| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information
Kenneth Mills was born in Beverley the 10 May 1898, and baptised at Beverley, St Mary’s the 10 Jun 1898, he was the younger of two sons born to Arthur Mills (1861-1915) and his wife Emily (nee Knocker) (1863-1957). Emily was from London and the couple had married there in 1889. Arthur Mills was a solicitor and Registrar. Kenneth was brought up on York Terrace, Beverley and then at 20 York Road, Beverley. He attended Beverley Grammar School during 1907 and then spent six years from 1908 to 1914 at Framlingham College in Suffolk. At the time of the war, he was an articled clerk at Locking, Holdich and Locking Solicitors, and to Arthur Mills and Co. Solicitors in Hull, training to become a solicitor. Kenneth was unmarried.
Kenneth joined the 28th Battalion of the London Regiment as an officer cadet. The 28th were known as the 'Artists’ Rifles', recruiting largely from public schools and upon personal recommendation of existing members of the battalion. On becoming a temporary 2nd Lieutenant Kenneth switched to the Royal Flying Corps as a pilot, arriving in France in the summer of 1917. On 11 Nov 1917, Kenneth died of wounds at a casualty clearing station having suffered severe burns to his face and legs when his plane crashed and burst into flames. Sources differ on the precise date of the crash which may have been on 6 Nov 1917, five days before his death. He was buried at Choques Military Cemetery in the Pas de Calais, France.
He was awarded the War and Victory Medals. Kenneth is commemorated on the Hengate Memorial and on the East Riding Memorial in Beverley Minster. His name is also on Beverley, St Mary’s Roll of Honour and on Framlingham College’s War Memorial.
Kenneth’s older brother, Geoffrey Knocker Mills, born in Hull in 1891, also served in the RFC. |