2nd Lieut. James Stokes MILLNER .. a possible non-comm

[Creafield]

Greetings All

For the past seven years I have been researching and visiting the 300+ boys from my old school (Sydney Grammar School, Australia) who are commemorated on the schools World War 1 Memorial. I have discovered a few boys who are on the Memorial, who are not on the CWGC listing.

I have a rough idea of the protocol required, but I would like to run their names and histories past the members here for comment.

James Stokes Millner

Enlisted from Sydney University, as a graduate engineer, in the 'Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force' on 11th August 1914. He went to New Guinea as a Pte., and returned with no apparent injury as a Lance Sergeant. It appears the volunteers were on a 'contract' of about 6 months, James was discharged (time expired) in March 1915.

He re-enlisted October 1915, embarked January 1916 and arrived in Egypt in February 1916 as a 2nd Lieut. in the 7th Field Coy Engineers

T.O.S at Tel-El-Kebir on 18/03/1916, he was amost immediately sent back to Cairo (22/03/1916) for ‘Deafness’

Proceedings of the Medical Board found him to be “permanently Deaf and recommends he be discharged form service as Permanently Unfit”

He was sent back to Australia in April 1916. His appointment was terminated on 22^nd August 1916. He was awarded the usual medals.

JSM died 25^th April 1919

There is no further mention of his history in the National Archives after August 1916

After much searching I found relatives, when he died (25/04/1919) and a couple of newspaper references to him in 1918 and 1919

Sunday Times - 17^th March 1918 --- Mrs. W. J. Millner is at present on the Mountains with her son, Mr. James Millner, whose health has been unsatisfactory since his return from Rabaul, where he went with the first expedition from Sydney.

SMH - 20^th June 1919 -- Major T. G. Millner, M.C, was met by his father, Mr. W. J. Millner, president of the Metropolitan Water Board. Enlisting shortly after the commencement of the war, this winner of the Military Cross went away as a lieutenant. A soldier brother, Sapper William Millner, is still waiting to come home. Lieutenant James Stokes Millner, civil engineer who was the first of Mr. W. J. Millner's sons to join the colours, went with the Australians to Rabaul, and afterwards to Egypt.

Returning to Sydney invalided, this young officer died in April last, never having thrown off the effects of malarial fever contracted in New Guinea.

The presumption was that JSM died from Malaria and his death certificate confirms this:

“Heart failure following Tuberculosis of Lung and Malaria”

Now Tuberculosis was a disease that could be contracted in Sydney, Australia, not Malaria. Malaria is a waxing and waning disease and the common form in New Guinea is P. Falciparum, with a particularly high level around Rabaul where the AN&MEF were in the Wet season 14/15.

The symptoms often resemble Flu with damage over time to internal organs. Of interest one of the myriad symptoms can be an intermittent deafness.

The question I ask is James Stokes Millner deserve to be commemorated on the Australian and CWGC Honour Rolls?

[John_Hartley]

I don't know the criteria for the Australian War Memorial, etc but his qualification for CWGC looks very doubtful to me. For that, there needs to be a clear link between cause of discharge and cause of death. That doesnt seem to apply in this case, with the cause of discharge being "deafness".

However, the mention of malaria is a valid point. Is there any mention of it at all in his service papers? If so, I think there would be a strongish case. If not, then the case will be significantly weaker as the case would have to be made that it must have been contracted whilst on service, without being able to present any evidence that it actually was.

Would you be intending to make this submission to CWGC yourself - in this the In From the Cold Project may be able to give you further advice (contact us through our website - see link in my signature). Assuming we agree that it's a likely success, the Project would be hapy to make the submission on your behalf.

John

[Creafield]

John ... Apologies for not getting back yesterday ... was off the 'puter air all day with no electricity (living in rural Australia can be annoying at times)

Thanks very much for the information. I was going to submit to the Office of Australian War Graves ... part of the Australian Department of Veteran Affairs. As I understand it this is the equivalent of UK's MOD and CWGC. If the submission is successful to the OAWG then it's my understanding it will, automatically, be put up with the CWGC.

I will do more research on Malaria in Australia, however I'm 99.9% sure Australia did not have Malaria endemic south of the Tropic of Capricorn, also we do not have the Mosquito spp. that carries P Falciparum. In my mind I am convinced that JSM caught Malaria in Rabaul.

Shortly after I graduated in Veterinary Science I went to Africa and saw the effects of Malaria, mainly in southern Sudan. It was most interesting how the symptoms could be at a 'low level' for some time, in the meantime doing a lot of inapparent damage to the spleen in particular.

