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A portrait photo of Ernie Kells. -
Ernie Kells (centre) with other International Drillers at "Maidan-i-Bibean" in Iraq. -
Ernie Kells (second from the right) poses with other International Drillers at Dehloran, Persia (modern Iran).
Ernest E. Kells (Ernie to his friends) left Petrolia on April 5th, 1922. Kells had started working on oil rigs in Lambton County at the age of 17. After spending a few years on unsuccessful oil explorations in New Brunswick and Quebec, at the age of 22 Kells was ready to make his mark as an International Driller. On April 5th he boarded a boat sailing from New York to Plymouth, England and after more than a month of travelling, he reached his destination - Ali Gharbi in modern-day Iraq.
The working conditions in Iraq were harsh, an average summer day could be 45 degrees celsius in the shade. Kells was not deterred by the heat and quickly found success in the Persian oil fields working for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
Ernest Kells in Persia
Video clip. An actor talks about Ernie Kells' experiences as an International Driller.
Duration: 2:23 - Transcription
Looking back on his time in the Middle East, Kells said, “I was young. I had good health. You’d get malaria fever occasionally but you’d get over that. We had different kinds of diseases…. cholera was the worst.”
While life was difficult working in the oil fields, Kells was rewarded handsomely for his work. In the 1920s Kells was making $312 a month working ten hours a day, six days a week. By contrast, the average Canadian wage for a male worker in the manufacturing industry was around $1800 a year. This means that Kells was making more than twice the national average working in the Middle East.
By June of 1931, Kells had had his fill of the heat and began a 31-day journey back to his home town of Petrolia. Nearly one year after Kells had returned home, he married Hazel G. Dodge, a local teacher, the pair settled in Petrolia where Kells purchased a local oil property.
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