Edward John (EJ) Howells M.C. (1882–1959) was an Australian army officer (ANZAC) during World War I. He served in the RAAF between the wars, reaching the rank of Wing Commander.Archives of Australia. Record for Captain Edward Howells https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=5257190&S=1&N=35&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5257190&T=P&S=6
He served at the Gallipoli campaign and in the Sinai CampaignVeterans Affairs https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/where-australians-served/sinai-and-palestine with maps with the Desert Mounted Corps. Howells is notable for forcing the first bridge over the River Jordan during WWI, an accomplishment that earned him the Military Cross.
Early life Edward John Howells, known as EJ, was born on 20 May 1882England & Wales General Register Office, Birth: 1882 J Quarter in Barrow in Furness Volume 08E Page 902. in Barrow-in-Furness, England. As a child, he immigrated with his father, John Howells, and mother, Anna Roderick Howells, to Australia in May 1887. They settled in Camberwell, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne. He was their only child. Young Howells demonstrated a talent for mechanics,Geelong Advertiser (1898, September 29). p. 3. worked at the Vulcan Foundry and later with Humble & Nicholson of Geelong.Lives of the Engineers, tomm.com.au/free-to-read/humble-nicholson His technical abilities led to his acceptance into the prestigious Gordon SchoolThe Gordon Institute of TAFE. (n.d.). www.thegordon.edu.au. where he excelled in engineering and drafting. Upon graduation, he became an instructor at the schoolGeelong Advertiser. (1909, February 6). pp. 3–4. before employment as the Commonwealth’s Deputy Examiner of Patents in Melbourne in July 1910.House of Representatives. (1910, July 15). 4th Parliament, 1st Session.Geelong Advertiser. (1910, June 27). https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/149156805?searchTerm=%22EJ%20Howells%22. His expertise in mechanics and engineering laid the foundation for his future contributions to the military.
Military service (Howells military recordsNat. Archives of Australia https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=5257190&S=1&N=35&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5257190&T=P&S=2)
World War I – Gallipoli Campaign
At the outbreak of World War I, Howells, a former member of the Victoria Cadets, volunteered for the Australian Imperial Force and initially assigned to the 23rd Battalion (Australia) as a 33 year old 2nd Lieutenant. He sailed aboard the TSS EuripidesAustralian War Memorial. PB0662: Josiah Barnes collection of First World War negatives and prints. in May 1915 for Egypt. While stationed in Heliopolis, he was transferred to the Engineer Corps, and soon after landed at ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli, on September 13, 1915 aboard the TSS Knights Templar.
At Gallipoli, Howells served with the 5th Field Company, Australian Engineers, commanded by Major Vernon Sturdee, primarily involved in tunnel digging and the laying of explosives under Turkish trenches. On 29 September 1915, Howells was overcome by gas during a mine explosion but was saved by Corporal John Henry Precious.Bean, C. E. W. (1942). The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918: The Story of Anzac (Vol. 2). University of Queensland Press, p. 823. Howells was evacuated to Lamos island, then to Malta to be treated for "neurasthenia", then to England for recovery. During convalescence in England, he missed the birth of his daughter and the death of his father.Geelong Advertiser. (1918, July 27). p. 3.
World War I, Sinai and Palestine Campaign
After a brief recuperation in Australia, Howells returned to duty in Egypt, formed a bridging companyMcNicoll, R. (1982). The Royal Australian Engineers, 1902 to 1919. Australian War Memorial, pp. 112–113. www.awm.gov.au/collection/LIB13633. and joined the Desert Mounted Corps under General Sir Edmund Allenby. As a Captain of Engineers, he was responsible for critical logistical tasks, including repairing wells for the largely horse-mounted army and constructing makeshift bridges for the advancing Allied units to capture Jerusalem, Beersheba, Jericho and Damascus.
One of Howells' most significant accomplishments came during the campaign to cross the River Jordan. Allied forces wanted to sever the Turkish railway lines east of the Jordan RiverAllenby, E. H. H., Pirie-Gordon, H., & Army of Great Britain. (1919). A Brief Record of the Advance of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under the Command of General Sir Edmund H.H. Allenby, July 1917 to October 1918. (2nd ed.). London: H.M. Stationery Office. OCLC 17017063. and link up with the Arab Army, advised by T.E. Lawrence. While larger British bridging units failed due to swift water and Turkish fire, Howells’ unit, D Field Troop, Australian Engineers, with labor from 3rd Light Horse Regiment and 23rd Battalion Londoners successfully bridged the flooded river under heavy Turkish fire, on the night of 21–22 March 1918. This allowed mounted troops to cross and secure the east bank so more bridges could be constructed. For his heroism, Howells was awarded the Military Cross.MC Commonwealth of Australia Gazette 23 May 1919 pg 890 position 68. London Gazette 1 January 1919 pg 57 position 6 Several of his men were also recognized for their bravery, including Sapper S. Dawson MM, the first to swim across the river to secure ropes to the eastern bank, "Lance-Corporal F. Bell: of the engineers, repeatedly swam down stream under heavy fire, bearing the cables which were to hold the bridge in position",Official Histories of the First World War. (1941). Volume VII - The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914–1918. Chapter XXXIII: The Raid to Amman (10th ed.), p. 554. and Batman H.R.Y. McGuigan DCM, who accompanied Howells on nightly reconnaissance to the river to locate a site to attempt the crossing.London Gazette. (1919, January). Honors DCM.