What concerned ME in particular was how some of my friends developed symptoms even though they were on preventative. And, as with many insect transmitted diseases, the early symptoms could be masked as just feeling 'unwell' or having a mild flu.

What I will need to do is to try and find more information on the 'medical exam' in Egypt for JSM

I will contact the IFCP, thanks for the suggestion, in the meantime I will ferret away at these jobs.

Regards

Philip C

[Creafield]

I forgot to ask whether I should submit my second 'non-comm' to this list or directly to the IFCP??

Regards

Philip C

[John_Hartley]

Philip

Please contact us direct. A forum post can be missed and slip through the net. .

John

[Creafield]

Greetings All

After submitting the application 5 months ago I received the following letter from the Australian Department of Veterans Affairs yesterday.

It came out of the blue and was quite a shock.

In a quiet moment of reflection I felt a wave of emotion that another casualty of War has been recognized. I understand the feelings that all in the 'in from the cold' project feel ... keep up the good work.

Thanks to John H.

[SteveMarsdin]

RIP 2nd Lt Millner.

Well done Philip and once more thanks to John (and the others helping at IFCP)

[John_Hartley]

A welcome result, although I confess to being a bit surprised at it (I really didnt think this would be a runner)

[Creafield]

Greetings All

I agree John H .. After what you said above in post #2 I was concerned it would be difficult to make a 'clear link between discharge and cause of death' . However I was convinced that the cause of death and his service in New Guinea (Malaria) was linked. I didn't really believe he acquired the Malaria in Tel-El-Kebir (Egypt) when he was there as it would have been too cold. I was there in late May 2013 and it was fearsomely HOT and DRY. Although there were a few mosquitoes around and I DID take prophylactic.

Below is the complete submission for those interested.

Another boy, Edward George Gordon BAKER, who I submitted at the same time, I have not yet heard. He was a 2nd Officer on the 'SY Aurora' lost at sea between Australia and New Zealand. His mother made application for British mercantile war medals and was successful ... it was interesting on the application the conditions of service and location, in Australian waters, that was required for these medals.

Scott W wrote up an excellent, extensive history of this boy which I based my submission on.

EGGB's reference in the Australian National Archives ('Basic search') is accessed by searching GORDON-BAKER in the Keywords, date range 1914 - 1930:

Item Barcode = 9576417

Control Symbol = 125 (note .. not his name as expected)

Series # = A11789

In Australia there appears to be only one person doing these non-comm appliactions .. apparently there are not very many at the moment I expect this to become greater as the 'WW1 celebrations' go on here in Australia ... some Historians in Australia are calling it 'Anzackery'

The person is in Canberra and her name is Sbroja, Melanie <Melanie.Sbroja@dva.gov.au> ... of course I accidentally give her name.

2nd Lieut. James Stokes MILLNER

Attachments:

1. Certified copy of Death Certificate. Note cause of death is given as Heart failure following Tuberculosis of lung and Malaria. Inquest unnecessary

2. A & B. Copy of JSMs enlistment form in the Australian Naval and Military Expedition. His medical examination appears cursory.

3. A & B. Copy of JSMs enlistment form for the AIF.

4. Copy of JSMs Casualty Form Active Service

His B2455 War service records are on the National Archives of Australia under MILLNER, James Stokes

James Stokes Millner enlisted from Sydney University, as a graduate engineer, in the 'Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force' on 11th August 1914. He went to New Guinea and returned with no apparent injury. It appears the volunteers were on a 'contract' of about 6 months, JSM was discharged (time expired) in March 1915.

He re-enlisted in October 1915, embarked January 1916 and arrived in Egypt in February 1916.

T.O.S at Tel-El-Kebir on 18/03/1916, he was almost immediately sent back to Cairo (22/03/1916) for Deafness.

Proceedings of the Medical Board found him to be permanently Deaf and recommends he be discharged form service as Permanently Unfit. I have not been able to access the usual medical board files on him (see Appendix 4)

He was sent back to Australia, and arrived on 12th April 1916. His appointment was terminated on 22nd August 1916. He was awarded the usual medals. There is no notation that he is entitled to a pension, nor are there any papers attesting to cause of deafness.

I suspect that due to the wealth of his parents it was not the done thing to apply for a pension for deafness when so many were killed and wounded.

