Bombardier Billy Wells

For the British Olympic boxer in 1968, see William Wells (boxer). For the Walsall North Member of Parliament, see William Thomas Wells (politician).

"Billy Wells" redirects here. For the American football player, see Billy Wells (American football). For the Australian rules footballer, see Billy Wells (footballer).

Bombardier Billy Wells

Wells training in Rye, New York, before his 1912 contest with Al Palzer
Personal information
Nickname	Bombardier
Born	William Thomas Wells (1887-08-31)31 August 1887 St George in the East, London, England
Died	11 June 1967(1967-06-11) (aged 79) Ealing, London, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Boxing career
Weight class	heavyweight
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	48
Wins	37
Win by KO	34
Losses	11

William Thomas Wells (31 August 1887 – 11 June 1967), known as Bombardier Billy Wells, was a British professional boxer who competed at heavyweight from 1910 to 1925. The National Sporting Club (NSC) recognised him as British heavyweight champion from 1911 to 1919. He won the first heavyweight Lonsdale Belt and made fourteen defences of the NSC title.

Wells's proposed 1911 contest with the world heavyweight champion Jack Johnson was prohibited after a public campaign and government intervention. He later lost twice to Georges Carpentier in 1913. During the First World War, Wells served in France as a physical-training instructor. He resumed boxing after demobilisation and ended his career in 1925. Outside the ring, Wells published two boxing books and worked on screen between 1913 and 1957. He was one of several men filmed striking the gong in the trademark sequence shown before Rank films.

The historian Jack Williams described Wells as the most popular British sports star of the 1910s. Williams attributed his appeal to his appearance, modest public manner and careful promotion. Wells attracted audiences beyond boxing's established male working-class following.

Early life and army service

Wells was born on 31 August 1887 at 250 Cable Street in east London. He was baptised at St George in the East on 25 September 1887. His father, also William Thomas Wells, was a musician, and his mother was Emily Rhoda Wells, formerly Farrier. They had nine children; Wells was the eldest of five brothers. The 1891 census recorded Wells, aged three, with his parents and younger brother Alfred in St George in the East. By 1901 the family was living in Mile End Old Town, where his father was recorded as a music-hall musician.

On 9 January 1899, he was admitted to Ratcliff Broad Street School in Shadwell. Broad Street Boys' Club offered boxing, gymnastics, swimming, rowing, cricket and football. Wells's father taught music at the club, and Wells and his brother Alfred appeared in a 1901 gymnastics display. The historian Stan Shipley suggests that Wells received his first boxing lessons there from an instructor named Chambers. Wells boxed for the club between his final year at school and joining the army.

Wells's first job after leaving school was as a messenger for the Eastern Telegraph Company. He enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery in the summer of 1906 and spent his first months at a depot in Dover. His company was then sent to north-western India, where he joined the 6th Mountain Battery at Rawalpindi.

Wells began boxing for the army after the 6th Mountain Battery marched to Quetta. He won both the novice and open divisions of the divisional tournament. At Poona in March 1909, he defeated three opponents to win the All-India heavyweight championship. Before the next championships at Lucknow, Wells spent a month at the training camp of Jim Maloney, a professional boxer engaged to train soldiers, and won three further contests. He was promoted to bombardier while serving in India.

On Maloney's advice, Wells bought his discharge from the army for £21 (1910) (equivalent to £2,919 or US$3,730.76 in 2024). He left India before Maloney and reached Southampton aboard the troopship Passy in April 1910. Maloney later returned to London and became Wells's manager.

Professional boxing career

British title

Wells won his first professional contests in the summer of 1910, knocking out Gunner McMurray at Shoeburyness and Corporal Brown at Wonderland in Whitechapel. At King's Hall in Southwark, he then stopped Sergeant Sunshine in six rounds, Dan Voyles in ten and Seaman Fred Parsons in a little over two minutes. Harding writes that Wells's contract with the promoter Hugh D. McIntosh guaranteed him top-of-the-bill status after no more than a dozen contests. King's Hall was McIntosh's base while Olympia was being completed. Gunner Moir knocked him out in three rounds at Olympia in January 1911, Wells's first professional defeat. McIntosh billed the contest for the heavyweight championship of Great Britain, and Harding attributes the principal damage to body punches. In March, Wells outpointed Dan "Porky" Flynn over twenty rounds. Shipley treats the victory as establishing Wells as a challenger to Iron Hague.