Howells and his unit repaired and constructed bridges throughout the campaign, including innovative “barrel bridges” for which he was mentioned in Dispatches to King George. Late in the campaign, he like many others was hospitalized with malaria and dysentery. After the Turkish surrender in October 1918, Howells was selected as Officer Commanding War Records Section, tasked with collecting war diaries and historical trophies, much of which became the initial collection of the Australian War Memorial Museum. A pontoon from his bridge was located and returned to Australia in 1953 and is on permanent display in the War Memorial in Canberra.
Post-war life Upon returning to Australia in 1919,National Archives of Australia. Record: Edward John Howells. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au. Howells resumed his position at the Patent Office and enrolled in University of MelbourneIbid pg5 to study law. His marriage had become strained, partly due to his absence during the war,Letters of Edward John Howells, 1915 to 1923 RSL Victoria and correspondence with a German woman named Lydia Imberger, whom he had met and socialized with at the German Colony, Jerusalem during the war. She corresponded with him in German until his death.National Archives of Australia, 1948-1952 Eppinger Lydia, B78 4133185 RSL Melbourne, Letters from German woman in Jerusalem, to Captain E.F. (sic) Howells. Translated by M. Ramsay.
In 1921, Howells sought to return to military serviceNat. Archives https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=5257190&S=1&N=35&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5257190&T=P&S=2 pg 32. and was appointed to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). His duties involved traveling across AustraliaThe Argus (Melbourne, Wed 12 Aug 1936 Page 6 to test and recruit candidates for technical positions in the fledgling Air Force.The Advertiser Sat 11 Jul 1936 Page 8 Many Apply To Be R.A.A.F. Tradesmen Promoted to Wing Commander, Howells returned to Melbourne, but his ongoing mental health struggles led to him seek medical retirement in 1938.Howells Military Records, pg 19 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=5257190&S=1&N=35&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5257190&T=P&S=2
Personal life Howells married Beatrice Anne Marks on 26 October 1905 in Melbourne. The couple had three daughters. One, Dorothy Elaine Howells, wrote a daily journalHowells, Elaine. (1939). Elaine's Words - 1939 Journal (ed. R.A. Stewart). State Library of Victoria. https://archive.org/details/elaines-journal-final. traveling from Australia through Europe in 1939 to join her father, reaching London before war was declared. She dropped Dorothy and used the byline Elaine Howells while reporting from London during the war for Sir Keith Murdoch’s Melbourne Herald, and other Australian papers.Sydney Daily Mirror 1943 March 9, London. 1943-03-09. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C249401 While reporting from London, she met and later married an American Eagle Squadron pilot, Hubert L. Stewart.Haugland, Vern. (1979). The Eagle Squadrons: Yanks in the RAF, 1940–1942. Ziff-Davis Publishing, p. 101. They later settled in California.
Following his retirement in 1938, Howells quickly left for England and lived in Cambridge in 1938–39. He joined his daughter Elaine and wife Beatrice in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, after the war broke out. His fluency in German and his travels to DenmarkHowells, Elaine. (1939). Elaine's Words - 1939 Journal (ed. R.A. Stewart). State Library of Victoria. https://archive.org/details/elaines-journal-final pg. 106 just before Germany invaded Poland led to speculation of his involvement in British intelligence operations, though no unclassified records confirm this. Other officers operating at borders with Germany were kidnapped by the Nazis at the same time.The Scotsman. (1939, November 25). p. 13.
Howells' later years were marked by continued estrangement from his wife.State Library of Victoria. (1943). Election Rolls, Hawthorne, p. 84. He traveled to Paris, then alone to AmericaShips log "SS Veedam, Southhampton to US 1st Class non-immigrants, 29 March 1947 visa issued Paris on 1/30/47 Occupation: Retired Air Force Officer" twice and visited his daughter’s family in California. He ended up in an old soldiers' home in Heidelberg,The Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital. https://www.mhhv.org.au/the-heidelberg-repatriation-hospital./ outside Melbourne, where he died on 2 June 1959, age 77. His body was unclaimed, cremated, and his ashes scattered in the home’s rose garden.
Recognition Edward John Howells MC is remembered for his 28 1/2 years of military serviceNational Archives of Australia. Record for Captain Edward Howells. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au.https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=5257190&S=1&N=35&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5257190&T=P&S=2 pg 23 and contributions to the engineering efforts of the Australian forces in World War I. His achievements, particularly his role in the first bridging of the River Jordan, remain a significant part of Australia's military history.Who's Who in Australia. (1927–1944). Bib ID:1687417. Adelaide: F. Johns. ISSN: 0810-8226. - 1933/34 - p. 168. - 1935 - p. 244. - 1938 - p. 260. - 1944 - p. 444.
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