CWGC thanks Noonans Mayfair Ltd for this story.

George Alfred Wells, a barman from East Ham, Essex, was born on 18 December 1884. He attested into the South Wales Borderers and served during the Great War. He was present from 23 September 1914 with the 2nd Battalion, stationed in China where they formed part of the international garrison at Tientsin.

In September 1914 the Battalion, supported by half a Battalion of the 36th Sikhs, joined their Japanese allies in an expedition against the German-occupied territory of Kiaochow and its port of Tsingtao.

On 23 September 1914, the battalion’s embarkation of 22 officers and 910 men landed at Lao Shan Bay, about 40 miles north-east of Tsingtao, and began the difficult trek to the well-fortified main German settlement on Kiaochau Bay, which was the object of the expeditionary force. Casualties were generally light, although the extremely arduous conditions and bad weather caused them great discomfort. The nights of 5 and 6 November, however, brought the battalion heavier casualties than it had yet suffered.

Brigadier-General Nathaniel Barnardiston, Commanding Tsingtau Expeditionary Force, gave the following details in his third Despatch:


‘On the 5th November I was ordered to prepare a Third Position of attack on the left bank of the river. This line was to a great extent enfiladed on both flanks by No. 1 and 2 redoubts, especially the latter from which annoying machine-gun fire was experienced. The bed of the river (a small stream running over a broad bed of sand) had also to be crossed, and in doing so the working parties of the 2nd Battalion South Wales Borderers suffered somewhat severely, losing 8 non-commissioned officers and men killed and 24 wounded.’

The siege was soon brought to a successful conclusion with the assistance of an assault by Japanese forces present, and the white flag went up on 7 November 1914, giving the Regiment the unique distinction of a battle honour held by no other British Regiment. The Battalion’s losses overall had been just 14 men killed or died of wounds or disease, and 2 officers and 34 men wounded.

He later served at Gallipoli, landing on the first day of the campaign, at Cape Helles on 25 April 1915 and was killed in action three days later during the Battle of Krithia on 28 April 1915.

He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Turkey. His medals were sent to his sister-in-law, the widow of his brother Arthur.