Shipley's bout table dates Wells's contest with Hague at the National Sporting Club (NSC) in Covent Garden to 24 April 1911. The authors A. F. Bettinson and B. Bennison instead placed it towards the end of February. Harding writes that the club had offered Wells the contest for the first heavyweight Lonsdale Belt against Hague. He notes that the purse was one of the lowest for a belt contest, smaller than that for the bantamweight title and less than the total posted as side stakes. Wells knocked Hague out in the sixth round and became the belt's first holder. Bettinson and Bennison recorded that Hague was down three times in the final round, and that Wells received congratulations from Lord Lonsdale and the assembled members.

The historian Andrew Horrall connects Wells's rise to the development of the boxer as a music-hall celebrity. After his filmed defeat by Gunner Moir, Wells undertook nightly sparring exhibitions at the Euston Palace and Canterbury music halls, where he was promoted as a future champion. During the series of London contests that culminated in his Lonsdale Belt victory, he trained with a bodybuilder and received extensive coverage in the boxing and athletic press.

Proposed Jack Johnson contest

The promoter James White arranged for Wells to meet Jack Johnson at the Empress Hall, Earl's Court, on 2 October 1911. The scheduled purse was £8,000 (1911) (equivalent to £1.11 million or US$1.42 million in 2024). Supporters presented the proposed contest as a world heavyweight title fight. It also became part of the international search for a "white hope" to defeat the first black heavyweight champion.

Opposition was led publicly by the Baptist minister Frederick Brotherton Meyer and Charles Brown of the National Free Church Council. Their campaign described the contest as brutal and objected to its racial implications. It gained support from churchmen, local authorities, politicians and sporting figures. The London County Council warned the owners of Earl's Court that staging the contest could affect the renewal of the venue's licence.

The controversy also concerned the unsettled legal status of professional boxing. The historian Matthew Taylor notes that the racial meaning of the proposed fight has sometimes overshadowed the connected legal and social objections to commercial prize fighting.

The Home Office deemed the proposed contest illegal, calling it a breach of the peace and contrary to the interests of the nation and empire. On 28 September, the freeholders of Earl's Court obtained a High Court injunction under the terms of the venue's lease. White agreed not to stage the contest in the British Isles or other British territories, after which the Home Office dropped its proceedings.

The historian Theresa Runstedtler argues that the Wells–Johnson case became a precedent used against later interracial contests. She links the controversy to the development of the colour bar that excluded non-white boxers from British title contests until 1947.

Championship years

In December 1911, Wells met the South African Fred Storbeck at the club in a contest billed for an Empire heavyweight title, with a purse of £1,250 (1911) (equivalent to £173,750 or US$222,068.97 in 2024) and side stakes of £500 (1911) (equivalent to £69,500 or US$88,800 in 2024). Storbeck shook him in the fifth round, but Wells recovered and knocked him out in the eleventh. In May 1912, Wells travelled to New York with Maloney and his brother Sid. He lost to Al Palzer at Madison Square Garden, then knocked out Tom Kennedy in eight rounds three weeks later. Wells returned to the United States with his wife in 1913 after a proposed bout with Luther McCarty failed to materialise. Gunboat Smith knocked him out in the second round at Madison Square Garden.

Wells's first contest with Georges Carpentier at Ghent, 1 June 1913

Wells met Georges Carpentier twice in 1913. At Ghent on 1 June, Wells entered the first contest as the favourite, although Carpentier had fought 27 times during the preceding two years to Wells's seven. Carpentier knocked him out in the fourth round. Bettinson and Bennison later argued that Wells's shortcomings contributed more to Carpentier's British reputation than the Frenchman's own qualities. Before the return, Wells completed a ten-week run of three stoppage victories over Packey Mahoney, Pat O'Keeffe and Gunner Moir, totalling 33 rounds.

The return contest took place at the NSC on 8 December and was billed for the European heavyweight championship. Shipley records that Wells trained at Selsey Bill with O'Keeffe among his assistants and entered better prepared than before. Carpentier nevertheless moved inside Wells's long reach and attacked his body, winning by knockout after 73 seconds. Eugene Corri refereed. The author Kasia Boddy describes the result as a public test of contrasting British and French boxing styles. Bettinson and Bennison recorded that the return had been awaited with "feverish impatience", and judged Wells "a beaten man before hostilities began". Wells later gave different accounts of his state of mind. In 1914, he described waiting calmly before being taken aback by Carpentier's opening rush. In 1920, he said that he had been nervous before the contest.

