Miller, Alfred

Bandsman, Trumpeter 3362 later Corporal

3rd Kings Own Hussars

Survived

Alfred Miller was born around 1878, probably in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea. From the Poor Law records his mother's name was Agnes and on the 1881 census Alfred was resident in Beechholme aged two with four siblings, their mother having died.

His father's name is unknown. On the 1881 census he was resident in Beechholme (Kensington and Chelsea District School) aged two along with his older brother Charles aged eight. There are three other children also with the surname Miller in Beechholme at this time but it can’t be ascertained if they were siblings.

On the 1891 census he was still a resident of Beechholme, his older brother having left. Alfred was sent out from Beechholme on the 29th of May 1893 aged fourteen to the 3rd Hussars Band. A follow up visit was carried out on the 12th of August 1896 where both Adjutant and Bandmaster report very favourably. Now at Aldershot.

Alfred enlisted on the 31^st of May 1893 and it states on his attestation form that he doesn’t know where he was born. His age is given as fifteen and his occupation as musician. He was four feet eight inches in height and was fair complexioned with blue eyes and fair hair. He had a scar on the back of his left hand . He was appointed Bandsman on the 20^th of March 1894.

His next of kin was given as his older brother Charles but his address was unknown.

Alfred served in India from September 1898 until December 1901 and then the regiment sailed for South Africa arriving in Durban in December 1901.

The work of the 3^rd Hussars is told in other soldier’s stories but they were employed in the last great drives of the Boer war, chiefly in the extreme north-east of the Orange Free Colony.

Alfred was entitled to the South African medal with Orange Free State, Transvaal and 1902 clasps.

After the war the regiment returned to India until 1907 and then back to South Africa until the end of 1911.

Alfred had been promoted to Lance Corporal and then to Corporal and he was also awarded long service and good conduct medals.

He was discharged in 1912 at his own request having served for eighteen years.

The following is an entry from his army service records dated 1912 .

Alfred married Lilian Firth on the 2^nd of September 1914 in Lincolnshire.

Their son also called Alfred was born in 1916. He was their only child.

Soon after the onset of the Great War Alfred re-enlisted on the 24^th of September 1914 into the 4^th Hussars serving at home. He was promoted to Corporal and was attached to the 2^nd City of London regiment at the cavalry depot.

He was demobbed in 1919.

It is not known when Alfred died.

Mills, John Henry

Trumpeter

Trooper 43260

18th Imperial Yeomanry

SURVIVED

John Henry Mills was born in Marylebone in 1880. This date was taken from Poor Law records but only the year of birth was given. He was the son of Charles Mills a stableman, later cab driver, and Agnes nee Haines. John had one older sister.

In 1881 John was living at 3, Flora Cottages, Boston Road, Croydon with his mother and sister. The head of the household was John’s paternal grandmother Mary Ann Mills a widow who was employed as a laundress.

John’s father isn’t listed on this census return.

Poor Law records show that John was admitted to the branch school in Hammersmith on the 15^th of October 1890 and transferred to Beechholme on the 14^th of August 1891. His mother was listed as Agnes .There is no mention of his father. On the 1891 census Agnes describes herself as a widow.

The next entry in the Poor Law records is John’s “Sending Out” on the 11^th of November 1895 to Messr R.H. & J. Pearson ironmongers. He was to live with his mother at 1, Dartmoor Street, Notting Hill.

The dates from these records correspond to the dates given in “ Beechholme, A Children’s Village” for J.H. Mills of “A” Cottage.

John was “ bound” for five years to serve his apprenticeship at the firm of ironmongers. Subsequent follow up visits as recorded in the Poor Law records show that on the 1^st of February 1897 he was satisfactory, but a later visit on the 27^th of January 1899 showed that his conduct had been unruly and that he had since run away and enlisted.

It would appear from army service records that John enlisted first with the 5^th Rifle Brigade, army number 4737, in London on the 20^th of December 1898.

He gave an address of 2a, The Mall, Palace Gardens Terrace and stated that he was working as a labourer at the Duke of Sussex in Notting Hill. It also states that he was born in Marylebone and his age was 18 years and 11 months. No next of kin was listed but the age and place of birth fit.  He was described as being 5 feet 3 inches in height and weighing 113 pounds. He had a fair complexion with brown eyes and hair. He had distinctive moles on his right cheek and chest and also on his right shoulder.

