This name is on the St Mark's War Memorial, Kennington Oval, London SE11
(John Walter Marr Millard)
(Millard, J. W. M.)
Service no 5152
Private, Honourable Artillery Company, 1st Battalion
Died of wounds aged 34 on 26 April 1917
Son of John Walter Marr Millard and Fannie Millard, of Church St., Modbury, Devon.
Remembered at Duisans British Cemetery, Etrun, Pas de Calais, France and at St Mark's Church
Information from the 1911 census
In 1911 the Millards were living at 27 Bonneville Gardens, Clapham. John Walter Marr Millard was the only child of John Walter Millard (Senior), 55, a commerial traveller from Woolwich, Kent, selling "surgical sundries" for a medical supply association, and his wife Fannie Millard, 54, from Modbury, Devon. John Junior was then a 28-year-old single bank clerk, born in London.
John Walter Marr Millard, a stout bank clerk and only son
The service record of John Millard suggests a soft city boy, a beloved only son of his parents' long marriage, unused to hardship. Millard signed up on 16 November 1916 at Armoury House, Finsbury Park. He was described as 5 feet 6¼ inches, with a 36 inch chest which he could expand by 2½ inches. "Stout," stated Captain Whyte of the HAC on Millard's Medical Inspection Report.
Millard was wounded in action on 25 April 1917. He sustained gunshot wounds to the highs and legs and was peppered with shrapnel. Five days later, probably in great agony, he died.
The files include an unusually long list of effects sent back to his grieving parents and one wonders how many of the items were provided for Millard by a devoted mother:
Diary
Razor
Pipes
Cap badge
Leather case
Photos and letters
Mirror
Lanyard (cord for hanging whistle or knife around neck)
Metal watch
Pipe
Pouch
Watch chain
Comb
Gold ring
Spoon and fork
Testament
Numerals
Pencils
Coins
Cigarette lighter
Cigarette case
Tin with cigarettes
Nail scissors
Small tin of pills
Cotton bag
By 1922 the Millard parents had moved to Higher Dunstone Farm, Yearlington in Devon from where, on 24 March, John Millard wrote to the Honourable Artillery Company to ask about the whereabouts of his son's medals. These must have reached him because he sent back an acknowledgement on 15 June 1922.