Pte 61793 William Millard

• Age: 28
• From: London
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Friday 15th June 1917
• Commemorated at: Menin Gate Memorial
  Panel Ref: Panel 4 & 6

William was born in London in the June quarter of 1889 the son of Frederick Millard and his wife Ellen (nee Crimmins). His parents married in 1877 and had six children; William was the only surviving son:  Elizabeth Margaret, born in 1878, Ellen Mary 1880, and Hannah (Annie) 1882, were all born in The City.  The family then moved to Whitechapel, where Frederick was born in 1884 (who died before his second birthday), and Alice Mary Maria in 1886.  By the time of William's birth in 1889 they had moved back to the City.  

The 1891 Census shows the family living at Coopers Row, St Olave Hart Street, London. William is 2 years of age and is living with his parents and 4 sisters. His father, Frederick, is a 39 year old Policeman born in London in 1852, whilst his mother, Ellen, was also born in London in 1852. His four elder sisters, all born in London are listed as; Elizabeth M. b.1879, Ellen M. b.1881, Annie b. 1883 and Alice b.1887.

His father died in 1898, aged 46, when William was 9 years old.

In 1901 Mrs. Millard, widow, 46, is head of household at 76 Granville Buildings, Shoreditch, with four daughters at home;  Elizabeth, 22, has no occupation; the other three daughters all work in a tobacco factory:  Ellen, 20, is a moulder, Annie, 18, a  packer, and Alice, 14, as a labeller.

William Millard, age 12, is found as a scholar in the Metropolitan and City Police Orphanage (school for orphans of Police Constables), in Wellesley House, Hampton Road, Twickenham.  William is one of about 170 inmates, ages 7 to 14, whose birthplaces are "not known, probably within the metropolitan police district".  (William's name is not listed on the Orphanage Roll of Honour, which gives the names of the 250 old scholars who served during the war, 20 of whom died.)  

His sister Hannah appears to have died in 1904, at the age of 22.

The 1911 Census finds 22 year old William, now a sugar packer living with his widowed mother at 110 Garfield Terrace, Bermondsey. His mother is 55 years of age and is head of the household, and his sister Alice and a visitor Ellen Deighton and her daughter also Ellen aged 7. This is likely to be his sister Ellen.  

He enlisted in Rotherhithe, not far from Bermondsey; based on the amount of the War Gratuity, he joined up in about February 1916. he originally served as Private 10141 in the Sussex Regiment he transferred to the 18th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 61793.

He was killed in action on 15th June 1917, aged 28 years. hhis body was not recovered from the battlefield or was subsequently lost as his name is recorded on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium. 

The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates casualties from the forces of Australia, Canada, India, South Africa and United Kingdom who died in the Salient. In the case of United Kingdom casualties, only those prior 16 August 1917 (with some exceptions). United Kingdom and New Zealand servicemen who died after that date are named on the memorial at Tyne Cot, a site which marks the furthest point reached by Commonwealth forces in Belgium until nearly the end of the war. New Zealand casualties that died prior to 16 August 1917 are commemorated on memorials at Buttes New British Cemetery and Messines Ridge British Cemetery.

The YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL now bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield with sculpture by Sir William Reid-Dick, was unveiled by Lord Plumer on 24 July 1927.

William was initially declared Missing on 15th June 1917, and his death assumed, for official purposes, as having occurred on or since that date. 

He was listed as Missing in the local press on 7th August 1917.

MISSING

KING'S LIVERPOOL REGIMENT - Millard 61793 W.(Bermondsey, S.E.)

His mother Ellen received William's Army effects and a War Gratuity of £4-10.  The pension card in the name of his mother at 110 Garfield Terrace, Bermondsey, shows that she was awarded a pension of 15/- a week from February 1918.  It is not known when she died.

CWGC record his next of kin details as: Son of Mrs. Ellen Millard, of 12 Devon Buildings, Tooley Street, London. 

Soldiers effects were sent to his mother. 

We currently have no further information on William Millard. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.