On 16 March 1914, Wells and O'Keeffe boxed before King George V at a 2nd Life Guards tournament in the riding school at Albany Street Barracks, attended by nearly 1,500 officers and men. The Times stated that there was no record of a king of England having previously been present at the ringside. On 30 June, Wells knocked out Colin Bell in the second round at Olympia in a contest billed for the British Empire championship. Charles B. Cochran promoted the 10,000-seat event as "People's Night".

Wells was the NSC's recognised British heavyweight champion from 1911 to 1919 and made fourteen title defences. The boxing historian John Harding writes that a Lonsdale Belt could be won outright in two ways. One was to win three championship contests under the club's auspices, whether consecutive or not. The other, where no challenge was received, was to remain undisputed holder for three consecutive years. By the outbreak of war Wells had held the title for three years and had beaten all credible opponents. He nevertheless insisted on winning the belt inside the ring, and in December 1916 he stopped Dan Voyles in two rounds. Bettinson and Bennison recorded that the heavyweight belt had been contested only four times by 1922, three of them won by Wells. They attributed the scarcity to a shortage of able heavyweights and to the terms demanded by the division's leading men.

First World War service

Boddy writes that the patriotic press criticised Wells for continuing to box while Carpentier served in the French air force. Shipley identifies Wells's brother Alfred as a Rifle Brigade reservist who served with the British Expeditionary Force and was killed on 23 September 1914, aged 25. He records that Wells did not return to military service until May 1915 and gave changing explanations for the delay. These centred on supporting his wife, child and two teenage brothers, and on the loss of his boxing income. In March 1915, before Wells re-enlisted, Frank Moran knocked him out in the tenth round at the London Opera House. Wells re-enlisted while preparing for a bout with Dick Smith at the end of May. He was promoted to sergeant before Christmas 1915 and boxed four times in 1916.

In an Imperial War Museums oral history interview recorded in 1975, Percy Webb recalled training with the 7th (Reserve) Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment at Bovington Camp during 1916. Wells was the gymnastic instructor there and took the recruits for physical training, including early-morning runs of four or five miles around the camp. Webb described him as "very regimental", one of the men when off parade but strict on it. When a recruit refused to attempt the vaulting horse, Wells told four other men to throw him over, which Webb said he saw. Webb also recalled being put into the ring against a man he knew to be an experienced boxer. He said Wells stopped the bout as soon as the first punch bloodied his nose.

In 1917, Wells went to France and did not box professionally again until after the armistice. He served on the Physical Training and Bayonet Fighting Staff, attached to an Army headquarters. Wells visited camps to organise bayonet training and physical education, to discuss recreation and to referee boxing tournaments. By December 1918, he was a company sergeant major.

During the war he also appeared at charity events. At Ilford, he sparred with O'Keeffe in aid of the Belgian Fund. Corri recalled that the bout came close to a genuine fight, prompting O'Keeffe to shout, "Stop it, Billy – I'm not the Kaiser!"

The historians Tony Mason and Eliza Riedi place Wells at the Physical Training and Bayonet School at St Pol. The school trained officers and non-commissioned officers who then returned to their units as physical-training instructors. Boddy describes Wells's work in France as bayonet instruction. Wells entered the 2nd Division Boxing Tournament in 1917, where Private Fraser called him "skilful" but "not rugged enough".

Joseph Pickard, a private in the Northumberland Fusiliers, was wounded in the leg in October 1917 and convalesced at Trouville. In a 1986 Imperial War Museums oral history interview, he recalled that men recovering there could choose between a route march and a boxing lesson from Wells. Pickard took the boxing, and said Wells showed them how to defend themselves. He described Wells as "one of the nicest fellas" he had met.

In December 1918, the Imperial Services Boxing Association staged the British Empire and American Services Boxing Tournament over two days at the Royal Albert Hall. Although the entrants were professionals, contests were limited to three rounds and decided by three judges. Wells outpointed Leading Seaman Powell, Private Eddie McGoorty and Sergeant Joe Beckett to win the heavyweight competition. The British Army team won the King's Trophy. The Journal reported that this was the first time King George V had accorded boxing his patronage.

Later career and retirement

After demobilisation, Wells resumed his professional career. Beckett stopped him at Holborn Stadium on 27 February 1919. Shipley treats the result as ending Wells's NSC-recognised championship, while recording that the club initially refused to recognise Beckett because the bout had not taken place at Covent Garden. The club then matched Frank Goddard with Jack Curphey for its version of the title. Harding describes the club's response differently, stating that it declared the title vacant and matched Goddard with Curphey for a new belt. The author Guy Deghy gives another account, saying that the NSC continued to insist Wells was British heavyweight champion even though Beckett had defeated him twice. Bettinson and Bennison wrote that Beckett, having beaten Wells, "deemed a Lonsdale Belt beneath his dignity; there was not enough money in it for him".

