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| A. Lt.-Col. J. Collings-Wells |
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John Stanhope Wells was born at Longsight, Manchester, on 19th July 1880 to Arthur Collings and Caroline Mary (née Eisdell). Arthur hyphenated his name by deed poll in 1918. The 1901 census shows that John had four siblings: Russell Primrose, aged 18; Mabel Bertha (17); Alice Madelene (15); and Leonard Collings (11). The census also records six servants present at their residence, Caddington Hall.
John was educated at Uppingham School before entering Christ Church College, Oxford, although he never graduated. He was employed in his father's Hertfordshire engineering firm and served with the Hertfordshire Militia in 1903. He was granted a commission in the Bedfordshire Regiment as a Second Lieutenant on 14th March 1904 and promoted to Lieutenant the following September. In 1906, he went to live with his uncle in Marple to enable him to run his father's business in Manchester. He would travel back to Bedfordshire to maintain his position in the Regiment and was promoted to Captain in January 1907.
At the outbreak of war, John was recalled to the Bedfordshire 2nd Battalion, which had been in South Africa. He joined the unit on 6th November 1914 at Locre, the Battalion having seen action at Ypres in the previous weeks. John received a gunshot wound to his right thigh on 12th January 1915 and was invalided home. His engagement to Miss Marjory Holt of Windermere was announced in The Times on June 22nd, and he returned to active service with the 4th Battalion as a Company Commander when it was deployed in France.
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In September 1916, John was appointed second-in-command of the Battalion, and in December he was promoted to Acting Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the Battalion. Three days later, he was a member of the FGCM panel for the court martial of Edwin Dyett.
At Gavrelle, John was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, the citation reading:
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Capt. (Acting Lieut.-Col.) J. S. Collings-Wells. He commanded his battalion during the operations on the 23rd and 24th April 1917 with marked ability. The battalion captured the northern outskirts of Gavrelle on the 23rd April, and held their ground in spite of frequent counter-attacks. When the situation required clearing up, he proceeded through the town under heavy shell and machine-gun fire to reorganise the battalion, and immediately informed the disposition of his companies. On the 29th April, he was placed in command of a composite battalion with orders to attack and capture the Oppy line of trenches between the ground then held by the 188th Brigade and the 2nd Division. It was chiefly owing to his leadership, cool-headedness, and disregard for personal safety that the battalion reached their place of assembly and formed up under shellfire in darkness on practically unfamiliar ground, and subsequently achieved its objectives. His courage on this occasion inspired all ranks and was greatly instrumental in carrying the operation through successfully.
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During June 1917, John temporarily commanded the 190th Brigade on two separate occasions. He was Mentioned in Despatches on November 7th. The DSO was presented by the King at Buckingham Palace on December 5th.
On 27th March 1918, John was almost physically dragged to a bunker for his wounds to be dressed, as he was reluctant to leave his men. The bunker received a direct hit, with John, his second-in-command Major Nunnelly, two other officers, and the medic all killed outright. The bodies could not be identified; the personal effects were removed and the casualties buried.
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John was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross and, on May 3rd, King George V sent a message to John's parents:
It is a matter of sincere regret to me that the death of Captain (Acting Lieutenant-Colonel) John Stanhope Collings-Wells DSO, 4th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, deprived me of the pride of personally conferring upon him the Victoria Cross, the greatest of all awards for valour and devotion to duty.
George RI |
His parents received John's Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on June 1st.
Subsequently, the I.W.G.C. relocated bodies found south of Beaumont-Hamel to Bouzincourt Ridge Cemetery. With one of the bodies was a map case that was returned to its owner, Lieutenant G. Martin. Lt. Martin instantly recognised the case as the one he had given to John when he had left the Battalion in 1916. The location of John's grave was now known.
John is remembered on a number of memorials, including the All Saints War Memorial, Marple; St. Ethelreda's Church, Hatfield, Hertfordshire; the Collings-Wells Memorial Hall in Caddington, Bedfordshire; the Christ Church College Plaque, Oxford; and the east window of St. John the Baptist Church in Markyate. Collings-Wells Close in Caddington is also named after John.
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John's parents at Buckingham
Palace to receive his VC
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