country”
and September 1916, although now almost 42-years-old, Henry Wells made the very bold
decision to enlist, travelling down by train directly to Maidstone Barracks which has its
own station. He was not forced to join up, as his age and dependants would have made
him exempt and it is surprising that the authorities accepted him. After a brief examination
by a local doctor, his weight, height and general physique duly assessed, he was placed in
the Bl classification for service abroad (a soldier who was 100 per cent fit was classified as
A1) and assigned to the 25th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. He gave his address as
Ambergate, North Cray, but he had previously always lived in Pretoria Cottages, North
Cray.

Henry, along with other recruits, was sent to Plymouth just one month after enlisting,
where they boarded a ship for South Africa, arriving Cape Town 7th February 1917. Three
weeks later they were put on another ship bound for Singapore and arrived on 23rd March
1917, and from there they were transferred to barracks in Hong Kong. The 25th (Garrison)
Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, was raised by Col. John Ward, the larger-than-life Member
of Parliament for Stoke on Trent, who took it out to India for guard duties. The whole
Battalion consisted of men of a similar classification which the authorities considered
could cope with duties other than fighting in battle. It was later transferred to Hong Kong
which is about the time that Henry Wells was assigned to them.

Russia - Although the 25th Battalion was originally only intended for garrison duties, they
found themselves in the field of battle when in July 1918 secret orders were received to
proceed to Vladivostok to support the struggling Cossacks (and their allies the Czech
troops) in Russia, which was going through a very violent and world-changing revolution.
After a largely uneventful sea voyage lasting several days, Henry Wells, together with his
colleagues, all still dressed in their warm-weather uniforms, set foot for the first time on
Russian soil when they disembarked at the Port of Vladivostok. When questioned by
inquisitive local authorities, Colonel Ward boldly stated that:

“the British Expeditionary Force has been ordered to Siberia to assist the orderly elements
of Russian society to re-organise themselves under a national government and to resurrect
and reconstruct the Russian Front. We Britishers have entered the territory of Holy Russia
not as conquerors, but as friends. The Bolshevik powers have made a corrupt and
dishonourable compact with their German masters, by which the territories of their
Motherland Russia, have been torn from her side, and a huge indemnity wrung from her
people.”

The journey - At 9pm on 5th August 1918, Private Henry Wells, together with 500 fully
equipped infantry and a detachment of officers and a machine-gun section of 43 men with
four heavy-type Maxims, marched off to Vladivostok station and just after midnight, the
25th Battalion nervously left for an unknown journey on the notoriously unreliable Trans-
Siberian

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