John was discharged on the conviction of a felony on the 21^st of March 1899.

The word “felony”as used at this time, particularly by the British army, could have been almost any crime ranging from theft to murder. Newspaper archives, trials and criminal records from this time show nothing of note, suggesting the crime to be a minor one.

According to the Beechholme Boer War panel John served in the 2^nd Boer War with the Imperial Yeomanry.

Unfortunately there are no surviving service records for John with this regiment, however, one record held by Ancestry under the collection “ South Africa, Second Boer War, British Service Register” lists J Mills of the 18^th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry  holding the rank of trooper. This matches the John Mills 30389 listed as being awarded the Queens South Africa medal with Cape Colony, Orange Free State and 1901 clasps. There is however no report of John being injured as stated on the Boer War panel.

This 18^th battalion were part of the 71^st company and were sharpshooters. Many Imperial Yeomanry volunteers had previous service with other units like the 3^rd London Rifles.

The Imperial Yeomanry were raised in December 1899 and embarked at Southampton on the 6^th of April 1900 landing at Beira, in Portuguese East Africa the same month where they joined the Rhodesian Field Force. The first contingent returned to Britain in June 1901 and were replaced by a second draft.

After the 2^nd Boer War the Imperial Yeomanry did not participate in any further conflicts and the individual companies returned to their British based Yeomanry regiments.

The 1903 report of His Majesty’s Commission on the war comments "On the whole the Imperial Yeomanry seem to have done very good service in the war, but to have suffered from the mistake which was made in not organising a system of drafts to maintain the strength of the force, a mistake due, in no doubt, like others, to the under-rating of the resisting power of the Boers and the belief in the speedy termination of the war. If this system had been organised upon a county basis a steady flow of selected men trained to ride and shoot at home could have been maintained, and the necessity avoided in sending out later 17,000 untrained and unorganised men to receive their education in the face of the enemy".

John cannot be traced on the 1911 census.

It is likely that this John Henry Mills is the same man listed on the school’s WW1 panel as extensive searches of Poor Law records fail to show another J. H. Mills. Again sadly there are no surviving service records but there is a medal index card in the name of John H. Mills Rifle Brigade, army number 707, supplementary regiment South Wales Borderers number 82540. This matches the regiment listed on the World War One panel.

The Rifle Brigade number of 707 indicates an enlistment between 1904 and 1905 so he may have been a reservist. He was awarded the Victory and British medals and as no date of entry was stated on the card it is likely he entered the theatre of war at the beginning of 1916. The medal rolls held by Ancestry reveal the regiment to be the 22^nd (Wessex and Welsh) Rifle Brigade. The battalion was made up of supernumerary territorial field companies formed from national reservists who were used for guarding vulnerable points in Great Britain.

The 22^nd regiment left England on the 3^rd of January 1916 on the Olympic landing at Mudros, a British base on the island of Lemnos, Greece and then sailed to Alexandria and were used for garrison duty of vulnerable points in Egypt.

The regiment of South Wales Borderers to which John was sent is unknown but the 4^th battalion had been evacuated from Gallipoli to Egypt due to severe losses from combat, disease and harsh weather. In Egypt they were used to defend sections of the Suez Canal moving to Mesopotamia and arriving in Basra in March 1916.

We do not know when John’s war service was complete but in the absence of a silver war badge must assume he served throughout the war.

He married Edith Annie Wilks on the 21^st of September 1918 at St Sepulchre, Walworth, perhaps while home on leave. His occupation is given as soldier. His father’s name is listed as Charles Mills cab owner. Both bride and groom were aged thirty-eight.

There were no children from this marriage.

The Beechholme book states that John had died by 1920 but no death in this country or with the army overseas could be found that tallied with his date of birth.

On the 1939 register he and his wife were living at 146 John Ruskin Street, Southwark, where his occupation was given as housekeeper.

John Henry Mills died on the 25^th of May 1942 in Lambeth hospital. He was aged 62. His occupation was listed as an offices housekeeper of the above address.

He died of a cerebral haemorrhage.