South Similkameen Branch 192
SOLDIERS OF THE SOUTH SIMILKAMEEN
Blair Wilfred Mills
Service No. 443812
Born: September 2, 1896 - Springhill, NS
Died: March 26, 1916 - Armentiers, France1
Son of Ezra Thomas & Emma (Haden) Mills2
of Keremeos, BC
“Remembered with Honour”
Lance Corporal - 1st Tunnelling Coy., Canadian Engineers
Resting Place:
Strand Military Cemetery, Hainaut, Belgium
Notes:
It was with decided shock, however, to learn of the death of one of our Keremeos-Hedley boys, Blair Mills, who fell in the action at St. Eloi on March 27, one of the most bloody of the numerous engagements in connection with the Huns futile efforts to take Verdun.
When last fall we had the smoker in the Opera House and some of the boys decided to enlist, Blair Mills was one who volunteers but who would not go until he first went to Keremeos to consult his parents.
Lcp. Blair Wildred Mills (1896-1916)
Born in Nova Scotia, Blair moved to BC along with most of his siblings about 1905. His Mother, Emma, had died that year and father Ezra was already farming in BC. At some point his father gave up farming and moved to Hedley with the family to work as a carpenter.
Blair’s father remarried and the family moved to a new home in the Similkameen Valley. As well, they opened a store in Keremeos. Blair moved back to Hedley “up top” at the Nickle Plate mine as a miner in 1915.
A recruit into the 54th Battalion, Blair left Canada for England late in 1915. In a rush to get to the front, Blair volunted for the No. 1 Tunnelling Company but was killed just a few days later. Blair was 19 years of age.
Read more about Blair Mills…
Researchers:
Jennifer Douglass &
Andy English
