Wallace Hickford Mills (7 January 1915 – 24 November 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1]
Family
The son of Frederick Mills (1880–1966),[2] and Emily Louisa "Emma" Mills (1866–1949), née Hickford,[3] Wallace Hickford Mills was born in Middle Park, Victoria on 7 January 1915.[4]
He married Edith Jane Edward (1915–2003) in 1939.
Football
He played in one First XVIII match for St Kilda: against Footscray, at the Junction Oval, on 24 July 1937. He was promoted from the Seconds, and replaced Ken Mackie.[5][6] He was relegated to the Seconds for the next week's match.[7]
Military service
He enlisted for service in the Australian Military forces on 4 December 1939, and served overseas in the Middle East.[8]
Death
He was killed in a motor accident in Far North Queensland while serving with the 2/41st Light Aid Detachment, Australian Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.[9][10]
On 24 November 1943, Mills was fatally injured when the army truck he was riding in collided with a Royal Australian Air Force truck on the Innisfail-Cairns road. He died later that day at a hospital in Gordonvale.[11][12]
He was buried at the Atherton War Cemetery.[13]
See also
Notes
- ^ Holmesby & Main (2007).
- ^ Deaths: Mills, The Age, (Tuesday, 26 July 1966), p.18.
- ^ Deaths: Mills, The Age, (Tuesday, 22 March 1949), p.2.
- ^ Roll of Honour Circular, collection of the Australian War Memorial.
- ^ Warne-Smith, I., "Aims at Surprising St. Kilda", The Argus, (Saturday, 24 July 1937), p.24.
- ^ Teams Chosen: St. Kilda v. Footscray, The Argus, (Friday, 23 July 1937), p.17.
- ^ League Seconds, The Argus, (Friday, 30 July 1937), p.18.
- ^ Service Record.
- ^ "Service and Casualty Form". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "Roll of Honour: Wallace Hickford Mills". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ "St Kilda players who died at war". bigfooty.com. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- ^ Deaths: Mills, The Age, (Saturday, 11 December 1943), p.9.
- ^ Warrant Officer Class II Wallace Hickford Mills (VX2998), Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
References
- Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 9781920910785.
- World War Two Nominal Roll: Warrant Officer Class II Wallace Hickford Mills (VX2998), Department of Veterans' Affairs.
- World War Two Service Record: Warrant Officer Class II Wallace Hickford Mills (VX2998), National Archives of Australia.
External links
- Wallace Mills's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- Wallace Mills at AustralianFootball.com