After eight months without a contest, Wells returned under Cochran in October 1919, stopping Jack Curphey within five minutes at Holborn Stadium. Wells defeated Arthur Townley there the following month when the referee stopped their contest in the ninth round. In early 1920, Wells knocked out Harry Reeve in the fourth round at the Canterbury Music Hall. He then defeated Paul Journée in thirteen rounds at the Royal Albert Hall and knocked out Eddie McGoorty after sixteen rounds at Holborn Stadium. Cochran promoted Wells's rematch with Beckett at Olympia on 10 May as a contest for the heavyweight title. Beckett knocked Wells out in the third round. In September 1920, Wells travelled to France and stopped Journée again at Deauville, in a contest forming part of a four-day Anglo-French tournament. Wells was scheduled to meet Battling Levinsky at the Royal Albert Hall in January 1921, but Levinsky arrived with his arm in a sling after a training injury and the contest did not take place.

Wells returned for three contests in 1922. He stopped the Australian Albert Lloyd at the NSC in April. Frank Goddard knocked him out in the sixth round at Crystal Palace in May, and Jack Bloomfield did the same at the Royal Albert Hall in October. He retired after the Bloomfield defeat. In November 1924, Wells returned and knocked out Charlie Penwill in the second round at Hoxton Baths. On 15 December, Wells defeated Gunner Bennett at Liverpool Olympia when Bennett was retired in the ninth round. In early 1925, Wells defeated Soldier Horace Jones by disqualification in the sixth round at the Brighton Dome. Jack Stanley knocked him out in the third round at the Royal Albert Hall in his final contest on 30 April.

Later boxing activities

In June 1918, a British Boxing Board of Control was announced from the NSC's premises. A voting college of all past and present Lonsdale Belt holders selected Wells, Jim Driscoll and O'Keeffe as the first professionals to serve on the new Board. The three were also given a share of responsibility for administering the newly established Professional Boxers' Benevolent Fund, which assisted former professionals who had fallen on hard times.

While retired from boxing, Wells was reported to be training at the NSC gymnasium, where he sparred with and advised the future British heavyweight champion Phil Scott. In January 1924, Corri reported that Wells was opening a boxing school and planned to send lessons by post to pupils who could not attend in person.

In December 1938, thirteen years after his final professional contest, Wells returned to the ring at Earls Court for a mixed-rules contest with wrestler Chick Knight. Wells wore boxing gloves and could not wrestle, while Knight could wrestle but was barred from punching. Knight was disqualified after two minutes and fourteen seconds for punching. The contest was filmed by Pathé News for cinema exhibition. In 1966, Wells was guest of honour at the NSC.

Boxing style

Wells stood 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) tall. The boxing database BoxRec records him as an orthodox boxer. Shipley writes that Wells could end contests with a right-hand punch following one or two left leads, while his vulnerability against powerful opponents made his bouts unpredictable. Boddy gives Wells a height advantage of three and a half inches and a weight advantage of more than a stone over Carpentier. Shipley says that Carpentier gave away a stone in weight and several inches in height. Boddy identifies Wells's reach and left hand as his best-known assets.

The historian Jack Williams considered Wells fast and clever for a heavyweight and did not question his courage. He argued, however, that Wells lacked sufficient punching power against the strongest opponents and was vulnerable to sustained punishment to the body. Boddy similarly notes that Carpentier's close-range body attack neutralised Wells's reach and left hand. Bettinson and Bennison described Wells as a skilled boxer and hard puncher, but attributed his failures to temperament rather than a physical weakness around the waist. They wrote that his defeats contributed as much to his popularity as his victories. Harding quotes Bettinson describing Wells in The Home of Boxing as "a pleasing young man" who was "hopelessly out of court in any crucial contest".

Promotion and public image

Wells giving a boxing lesson to two Russian performers at the Alhambra music hall in Paris, January 1923

Wells's public image differed from that of the conventional professional fighter. Boddy writes that by 1913 he had become a boxer and music-hall performer who could be marketed through a borrowed public-school image. She reports that the writer Bohun Lynch judged Wells a scientific boxer who did not really like fighting. Boddy also quotes The Times, which argued after the second Carpentier defeat that British boxers needed in-fighting to match "Americanized experts" such as Carpentier. In January 1914, G. K. Chesterton called the match "the contest that proves nothing", arguing that nations could not be judged by picked specialists.

