John K Posted 16 March Share Posted 16 March Dear GWF I have asked for help before from this site ( only twice in a couple of years as I don’t want to abuse peoples knowledge/time ) . I am here again to ask if anyone can point me in the right direction ? I maintain the Graveyard of St Francis church ( the Friary ) in Crawley , Sussex . I also research some of the people buried there . I usually find that men with a military background are easier to establish their histories , but I am finding a problem with Mr Millest . He was born in Portsmouth in 1880 and was brought up in Hampshire . In March 1916 he appeared before the Dorking Urban Tribunal to ask for exemption for military service , he had pressing business contracts that needed to be finalised , he was supporting a widowed Mother and his brother Ernest was already serving in the RNAS . He was granted one month exemption from military service . He lived until 1961 , married in 1923 and worked after the war as a commercial traveller of musical instruments . But I can find no record of military service for Julian Arthur Millest for 1916 - 1919 ? Did his exemption extend to the entire conflict ? Or am I just not looking at the right records ? As always any help or guidance from anyone on the GWF would be very much appreciated . John Keaveney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock1418 Posted 16 March Share Posted 16 March Hi John, Please can you clarify his surname ... MELLISH in the title and MILLEST in the body text = ??? M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted 16 March Author Share Posted 16 March Matlock thats not a good start from me !!!! The name is MILLEST , sorry for the confusion . Thanks for picking it up . JK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock1418 Posted 16 March Share Posted 16 March (edited) 2 minutes ago, John K said: The name is MILLEST , sorry for the confusion I supected the case, but ... Think you should be able to edit the title by hovering your pointer over and followng the edit option [some members can and others can't - so no promises!!!] M Edited 16 March by Matlock1418 typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 16 March Admin Share Posted 16 March Title edited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted 16 March Author Share Posted 16 March Thanks Michelle , that is very good of you . John K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWF1967 Posted 16 March Share Posted 16 March 16 minutes ago, John K said: John K I can’t find any records to help with your research - a lack of records may indicate he only served in the UK, rather than he was exempted for the duration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock1418 Posted 16 March Share Posted 16 March To continue the no show of records ... Not seeing anything that would fit [for a death in 1961] at WFA/Fold3 under disability pension claims using Julian and/or Arthur and MILLEST M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 17 March Share Posted 17 March I can find no naval record to fit. This is probably brother Ernest Gordon (RNAS, later RAF) - https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6801821 Born 25 Sep 1879, Portsmouth, it is possible that Julian was his twin brother "born in Portsmouth in 1880". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted 17 March Author Share Posted 17 March Dear all thank you very much for your research’s so far , it is intriguing that there are plenty of records for Julian pre and post war , but nothing regarding his war service . there is the photo below on Ancestry which is titled Julian Arthur Millest 1880 - 1961 , but this man appears to be an NCO , would Julian have made that rank in the short time he was in the army ( if indeed he was in the forces at all ? ) Don’t know the unit of the man in the photo , looks like a grenade badge . It is strange that whoever posted the photo on ancestry clearly believes him to be Julian , is he ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock1418 Posted 17 March Share Posted 17 March 13 minutes ago, John K said: there is the photo below on Ancestry which is titled Julian Arthur Millest 1880 - 1961 , but this man appears to be an NCO , would Julian have made that rank in the short time he was in the army ( if indeed he was in the forces at all ? ) Don’t know the unit of the man in the photo To me the cap badge looks like the Royal Engineers. Shoulder title is rather blurred but could easily be RE. It certainly was possible to get three Sergeant's chevrons in that period, according to ability and needs, however the identification of the man has not been explained/proven. