- page -
http://www.cdu.edu.au/cdupress
Go Back >> List of Entries
Queensland in 1978 and in 1982 he published his account of the events of 1963, which had begun the struggle for
recognition of Aboriginal rights in land. He continued writing and speaking on bark painting and related subjects.
Wells later moved to Melbourne where he died on 4 May 1995.
A E Wells, Milingimbi, 1963; E A Wells, Reward and Punishment in Arnhem Land 1962–1963, 1982; information from E J Wells, Box Hill
North.
JEREMY LONG, Vol 3.
WELLS, FREDERICK EDWARD (FRED) (1903–1993), mariner and public servant, was born on 10 July 1903
in South Africa, son of Frederick Edward Wells and his wife Harriet Edith, nee Webber. At the age of four, he went
to England and was educated there. He attended Pangbourne Nautical College and after a deck apprenticeship with
H & W Nelson, which traded between Britain and the Argentine, he obtained his First Mate’s certificate (Foreign
Going). During the depression years, there were no jobs so he immigrated to Australia. For a time in Australia, he
was farming, worked in the mines at Wiluna, and then went back to sea with Adelaide Steamship Company about
- When Imperial Chemical Industries erected their plant at Port Adelaide their manager said, ‘I’ve got a job
for you here, you don’t want to go to sea’. He joined them until a vacancy occurred in the Patrol Service that had
been established off the Northern Territory coast.
These ships patrolled northern waters controlling the fishing and pearling fleets. There were two ships, Kuru
and Larrakia and he became master of the latter. Wells recounts that during his time as master he made no arrests,
though chased a few, unlike the first commander, Haultain, who arrested three Japanese luggers amid a great deal
of controversy. During Wells’ service he noted that at times there would be up to 60 Japanese luggers anchored
off the west side of Bathurst Island and one of the patrol service’s jobs was to make sure that no crew from these
boats went ashore in these areas and that the boats generally remained in international waters, then 19 kilometres
off the coast. The task was hampered by the fact that Larrakia was only a ‘45 foot motor boat, totally unsuited for
the job up here’.
When war broke out in Europe in 1939, he joined the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RANVR) but
was told he would not be mobilised unless the Japanese came into the war. When that happened in December 1941
he served with the Navy for the remainder of the war but first remained in Territory waters, being assistant to the
King’s Harbourmaster. One of his major tasks was pilotage, his instruction usually being ‘Nip out Fred and bring
that damn thing alongside’. He became master of the naval tug Wato stationed in Darwin served on Kangaroo,
a boom defence vessel. He also towed into Darwin harbour the Admiralty floating dock from Sydney.
He was in Darwin for the bombing on 19 February 1942, which he saw from the Navy’s slipway in Frances Bay,
his wife and family having been evacuated in December 1941 to Perth. After the initial bombing one of the
surviving ships on the inside of the wharf was intact though still with a cargo of cordite so Wells was detailed to see
that the cargo was jettisoned. His recollection is that within two or three days there was no-one in the town, motor
vehicles were abandoned all over the place and houses and shops were left opened. According to Wells, there was
no panic as such; and as to looting, the prime need was food and it was looked for everywhere, including waterfront
shacks and old luggers. As he put it, there was no point in letting food go bad. Also, the general consensus was
that the Japanese would soon be landing so everyone except the Navy abandoned the town peninsula, and the other
services stayed in their prepared positions. Wells did, however, acknowledge that one or two civilians remained,
including the head of the North Australian Workers’ Union. With the first bombing raid the wharf (Stokes Hill)
had been cut in two and Wells was detailed to design and supervise the installation of a suspension bridge so the
fuel oil and water lines could be reconnected.
Later in 1942 Wells undertook a clearance diver’s course at HMAS Penguin in Sydney, and it was whilst he was
on this course that he was approached by the United States Navy to go as harbour and river pilot at the Territory
port of Milingimbi. The Australians won the battle for his services and the Allied Intelligence Bureau posted him
back to Darwin in charge of lugger maintenance. These ex pearling luggers were being refurbished to be sent to
Indonesia with secret agents. Among them was the famed Krait that took part in two raids on Singapore.
He was then sent to Milne Bay in New Guinea in charge of the shore station for Allied intelligence. He returned
to Darwin for a short time and for the following six months was assistant Intelligence Officer in Fremantle, Western
Australia. He was posted back to Darwin in Naval intelligence but had very little to do as by then the war had
effectively moved north away from Australia. Tired of the inactivity Wells asked for a transfer, and was rewarded
with a posting to Sydney to man a mystery ship 12.15 being fitted out for action in Borneo. The ship sailed from
Sydney but by the time they reached Labuan (then in the Dutch East Indies) the war was in its final stages and
Wells was flown back to Australia. He received his honourable discharge in Fremantle.
Wells returned to the patrol service and after his ship was refitted, he returned to Darwin in 1946. The service
was abolished about 1953 when the ship’s overhaul was, as he put it, ‘made a mess of’. He was made Inspector of
Fisheries and Pearling and was appointed the first post-war civilian Harbourmaster, and paid a nominal 20 Pounds
per year. A wartime King’s Harbourmaster, Commander ‘Chook’ Fowler, had been the incumbent since the war
years. Wells was responsible to Reg Leydin, then Government Secretary. There were no port regulations and no
wharfage or other port dues were paid. Wells drafted the first port regulations to be promulgated, drawn from South
Australian legislation.
When a new Stokes Hill wharf was under consideration Wells gave evidence to the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Works and told them that the plans for the new wharf were ‘all wrong’. He was asked why he
had let it go until then before he said anything. ‘I’ve never been consulted about the wharf, I’ve never seen any
plans or anything of the wharf, they’ve just gone ahead and done it’. He went on, ‘It’s not even orientated right’.