Shipley writes that illustrated newspapers made Wells's face familiar through portraits and action photographs, including to readers who had not seen him box. Wells endorsed commercial products, among them Guy's Tonic, but Shipley writes that he did not promote himself as a personality and guarded his privacy closely. Shipley also argues that Wells and Carpentier were presented as respectable husbands and sons, rather than only as fighters. Cochran marketed the Wells–Bell contest as "People's Night", with 10,000 reserved seats priced between five shillings and five guineas. Tickets were sold through West End offices and agencies, and could be booked by telephone. Shipley argues that the promotion sought established supporters and people new to boxing, including salaried workers. He considers women a small part of the audience, but suggests their approval helped present boxing as respectable recreation. The result entered music-hall comedy through the comedian Harry Weldon's catchphrase, "tell 'em what I did to Colin Bell". Boddy records that unreliable British shells were nicknamed "Billy Wells".

Shipley writes that no footballer or cricketer of the period approached Wells in popularity, and that no actor or author was half so well known. Williams describes Wells as the most popular British sports star of the 1910s and attributes his popularity to his physique, appearance, personable manner and modesty. He writes that Wells's public image benefited from the presentational skills of his manager Maloney, and that Wells was presented as a model husband and home-loving man. Williams argues that Wells was the first British professional boxing champion whose appeal extended beyond the male working class, including to women and middle-class spectators. Shipley likewise argues that Wells's results do not explain his long-term popularity. He links it to the pre-war growth of professional boxing and to Wells's heavyweight status, demeanour and appearance.

Writing and publications

Wells's 1911 manual Modern Boxing went through eight editions. Alongside his books, he wrote serialised articles for periodicals. A series appeared in Answers from 23 May to 27 June 1914 and another in Lloyd's Sunday News from 18 April to 16 May 1920. "My Life and my Fights" ran in 21 issues of Thomson's Weekly News during 1920 and totalled about 50,000 words. Shipley also records an eight-page pamphlet, How a Boxer should Train, from a British Library catalogue entry. He had not seen a copy, and the catalogue marked it as destroyed.

• Modern Boxing: A Practical Guide to Present-Day Methods (Ewart, Seymour & Co., 1911).
• Physical Energy: Showing How Physical and Mental Energy May Be Developed by Means of the Practice of Boxing (Werner Laurie, undated, probably 1923).

Film and screen work

The British Film Institute lists Wells's screen credits from 1913 to 1957. A 1916 advertisement promoted Kent, the Fighting Man under Wells's name and emphasised its boxing scenes and "touch" of real life. Pictures and Picturegoer reported in October 1918 that Wells and Judd Green were filming at the Tiger Film Company's studio under the producer A. E. Coleby, in a production it called The Straight Game. In February 1919 the magazine called him the star of Tiger's The Great Game. It reported that he had been offered a large salary to act in films in the United States.

Wells continued to appear on screen through the 1930s. In 1934, he appeared as a blacksmith in the trademark of Hammer Productions, striking a red-hot iron on an anvil. His appearance in King of the Damned is separately recorded in his Daily Telegraph obituary. A Picturegoer columnist wrote in January 1935 that Wells was working as a crowd performer in military costume. The writer doubted that any change of dress could disguise him. Picturegoer listed him in February 1939 among the announced cast of There Ain't No Justice. The same item said he had taken part in a stage fight in a play by Sebastian Shaw.

Wells was also one of several men filmed striking the gong in the trademark sequence shown before Rank films. He mimed the action, while the percussionist James Blades supplied the sound off screen. In 1945, a Picturegoer writer suggested Wells's life as a subject for a boxing film, and thought it a better theme than the Corbett biography Gentleman Jim. The table follows the British Film Institute listing except where otherwise cited.

Screen appearances

Year	Title	Role or notes
1913	Willie versus Bombardier Wells	Bombardier Wells
1916	Kent, the Fighting Man	John Westerley
1918	The Great Game	Lead role
1920	The Silver Lining	Jerrold O'Farrell
1926	The Game Chicken	Hen Pearce
1926	When a Man's a Prince	Commentary in the 1947 reissue version
1928	The Ring	Boxer
1933	Money Talks	Cast member
1935	King of the Damned	Appeared with Helen Vinson
1936	Beloved Impostor	Policeman
1936	Broken Blossoms	Boxing referee, uncredited
1936	Melody of My Heart	Referee in a fight sequence
1936	Excuse My Glove	Cast member; appeared in a promotional trailer reviewing the film
1937	Double Alibi	Constable
1937	Make-up	Ringmaster
1937	Concerning Mr. Martin	Commissionaire
1938	Sailing Along	Role not stated
1939	There Ain't No Justice	Role not stated
1942	The Day Will Dawn	Barman
1942	We'll Smile Again	Publican
1943	Happidrome	Ivan
1953	The Beggar's Opera	Hangman
1957	A Santa for Christmas	On-screen participant