There is no further mention of his history in the B2455 file after August 1916

After much searching I found relatives, the date of his death (25/04/1919) and a couple of newspaper references to him in 1918 and 1919

I was supplied with a certified copy of his death certificate which states:

Heart failure following Tuberculosis of Lung and Malaria, Inquest unnecessary.

JSM died 25th April 1919 and was buried in the Thirlmere General Cemetery on the same day, a common practice in the early part of the 20th century.

Using Trove I found some references to J S Millner. The following is a transcript of each article relating to JSM and can be verified.

Sunday Times (Sydney) - 17th March 1918 --- Mrs. W. J. Millner is at present on the Mountains with her son, Mr. James Millner, whose health has been unsatisfactory since his return from Rabaul, where he went with the first expedition from Sydney.

SMH - 20th June 1919 -- Major T. G. Millner, M.C., was met by his father, Mr. W. J. Millner, President of the Metropolitan Water Board. Enlisting shortly after the commencement of the war, this winner of the Military Cross went away as a lieutenant.

A soldier brother, Sapper William Millner, is still waiting to come home. Lieutenant James Stokes Millner, civil engineer who was the first of Mr. W. J. Millner's sons to join the colours, went with the Australians to Rabaul, and afterwards to Egypt.

Returning to Sydney invalided, this young officer died in April last, never having thrown off the effects of malarial fever contracted in New Guinea.

DISCUSSION:

Tuberculosis was a disease that could be contracted in Australia during the period around World War 1. The most common form was intestinal from drinking contaminated milk. When I initially graduated as a Veterinarian in 1972 a significant part of the business of the Veterinary practice was testing Dairy Cattle for TB, which was effectively eliminated from the Australian Dairy Herd by 1975.

However Tuberculosis of the lung is a less common version and could be related to any condition of stress and crowding of people. A condition I would expect on the ship carrying JSM to Rabaul and back. Tuberculosis of the lung is unlikely to cause death in a fit and healthy young adult male. It is more likely to lead to chronic wasting and death by middle to late age.

I do not submit that his death was caused by Tuberculosis related to war service.

Malaria is a protozoan parasitic disease transmitted by Mosquitoes from an infected human to a susceptible human. It is a disease caused by parasites of the Plasmodium family. There are several varieties that cause mild to severe illness and one, P. Falciparum, that causes the vast majority of deaths.

This variety is endemic to Rabaul in the New Britain Islands where the AN&MEF were sent in 1914.

Malaria requires a specific variety of mosquito to transmit it, which is the reason Malaria has never been endemic to Australia.

The mosquito vector for Malaria in South East Asia and New Guinea is Anopheles Punctulatus. This spp. does not survive in Australia.

So JSM could ONLY have caught Malaria in Rabaul when stationed there over the Summer of 1914/15. He could NOT have caught Malaria while resident in Australia, and there is no family records of him ever being outside Australia apart from his service in New Guinea and briefly in Egypt with the AIF.

In 1915 there was no effective treatment for a susceptible human who had a high parasite count.

The disease, Malaria, is a waxing and waning disease. The symptoms often resemble Flu with damage over time to internal organs. Of interest one of the myriad symptoms of Malaria can be an intermittent deafness caused by irritation and damage to the Auditory nerve.

I submit that Lt. James Stokes Millner died in 1919 from Malaria contracted in Rabaul in 1914/15, complicated by Tuberculosis of the lung. His death was as surely related to war service as if he had been killed in action.

Of course there are various discussion points that could be raised in relation to his death. I am happy to discuss any issue that you may have with this submission.

2nd. Lieut. James Stokes MILLNER

Date of Death: 25th April 1919

4th Division Engineers AIF

Parents .. William James and Matilda Millner

Born at Marrickville, Sydney, 1891

[John_Hartley]

Having been proved wrong with Millner, I hesitate to make this comment about Baker but he seems to me another one that doesnt meet the criteria. Commemoration for a merchant seaman relies on a death caused by enemy action and there seems to be only speculation that this is the case.

[Creafield]

John's comments got me thinking about criteria for acceptance as war dead (of any war)

In the UK it appears that the CWGC lists ALL war dead from all the Commonwealth countries breaking them down into the various categories

A civilian section which lists NO deaths for WW1, but 67,000 deaths associated with WW2. What about the WW1 civilian deaths associated with the Zeppelin air raids?

A miscellaneous section which includes Nurses at VAD and munitions workers

Of course the regular sections one would expect which include KIA, DOW, DOD and died as a POW .. either disease or execution.

