Robert Gabriel Mills (1920 - 1942)

Born 21 Oct 1920 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Died 1 Jul 1942 at age 21 in At Sea

Robert Mills was a Prisoner of War during World War II.

Robert Mills died as a prisoner of war on the Montevideo Maru during the Second World War.

Biography

Robert claimed he was born in Apr 1918, but was born in Oct 1920 in Sydney, NSW. He preferred to be called Bobby.

He was an orphan^[1] and grew up in the St Vincent de Paul Orphanage in South Melbourne, Victoria where he grew to prominence as a boxer.^[2]

Bobby was a gifted amateur boxer, well known in boxing circles around Australia. He was undefeated amateur flyweight champion of Victoria in 1940.^[3] He was outpointed by the NSW Champion in a fight in Brisbane, QLD in May 1940.^[4][5]

Bobby enlisted in the Australian Army for overseas service at Caulfield, VIC on 07 Jun 1940 (aged 19, but claiming to be older) as a Private (VX23962). At the time he was single, a labourer and was living in South Melbourne. He had brown hair and blue eyes.

Although initially identified for 2/14th Bn he was posted to 2/22nd Bn on 17 Jul 1940.

He entrained from Victoria for Sydney on 11Mar 1941, embarking there on HMT "Katoomba" on 12 Mar 1941 for Rabaul, New Britain in the Territory of New Guinea and disembarking there on 28 Mar 1941. His Battalion was to form the core of "Lark Force" for the defence of the Territory. He was in hospital in Rabaul several times, including for malaria.

Bobby won the Bantamweight AIF boxing contest in Rabaul in 1941.^[6]

Bobby's birth date was an open secret - he wrote a letter from Rabaul in late 1941 (probably around Oct-Nov) that mentions he'd recently had his 21st birthday there.^[7]

After the Japanese invasion of 23 Jan 1942 he was captured on the Lassul Bay coast and became a Prisoner of War, initially held at Rabaul. Japanese records have him as a part of C Coy.

He was among those who were able to write a carefully scripted letter advising he was a POW. In his case he wrote to his sister, Mrs F Turner of South Melbourne. The letters were dropped from a Japanese plane over Port Moresby, Papua.^[8]

He died on board the "Montevideo Maru" when it was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of the Philippines on 01 Jul 1942, en route from Rabaul to Hainan where he was destined for forced labour.

Sources

1. ↑ Bobby Mills Presumed To Be Bead (1945, November 28). Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 - 1954), p. 16 (Edition2 : BOXING SECTION). Retrieved May 5, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article178102756
2. ↑ Amateur, Boxing Champion Enlists (1940, June 15). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 18. Retrieved May 5, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206761542
3. ↑ Undefeated Champion (1940, May 11). The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), p. 16 (SPORTS FINAL). Retrieved May 5, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article184330308
4. ↑ BOXING. (1940, May 20). Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved May 5, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42256824
5. ↑ Bobby Mills Joined Up (1940, June 19). Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 - 1954), p. 12 (Edition2 : THE SPORTING GLOBE BOXING SECTION). Retrieved May 5, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188807807
6. ↑ A.I.F. TOURNEY (1941, November 12). Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 - 1954), p. 12 (Edition2 : BOXING SECTION). Retrieved May 5, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article181717181
7. ↑ MAIL BAG (1941, December 24). Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 - 1954), p. 15 (Edition2). Retrieved May 5, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article181720517
8. ↑ Red Cross POW Enquiry cards - https://gallery.its.unimelb.edu.au/imu/imu.php?request=multimedia&irn=75383

• Birth - NSW BDM Birth index - MILLS ROBERT; 40820/1920; ROBERT; CECELIA; SYDNEY

• WW2 Australian Army Service File - National Archives of Australia - MILLS ROBERT GABRIEL : Service Number - VX23962 : Date of birth - 26 Apr 1918 : Place of birth - SYDNEY NSW : Place of enlistment - CAULFIELD VIC : Next of Kin - BLACK MARY - http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=6207044

• Roll of Honour - Australian War Memorial - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1683923

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission - https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2616045/mills,-robert-gabriel/