Personal life and death

Wells married Ellen Kilroy at St Nicholas's Church, Tooting Graveney, on 7 September 1912. The register described Wells as a 24-year-old pugilist and Kilroy as a 16-year-old spinster; her father, Luke Kilroy, was a licensed victualler. The marriage took place between Wells's two visits to the United States. Shipley records that the couple lived in Mitcham, close to Kilroy's parents. They had five children before separating. Shipley notes that Wells rarely discussed his home life except when writing about training. In September 1964, Wells's son described him as "extremely fit" at 77 and said that he had marked his birthday by playing a round of golf.

Wells died suddenly at his home in Ealing on 11 June 1967, aged 79. His home was The Studio, 1b Florence Road, and he was cremated at Ruislip.

Boxing record

Professional boxing record

48 fights	37 wins	11 losses
By knockout	34	11
By decision	2	0
By disqualification	1	0

Shipley gives Wells a professional record of 37 wins and 11 losses in 48 contests. He records 34 wins by knockout or stoppage, two on points, one by disqualification, and all 11 losses by knockout. Shipley's chronological table includes the McMurray contest. His Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) entry identifies the Hague contest as Wells's eighth professional bout. Shipley records three Imperial Services Boxing Association (ISBA) tournament bouts in December 1918, which are listed separately below. Dates, venues and result classifications in the professional table follow Shipley.

