Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Corporal Thomas James McMillan (Service No:3532) enlisted in the AIF on 10 July 1915 and was attached to 16th Infantry Battalion on 1 November 1915 when he embarked from Fremantle on board HMAT A24 Benalla. Corporal McMillan served in France with 16th Infantry Battalion, suffering Shell Shock on 11 August 1916, and was recommended for the Military Medal on 2 September 1916. Lieutenant Brockman wrote in his Recommendation (NAA) 'On the night of 29th/30th August, during the attack on Mouquet Farm, all the Officers with B Company became casulaties. This man took charge of a body of men, organised them into a fighting unit, and remained at Mouquet Farm until overwhelming numbers, and absence of further supply of bombs rendered his staying there impossible. All the rifles were out of use on account of being clogged with mud. He brought his men back to the firing line steadily and without panic'. Corporal McMillan was awarded the Military Medal on 21 October 1916. On 11 April 1917 Corporal McMillan was reported as Missing - Wounded, and later confirmed a PoW interned at Soltau Camp in Germany (Barrack Z 3605). Corporal McMillan sent postcards home - 20 June 1917 'I was wounded and taken prisoner on the 11th of April. I am still in hospital' and on 15 July 1918 'Am receiving parcels regularly, am in best of health. Receiving my mail regularly thanks to you' (NAA). Retrieved on 26 December 1918, Corporal McMillan embarked from England for the RTA on 24 July 1919 on board HT Ormonde and was Discharged on 15 September 1919.

Tom was the second of three children - born in 1891 in Melbourne, Victoria - of Stephen John McMillan (aka John; b1963 in Woodend, Victoria) and Florence MacDonald (b1862 in Kapunda, South Australia). John (a Labourer) and Florence married in 1886 in Creswick, Melbourne, Victoria and settled at Clunes nr Ballarat, Victoria. Following Florence's death, John and his two surviving children had moved to Western Australia by 1903, and John worked as a Labourer and Teamster at Waroona No 4 Mill, Mornington Mills nr Bunbury, in Perth and later at Bushman Landing in Kenwick WA.

Tom attended primary school at Clunes nr Ballarat, Victoria and as a young man broke horses in the Clunes district. By 1915 Tom was a Labourer at Wellington Mills in WA and, following his Discharge in 1919, was a Labourer and Mill Worker at Mornington Mills. In 1923 in Perth WA, Tom married Nellie Agatha Cronin (nee Dawson; b1887 in Balaklava, South Australia). Tom and Nellie lived at Mornington Mills where Tom was a Mill Hand before moving to Harvey where he was a Garage Proprietor. In the early 1940s Tom and Nellie moved to Clunes nr Ballarat, Victoria where Tom was a Greengrocer, Dairy Farmer and race horse owner/trainer. Tom died in 1967 and Nellie in 1985.