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 17 March Share Posted 17 March He is definitely a Royal Engineer. TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted 17 March Author Share Posted 17 March Here is the report in the Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser 18th March 1916 A Commercial Traveller “ A sitting of the Dorking Urban Tribunal was held at the Council Chamber on Monday evening . Julian Arthur Millest, a commercial traveller and commission agent, asked for a temporary exemption on the grounds that his mother is a widow aged 78, who was dependent on her two sons, one of whom had closed his business since November 1914 and was attached to the RNAS . There is now only himself left . In reply to questions, the applicant explained that owing to his business as a commercial agent it was a very difficult matter to clear up everything on a given date, and if it were possible for the Tribunal to give him a little time he should be glad. Mr Keep, the military representative on the Tribunal said “ how long do you ask ? - a month , two months ? . Millest replied “ I am not asking for exemption, and I should not do such a thing under any circumstances, but if I can be put back till a little later I shall be able to finish off the business I have in hand “ I have contracts running till the end of March, my business with my people will finish on the 30th March “ Mr Keep said the applicant was behaving so extremely well he should be most anxious to give him a month . It was decided to grant a months exemption . Applicant “ Thank you very much indeed “ . The problem I am finding is what service did Julian enter ( if any ) after his exemption period finished in March 1916 . The photo I attached earlier showed him as a sergeant in the RE , but I can find no service record at all for him ? He would have been 36 in 1916 , is it likely he served in the UK only and did not go overseas ? But would he still receive a service medal ( the Victory medal 1919 ) even if he saw no active service ? The last time I had a problem like this where an individual disappeared from the records was Capt Henry Jump of the Royal Dragoons , where helpful people on this site established he had been a PoW from October 1914 for the duration , and so there were limited British records ( which I could not find ) for him during the Great War . As always thanks for the help given . John K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock1418 Posted 17 March Share Posted 17 March (edited) 3 minutes ago, John K said: is it likely he served in the UK only and did not go overseas ? But would he still receive a service medal ( the Victory medal 1919 ) even if he saw no active service ? It is possible he only served in the UK ... but this would not entitle him to any of the standard medals. M Edited 17 March by Matlock1418 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travers61 Posted 17 March Share Posted 17 March (edited) Although Julian Millest was granted a months exemption in March 1916, there was nothing to stop him applying again when this period finished. There was a maximum time you could be exempted for (?6 months) at each appearance & some men went back to the tribunal several times. But in the circumstances in the article it does seem he would not have been successful a second time. Edited 17 March by travers61 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMB1943 Posted 17 March Share Posted 17 March 13 hours ago, John K said: Dear all thank you very much for your research’s so far , it is intriguing that there are plenty of records for Julian pre and post war , but nothing regarding his war service . there is the photo below on Ancestry which is titled Julian Arthur Millest 1880 - 1961 , but this man appears to be an NCO , would Julian have made that rank in the short time he was in the army ( if indeed he was in the forces at all ? ) Don’t know the unit of the man in the photo , looks like a grenade badge . It is strange that whoever posted the photo on ancestry clearly believes him to be Julian , is he ? Does the family tree look appropriate to you? Is his place & dob correct on the tree? Is he located correctly in the 1881 and subsequent census records? Does he have marriage and or children records? If someone has gone to the trouble of locating and showing those records, it is a fair bet that he is in the family of the tree-owner. Only died in 1961, so possible that the tree- owner knew him. In short, is there enough evidence that he could be the man, J.A. Millest? Regards, JMB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted 18 March Author Share Posted 18 March Dear Matlock , Horatio , Michelle , Travers , GWF1967 , JMB1943 and Terry . Thank you very much for all your help and advice , much clearer now . There is a lot of biographical data on Julian and his wife ( who he is buried with ) on the net , it is just that there is no information ( that I can find ) on his wartime service , apart from the photo I posted and the newspaper article on his appearance at an exemption tribunal in 1916 . i am going to follow JMBs advice and assume that the evidence I do have points towards Julian serving in the RE during the second half of the war and reaching the rank of Sargeant . Once again I am very grateful for your freely given guidance on what is a very specialist subject . John Keaveney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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