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round(s)	Date	Location
48	Loss	37–11	Jack Stanley	KO	3	30 Apr 1925	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England
47	Win	37–10	Soldier Horace Jones	DQ	6	30 Jan 1925	The Dome, Brighton, England
46	Win	36–10	Gunner Bennett	RTD	9	15 Dec 1924	Olympia Theatre, Liverpool, England
45	Win	35–10	Charles Penwill	KO	2	24 Nov 1924	Hoxton Baths, Hoxton, London, England
44	Loss	34–10	Jack Bloomfield	KO	6	12 Oct 1922	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England
43	Loss	34–9	Frank Goddard	KO	6	27 May 1922	Crystal Palace, Sydenham, London, England
42	Win	34–8	Albert Lloyd	RTD	10	24 Apr 1922	National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
41	Win	33–8	Paul Journée	KO	17	7 Sep 1920	Deauville, France
40	Loss	32–8	Joe Beckett	KO	3	10 May 1920	Olympia, Kensington, London, England
39	Win	32–7	Eddie McGoorty	KO	16	8 Apr 1920	Holborn Stadium, London, England
38	Win	31–7	Paul Journée	KO	13	17 Mar 1920	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England
37	Win	30–7	Harry Reeve	KO	4	27 Jan 1920	Canterbury Music Hall, Lambeth, London, England
36	Win	29–7	Arthur Townley	RSC	9	2 Nov 1919	Holborn Stadium, London, England
35	Win	28–7	Jack Curphey	KO	2	17 Oct 1919	Holborn Stadium, London, England
34	Loss	27–7	Joe Beckett	KO	5	27 Feb 1919	Holborn Stadium, London, England
33	Win	27–6	Dan Voyles	RSC	2	18 Dec 1916	National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
32	Win	26–6	Dick Smith	RTD	9	26 Aug 1916	St James's Park, Newcastle, England
31	Win	25–6	Petty-Officer Curran	RTD	5	31 Mar 1916	Cosmopolitan, Plymouth, England
30	Win	24–6	Dick Smith	KO	3	21 Feb 1916	Golders Green Hippodrome, London, England
29	Win	23–6	Bandsman Rice	KO	1	27 Dec 1915	The Stadium, Liverpool, England
28	Win	22–6	Dick Smith	KO	9	31 May 1915	The Ring, Blackfriars, London, England
27	Loss	21–6	Frank Moran	KO	10	29 Mar 1915	London Opera House, London, England
26	Win	21–5	Bandsman Rice	KO	6	24 Feb 1915	Grand Opera House, Belfast, Ireland
25	Win	20–5	Dan McGoldrick	RTD	7	12 Feb 1915	Cosmopolitan, Plymouth, England
24	Win	19–5	Colin Bell	KO	2	30 Jun 1914	Olympia, Kensington, London, England
23	Win	18–5	Bandsman Rice	PTS	20	30 Apr 1914	The Stadium, Liverpool, England
22	Win	17–5	Albert Lurie	KO	7	2 Apr 1914	Canterbury Music Hall, Lambeth, London, England
21	Win	16–5	Bandsman Blake	KO	4	2 Mar 1914	London Palladium, London, England
20	Win	15–5	Gaston Pigot	KO	1	24 Jan 1914	Cardiff, Wales
19	Win	14–5	Gunner Rawles	RTD	10	14 Jan 1914	Theatre Royal, Belfast, Ireland
18	Loss	13–5	Georges Carpentier	KO	1	8 Dec 1913	National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
17	Win	13–4	Gunner Moir	KO	5	10 Sep 1913	Canterbury Music Hall, Lambeth, London, England
16	Win	12–4	Pat O'Keeffe	KO	15	4 Aug 1913	The Ring, Blackfriars, London, England
15	Win	11–4	Packey Mahoney	KO	13	30 Jun 1913	National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
14	Loss	10–4	Georges Carpentier	KO	4	1 Jun 1913	Ghent, Belgium
13	Loss	10–3	Gunboat Smith	KO	2	14 Mar 1913	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, United States
12	Win	10–2	George Rodel	KO	2	6 Dec 1912	King's Hall, Southwark, London, England
11	Win	9–2	Tom Kennedy	KO	8	18 Jul 1912	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, United States
10	Loss	8–2	Al Palzer	KO	3	28 Jun 1912	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, United States
9	Win	8–1	Fred Storbeck	KO	11	18 Dec 1911	National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
8	Win	7–1	Iron Hague	KO	6	24 Apr 1911	National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
7	Win	6–1	Porky Flynn	PTS	20	8 Mar 1911	Olympia, Kensington, London, England
6	Loss	5–1	Gunner Moir	KO	3	11 Jan 1911	Olympia, Kensington, London, England
5	Win	5–0	Seaman Parsons	KO	1	16 Nov 1910	King's Hall, Southwark, London, England
4	Win	4–0	Private Dan Voyles	KO	10	19 Oct 1910	King's Hall, Southwark, London, England
3	Win	3–0	Sergeant Sunshine	KO	6	15 Sep 1910	King's Hall, Southwark, London, England
2	Win	2–0	Corporal Brown	KO	3	23 Jul 1910	Wonderland, Whitechapel, London, England
1	Win	1–0	Gunner McMurray	KO	1	22 Jun 1910	Shoeburyness, England

Other recorded bouts

BoxRec lists 67 bouts, comprising 50 wins, 11 losses and six entries classified as no contest or no decision (NC/ND). The 19 entries below are not included in Shipley's 48-contest professional record. BoxRec marks seven of the early army-contest dates as uncertain. Shipley's table places the contests of September 1909 at Simla and those of February 1910 at Lucknow, with some results differing. Except where otherwise cited, the classifications and details follow BoxRec.

