LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant George Arthur MILLS
Service No: 33250
Born: Dubbo NSW, 29 June 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 August 1940
Unit: No. 11 Personnel Disposal and Reception Centre, RAAF Overseas Headquarters
Died: Air Raid: Bournemouth, 23 May 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Bournemouth North Cemetery, Hampshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Francis and Eve Mills, of Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia; husband of Philomena Mavis Mills, of Dubbo
Roll of Honour: Dubbo NSW
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Dubbo Memorial Drive and Rose Garden, Dubbo NSW
Remembered: Wellington Cenotaph, Wellington NSW
Sergeant Mills (a Pilot) was killed on 23 May 1943, when off duty at Bournemouth. About 10 Fw190s attacked Bournemouth at 1250 hours on the 23rd May with bombs and machine gun fire. Direct hits were obtained on a number of buildings. Seven RAAF pilots all off duty were killed in the raid. One was shot when walking in a park, and the other six were killed when a building was demolished by a direct hit from a bomb.
The RAAF Members killed during the raid were:
Flight Sergeant Colin Bernard Crabbe (420453)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Franklin Fenton (412938)
Sergeant Neal Morton Gray (420618)
Flight Sergeant Allan John Kerrigan (420681)
Flight Sergeant John Francis McMahon (409848)
Sergeant George Arthur Mills (33250) Killed in a park
Flight Sergeant Vivian Lewis Pope (416993)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A 705, 166/27/131
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line