British War Medal 1914-20 : Major J B Mills, 2 Field Artillery Brigade, AIF

Place Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Anzac Area (Gallipoli), Quinn's Post Area, Quinn's Post
Accession Number REL35531
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Medal
Physical description Silver
Maker Unknown
Place made United Kingdom
Date made c 1920
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

British War Medal 1914-20. Impressed around edge with recipient's details.

History / Summary

John Brier Mills was born in May 1870. He was serving as a major in the militia with 38 Artillery Battery and practising as a barrister in Perth when he enlisted in the AIF on 28 August 1914. He retained his rank, and after initial training embarked with No. 6 Battery of the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade aboard HMAT Shropshire (A9) at Melbourne on 20 October 1914.

After further training in Egypt his unit was in action from the very start of the Gallipoli campaign. Major Mills died of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, which he sustained in action near Quinn's Post on 30 May, 1915, and was buried at Gully Beach Cemetery. After the war his grave was exhumed and moved in a large project undertaken by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, in which Gully Beach was one of six small cemeteries moved to Pink Farm Cemetery at Helles.