Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918

Five Australian officers pose in front of the pyramids in Egypt, December 1915.  Lt C B Mills

is on the far right.  Australian War Memorial Collection. http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/P00620.003

Mills C B      2nd Lt        Cecil Beaumont               23 Inf Bn    34    Bank manager    Married    C of E       

Address:   Moonee Ponds, Ardmillan Rd, 10 "Gowrie" (Mills wrote to his wife at this address while still at

                                                                                Broadmeadows 1915, c/- Mrs Wragge)

                 Ascot Vale,  Mt Alexander Rd, ES&A Bank, c/- (business address)

Next of Kin:    Mills, E S, Mrs, wife, C/- Dr A Burne “Kinellan”, Dally St, Waverley, NSW   

Enlisted:    16 Sep 1915       

Embarked:     A38 Ulysses 27 Oct 1915 

Date of death:  04/08/1916  Lieutenant 23 Bn

CWGC: "Son of John Beaumont Mills and Esther Mills, of "Finellan", Dalley St., Waverley, New South Wales. Born at Shellharbor, New South Wales".

VILLERS-BRETONNEUX MEMORIAL

Late Lieutenant Mills.

 
Mr. J. W. Russell has received a letter from Lieut. Mills , formerly of Wol-
longong, who fell in the west. It is dated France, July 17th: —
He writes:

Yours of 2nd May blew along to-night. We stopped over to-day in this village
and for a wonder I'm not even orderly officer, so to-night I am dropping a wee
note to everyone I can. Have been on the track for the last
ten days; our division has been shifted down to the scene of the Big Offensive.
They are at it Hell and Tommy now, about 15 miles in front of us, so it is
quite on the cards we will catch up within the next couple of days.
The route marching has toned down our nerves; for the last three months
we were never out of shell range. Half that time was spent in front trenches,
and the remainder in reserve. When resting in reserve we were nearly always
digging trenches, or laying cables about a mile in the rear of the front line, and
we were always getting strafed. During our last four days in the trenches we
had to sit tight under 22 bombardments. Have been cracked three times so far,
but never enough to go off duty . An 8.2 burst within ten yards of me, fortu-
nately in soft ground, otherwise little Willie would have gone on a bigger
journey with a single ticket; it took me a week to dig the dirt out of my ears.
Am keeping fit, have never been off duty for five months on account of ill-
health.

I got my second star at the beginning of May. Things are going on O.K. for us; if
we can only keep the artillery fit, the bally war should soon be over. We can
take the trenches any time so long; as the artillery preparation is adequate.
Good-bye; hope you don't see me in the casualty reports, but there is a big
chance of it.

Late Lieutenant Mills. (1916, September 29). South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus

(NSW : 1900 - 1954), p. 8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141651442

Cecil Mills wrote the following letter to his wife Effie, to be delivered to her only in the event of his death. He gave into the care of his brother until such time as it was needed. 

Effie did not care to marry again, and she died in 1970 aged 87, a widow for 54 years.

Australian War Memorial Collection:

PR00932 Letters

Title  Mills, Cecil Beaumont (Lieutenant) 1881-1916

Letters written by Lt Cecil Beaumont Mills to his wife Effie Sara (nee Burne) during his First World War service; letters to Effie from her brother Lt Harry Burne concerning her husband's death. Other items in the collection include notes on Mills' son John and his visit to Pozieres in 1995.

Note: these items are now digitised on the AWM website.

Mentioned in this publication:

Heritage:  Newsletter of the Blue Mountains Association of Cultural Organisations Inc.  Issue 12, Nov-Dec 2010, p 7

Venn, Walter. Comrades in arms : a commemoration of those recorded on the 1914-1918 Honour Roll in the Glenbrook Public School.  Glenbrook & District Historical Society.  Glenbrooks, NSW: 2003

Send-off by the North Suburban Club, in the Essendon Gazette  14 Oct 1915.

War Service Commemorated

Essendon Town Hall L-R

Gordon Lodge

North Suburban Cycling Club*

St Thomas' Anglican Church*

St Thomas' Memorial Hall

Anzac Honoured Dead 4 Aug 1916

Essendon Gazette Roll of Honour killed

Glenbrook Public School, NSW

Register of War Memorials in NSW