Bouts listed by BoxRec but not in Shipley's record

Result	Opponent	Type	Round(s)	Date	Location	Notes
Win	Joe Beckett	PTS	3	12 Dec 1918	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England	ISBA King's Trophy final; Shipley also records a three-round points win.
Win	Eddie McGoorty	PTS	3	12 Dec 1918	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England	BoxRec lists this as an Inter-Allied tournament semi-final in addition to the 11 December semi-final below. A contemporary report describes a single inter-Allied tournament in which Wells beat McGoorty in the semi-finals, and does not state the result method.
Win	Eddie McGoorty	PTS	3	11 Dec 1918	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England	ISBA King's Trophy semi-final; Shipley also records a three-round points win.
Win	Seaman Powell	PTS	3	11 Dec 1918	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, England	ISBA King's Trophy first series; Shipley also records a three-round points win.
NC/ND	E. V. Chandler	—N/a	3	20 Dec 1915	National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London, England
NC/ND	F. Ormered	—N/a	3	11 Sep 1915	Merthyr Rink, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
NC/ND	Frank Hagney	—N/a	3	21 Sep 1914	The Ring, Blackfriars, London, England
NC/ND	Pat O'Keeffe	—N/a	3	7 Sep 1914	Premierland, Whitechapel, London, England	BoxRec names O'Keeffe, but the contemporary report it cites instead describes an exhibition between Wells and Frank S. Hagney.
NC/ND	Jim Sullivan	—N/a	3	3 Oct 1912	The Ring, Blackfriars, London, England	BoxRec displays the round field as "3/3x2".
NC/ND	Jim Maloney	—N/a	3	23 Mar 1911	Garrison Theatre, Tidworth, England
Win	Gunner Joe Mills	PTS	6	8 Jun 1910	The Wells Club, Bond Street, London, England	Shipley instead records a six-round exhibition in June 1910.
Win	Private Clohessy	RTD	3	13 Feb 1910	Regimental Theatre, Rawalpindi, India	Date marked uncertain by BoxRec.
Win	Drummer Ness	PTS	3	5 Feb 1910	Central Gymnasium, Lucknow, India	BoxRec identifies this as the final of a heavyweight competition.
Win	Private Clohessy	PTS	3	14 Oct 1909	Regimental Theatre, Rawalpindi, India	Date marked uncertain by BoxRec.
Win	Sergeant Gale	KO	2	29 Sep 1909	Regimental Theatre, Rawalpindi, India	Date marked uncertain by BoxRec.
Win	Corporal Gouldburn	KO	1	28 Sep 1909	Regimental Theatre, Rawalpindi, India	Date marked uncertain by BoxRec.
Win	Private Tansell	KO	2	14 Jul 1909	Shimla, India	BoxRec lists an All-India heavyweight title and marks the date uncertain. Shipley instead records that Wells beat Turner, Jarvis and Tansell at Poona in March 1909 to win the All-India championship.
Win	Private Jarvis	KO	1	29 Jun 1909	Regimental Theatre, Rawalpindi, India	Date marked uncertain by BoxRec.
Win	Gunner Turner	KO	1	15 Jun 1909	Regimental Theatre, Rawalpindi, India	Date marked uncertain by BoxRec.

See also

• List of British heavyweight boxing champions

References

Sources

• Bettinson, A. F.; Bennison, B. (1922). The Home of Boxing. London: Odhams Press.
• Boddy, Kasia (2011). "A Straight Left against a Slogging Ruffian: National Boxing Styles in the Years Preceding the First World War". Journal of Historical Sociology. 24 (4): 428–450. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6443.2011.01413.x.
• Deghy, Guy (1956). Noble and Manly: The History of the National Sporting Club. London: Hutchinson.
• Harding, John (2016). Lonsdale's Belt: Boxing's Most Coveted Prize. Worthing: Pitch Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78531-254-0 (Kindle e-book).
• Horrall, Andrew (2001). Popular Culture in London, c. 1890–1918: The Transformation of Entertainment. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-5783-3.
• Loudcher, Jean-François; Day, Dave (2013). "The International Boxing Union (1913–1946): A European Sports and/or Political Failure?". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 30 (17): 2016–2030. doi:10.1080/09523367.2013.828038.
• Lynch, Bohun (1922). Knuckles and Gloves. London: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. Retrieved 28 July 2026 – via Project Gutenberg.
• Mason, Tony; Riedi, Eliza (2010). "Sport in the Great War". Sport and the Military: The British Armed Forces 1880–1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 80–109. ISBN 978-0-521-87714-5.
• Runstedtler, Theresa (2012). Jack Johnson, Rebel Sojourner: Boxing in the Shadow of the Global Color Line. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-27160-9.
• Shipley, Stan (1993). Bombardier Billy Wells: The Life and Times of a Boxing Hero. Whitley Bay: Bewick Press. ISBN 0-9516056-6-6.
• Shipley, Stan (6 January 2011). "Wells, William Thomas [called Bombardier Billy Wells] (1887–1967)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/53467.
• Taylor, Matthew (2013). "The global ring? Boxing, mobility, and transnational networks in the anglophone world, 1890–1914". Journal of Global History. 8 (2): 231–255. doi:10.1017/S174002281300020X.
• Williams, Jack (1994). "Review". Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies (Review of Stan Shipley, Bombardier Billy Wells: The Life and Times of a Boxing Hero). 26 (2): 389–390. doi:10.2307/4052365. JSTOR 4052365.

External links

• Boxing record for Bombardier Billy Wells from BoxRec (registration required)

External videos
Archival footage of Wells
Wells at Brighton (1914–1918), British Pathé
Wells training (1915), British Pathé
Wells fighting and training in April 1919, in This Day – April 29th, British Pathé
Wells in a boxer-versus-wrestler contest at Earls Court, British Pathé
Wells at the National Sporting Club's 75th anniversary (1966), British Pathé