Profile

MILLS, David Calder
(Service number 6/1155)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank Private

Birth

Date 30/11/1893 Place of Birth Green Island, Otago

Enlistment Information

Date 19 August 1914 Age 20 years.
Address at Enlistment 2 Thomas Street, Temuka, NZ
Occupation Student
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin David Calder Mills, 2 Thomas Street, Temuka, NZ.
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Canterbury Infantry Battalion
Date 16 October 1914
Transport Tahiti or Athenic
Embarked From Lyttelton, Canterbury, NZ. Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Canterbury Infantry Battalion.

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 10 August 1915 Age 21 years
Place of Death Gallipoli, Turkey
Cause Died of wounds.
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Embarkation Pier Cemetery, Turkey
Memorial Reference Special Memorial C.60
New Zealand Memorials On Memorial wall, Timaru; Temuka RSA Roll of Honour; Temuka War Memorial, and Ashburton War Memorial

Biographical Notes

David Calder Mills was was born to parents David Calder Mills (Snr) and Margaret (nee McKinnon) on 30 November 1893. David (Snr) & Margaret had married in 1887 and the couple children included: John, Robert McKinnon, Mary McMillan, David Calder, Jane Calder, Douglas, Winifred, Smart, and James Fergus. David (Snr) appeared in NZ Electoral Rolls for 1905-06, 1911, 1914 and 1919, being listed as a labourer in Temuka. Initially his address was given as 2 Wilmhurst street, then 2 Thomas Street. By 1928 his occupation changed to being ‘Farmer’. Margaret died in 1923, followed by her husband David (Snr) in 1932. Both are buried in Temuka Cemetery.

David Calder Mills (Jnr) attended Waitati School, Otago. When his parents came to Temuka, David Calder was admitted to Temuka School on 9 June 1902. His last day there was 26 July 1907.

At the outbreak of the war David Calder Mills, single and a Presbyterian, enlisted on 19 Aug. 1914). His occupation was noted as ’Student’, with Canterbury Education Board. He was said to be well known in Ashburton and had been a Pupil Teacher at Hampstead School. His Medical Boarding recorded his physical description as 5ft 7in tall, fair complexion, with grey eyes and light brown hair. Private Mills, serial no.6/1155, embarked from Lyttleton on 16 October 1914, with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion, on the Tahiti or Athenic, bound for Suez in Egypt.

According to his personnel file, Mills was wounded in action at the Dardanelles, Gallipoli, on 10 August 1915. He died the same day.

Mills is remembered at Embarkation Pier Cemetery, Turkey. In NZ he is remembered on the Cenotaph on Queen Street, Timaru, as well as on the Temuka War Memorial, the Temuka RSA honours board, and on the Ashburton War Memorial.

David Mills' field service uniform tunic is part of the Canterbury Regiment Association Collection, held by Canterbury Museum, Christchurch (catalogue# EC186.2.59)

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [Accessed October 2014]; NZSG – School Records; NZ Archives – Personnel Record; CWGC; Assorted records form Ancestry.com incl: NZ WW1 Roll of Honour, Deceased Estates 1880-1950, NZ WW1 Nominal Rolls, NZ Electoral Rolls, Scotland Select Marriages 1561-1910, Select Scotland 1564-1950, 1841 Scotland Census; NZ BDM’s; PapersPast; Family Search – NZ Archives Passenger Lists; Timaru District Council – Cemetery database; Dunedin City Council – cemetery database; NZ History; SCRoll web submission from J Queree, 24 February 2015

External Links

Related Documents

Researched and Written by

Lesly Tennent, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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