In the regular section is Lt Col. F D W Oatley (an old boy of SGS) .. who died of disease in March 1919 in Sydney (gangrene of the lung due to a HYDATID cyst plus the effects of gassing in WW1). I highlight Hydatid cyst as this is a condition that was quite common amongst farmers/graziers in Australia even to this day, certainly not related to war injurie. So in effect he died due to a combination of problems as so often happens amongst younger people. Of interest is that Oatleys FULL death certificate is in his records. He was accepted by the CWGC and Australian Roll of Honour as died as a result of war related injuries in 1920.

Another soldier on the CWGC & the Roll of Honour is Alexander Hamilton, who went, with the AN&MEF as a Bugler. Became a sanitary inspector and then RTA & was discharged in April 1919. He died 19/05/1919 from Influenza (the worldwide flu pandemic). I suspect he was placed on the register when there was a mixup with his medals because of his death. So in 1920 accepted or not seems pretty fluid.

I have amongst the SGS boys one whose parents made application for acceptance, but he was rejected at the time as NOT definitively due to a war related injury ... I will check his circumstances

I contrast these two acceptances with Millners omission. I strongly suspect because he wasnt put up for inclusion at that time. I have no doubt he would have been accepted for inclusion with the death certificate stating Malaria.

A brief description of the Australian system as administered by the Australian War Memorial is as follows.

We have two categories.

The Roll of Honour https://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/roll_of_honour/introduction/

which lists War dead, KIA, DOW, DOD from action so to speak. The main requirement is served with an AUSTRALIAN force. These casualties are placed on the CWGC list

The Commemorative Roll https://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/commemorative_roll/introduction/

Note here the requirement of having been born in Australia or died in Australia. These are ALSO placed on the CWGC list

When looked at overall I believe Millner IS justified as an acceptance. The link between his war service and his death is clearly identified IMHO.

Similarly I believe Gordon-Baker is justified, but more tenuously I would say. It will not come as a surprise to see his application rejected. In the Australian context he would (if accepted) be placed on the Commemorative Roll .. even though served with the NZ Maritime Service as he was born in Australia.

[David_Underdown]

The CWGC Royal Charter does not include Commonwealth civilian war dead for the First World War (numbering in the hundreds, rather than thousands of the Second), it doesn't seem to have been considered at the time, while the large scale bombing of the Second World War made it a political necessity. Note though that civilian war dead are only recorded on a roll of honour, the graves are not considered war graves as such.

[Creafield]

David .. that clears up WW1 and civilian war dead and the CWGC ... although I do notice that 'munition workers' are included.in the CWGC listing for WW1. Your point re. war graves raises the issue of who is entitled to have a 'CWGC headstone'?? I noted in Cairo Memorial War Cemetery the nurses had CWGC headstones (as they should in my opinion) and at Leighterton Cemetery in Gloucestershire there were several 'non CWGC' headstones (see photos)

From corresponding with CWGC it appears that in 'civilian' cemeteries the NOK had the option of placing 'unofficial' headstones in place or the usual style. In 'official' war cemeteries the 'usual style' was mandatory .. with the odd exception (Heilly Station for one).

The headstone for Millner is a family one, The Office of Australian War Graves have said they will place a plaque there ... it will be interesting to see the style..

A point I forgot to make is I prefer the CWGC format of listing, with multiple check boxes. That is EVERYONE is on the list if the search is done 'open-ended'. In Australia if, as I was a few years ago, you are not familiar with the 'Roll of Honour' versus the 'Commemorative roll ' then it can be quite difficult to find a casualty.

[CGM]

Australian munition workers (and navvies) (but not UK munition workers) are commemorated by the CWGC because they were recruited as a group and were posted overseas for the war effort by the Australian government. Some have a 'service number'.

You can see some of the paperwork in this record. Roseman was a labourer.

CGM

[David_Underdown]

In the case of those buried at home, families had often erected a headstone before CWGC assumed responsibility before the graves (remember taht the organisation didn't even exist until a fair way through the war).

So far as munition workers go, to expand on CGM's comment, it is only those recruited en bloc who had travelled from elsewhere in the Empire that are commemorated by CWGC. British workers killed in the Silvertown Explosion, and other similar incidents are not entitled to CWGC recognition. Nurses essentially had to be serving overseas, or to have died after their return from a condition attributable to overseas service. A VAD who contracted Spanish Flu while working in the UK would not be remembered by CWGC (see http://www.infromthecold.org/war_grave_criteria.asp)