Mr. Egerton Clarke, Kezil, and the Popular Kerry Blue Terrier

By the end of September 1918 Egerton Arthur Crossman Clarke found himself demobilised from the military. The armistice would not be signed until 11 November of that year.

On 29 September 1918, the Kaiser had been advised that Germany's situation was hopeless. General Erich Ludendorff, according to Wikipedia, "could not guarantee that the front would hold for another 24 hours." Negotiations began in earnest in October.

To enlisted men around the camps in England, all of this must have been a secret, or just a part of an ever-grinding rumour mill at best.

Egerton Clarke, despite his weak heart and health issues, would have been anticipating staying in the service for a bit longer, and hitting the streets as a civilian during that month of October 1918 must have caught him a bit off guard, even if it was liberating. It's unlikely he had any knowledge that the hostile nations had entered into entente, and it's unlikely that he had been in the midst of preparing himself and planning for an armistice, and peace [above, left].

Egerton's 61 year old mother, Emma Anna Clarke, was ensconced at Thorley Wash, Hertfordshire, with her widowed and wealthy elder sister, Hannah Patten, so there was no immediate need to begin taking responsibility for her.

In fact, having been a scholar at St Edmund's School in Canterbury up until joining the ranks, Clarke probably knew little, if anything, about caring for himself in the world outside of academia. What would he do? Where would he go?

When one knows nothing but school, it's likely one would attempt a return to the safety, order, and stability of an educational institution. That was the case with young Egerton.

During our study of George Mills, Egerton's friend form the Army Pay Corps, we learned of an opportunity presented to veterans of the war to attend university. It was described here by Anabel Peacock, an archivist at Oxford:

[A veteran] was exempted from taking Responsions (preliminary examinations for entry) and the examinations of the First Public Examination, under a decree of 9 March 1920. This decree stipulated that until the end of Trinity Term 1923 any member of the University who had been engaged in military service for twelve months or more before his matriculation, was permitted to offer himself for examination in any Final Honours School, despite not having met the statutory conditions for admission to that School. This was on condition that he had obtained permission from the Vice Chancellor and the proctors; that he had entered upon the third term and had not exceeded the twelfth term following his matriculation; and that he had paid the fee for admission to the examinations the decree excused him from.


This was the situation of which Mills had taken advantage when he matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford, on 19 October 1919, following his service under the Colours. It was probably under the auspices of the same decree that Clarke entered.

From Nicola Hilton, Archives Assistant at Oxford, we learn this about Egerton:

Egerton Arthur Crossman Clarke was born on the 20 September 1899 in Canterbury, Kent. He was the second son of Percy Carmichael Clarke, Clerk in the Holy Orders, deceased. Before coming to Oxford, Egerton attended St Edmund's School, Canterbury, Kent. He matriculated (ie was admitted to the University) from Keble College on 14 October 1918. I cannot find any record of a degree being conferred (ie at a ceremony) on Mr Clarke.


[Note: Thanks to Janine La Forestier, Clarke's granddaughter, we can identify Egerton's brother: "In front of me now is a letter in which he is answering a question my mother must have asked concerning his brother. The letter dated December 1, 1942 refers to his brother as John (Jack) Percy Dalzell Clarke born in 1892 and died 21/02/1915." (08-17-11)]


Considering the above information, we once again find a connection between Egerton and George Mills. It may only be circumstantial, but with both gentlemen, formerly mates in the armed forces, matriculating during the same week—Egerton on Monday and George on Saturday—it seems strange to think that they had not been in contact and that they had not been sharing, at the very least, loose plans to further their educations at Oxford.

And it may not be far-fetched to believe that Oxford may have been George's idea—and if not his idea, then a very practical decision. His father, the Revd Barton R. V. Mills, was a graduate, as had been his grandfather, Arthur Mills, M.P., and Barton still was alive—he was serving as a "Chaplain to the Forces"—and able to take the boys, advise them, and show them around a bit. Egerton's father, the Revd Percy Carmichael Clarke, had attended Cambridge, but unfortunately had passed away on 1902. There could have been no similar connection there.

It would have been comforting, one imagines, for both boys to know that they were heading off to university assured there would be at least one familiar and friendly face among the Oxon crowd.


By 1919, Egerton had become editor of Clock Tower at Keble, presumably a literary magazine of some sort, and his name appears in the 1919 calendar. He, however, actually was busily working on another literary project—and a somewhat surprising one.

In 1920, Clarke would publish his first book, with this lengthy title: The Popular Kerry Blue Terrier: Its History, Strains, Standard, Points, Breeding, Rearing, Management, Preparation for Show, and Sporting Attributes.

A new edition of this seemingly immortal book is still in print today. The original 1920 first edition is described thusly:

By Egerton Clarke. With a foreword by The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Kenmare. Line drawings by Hay Hutchison. Illustrated. London: Popular Dogs Publishing Co. [1920]. 12mo., 78p., blue cloth with gilt lettering, and endpapers, illustrated with photographs and drawings.


This project may only be a surprise to those who aren't aware of George Mills and his family's great affinity for dogs. From his father's early church-going days in Cornwall to reminiscences from his last years in Budleigh Salterton, an overall fondness for dogs pervades his story. One could even make the argument that a dog was the most popular character of a pair of his children's books.


Contrasting with the publication of The Popular Kerry Blue Terrier, Clarke also published a book of poems entitled Kezil and Other Poems [London : A.H. Stockwell, 1920]. Kezil is available today as a scanned reproduction of the original text, as well as on-line.

Clarke's dedication is quite interesting:


Dear ———

To whom one should dedicate a first book is often, I am told, a difficult question to decide.

For my part I can but feel that to offer this, my first to any one particular person would be both ungenerous and unfair, and it is for this reason I am persuaded to offer it, small though its value may be, to all those who have been good to me through-out my life.

So my offering is to you, friends, and among you :

Firstly, my Mother because you are also the mother of these poems ;

Nan, because without you these poems would not have been written by my hand, and because of your care for a stranger-child :

Madeleine, for the sake of your gentleness ;

Dorothy Sayers, in recognition of your kindness, and in appreciation of "Op" ;

Ernest Duggan, because of the door you opened for me ;

Gerald Crow, because you opened my eyes once and for all ; and last but not least

" Kezil," mysterious inspirer of so much.


EGERTON A. C. CLARKE.


THE GRANGE,

FOLKESTONE, June, 1920.



First of all, we find Egerton residing in Folkestone, near Dover, on the southeast coast, while writing at least this dedication.

We can determine some of his influences: Poet and biographer Gerald Henry Crow (we hopefully will hear more about him soon) and Oxford's own Dorothy L. Sayers, novelist, playwright, essayist, translator and poet. Here he specifically mentions the latter's interesting 1915 collection of poetry, Op. I.

Ernest Duggan and Madeleine are two unknown characters in the life of Egerton Clarke, circa 1920. Duggan did not attend Oxford, and Egerton has left us no clues with which to determine his identity—there are more than a few Ernest Duggans in the Empire, circa 1920. And Madeleine will remain a mystery, at least until she gains a surname.

Nan, however, is essentially nameless, but quite interesting nonetheless. She is appreciated in this dedication "because without you these poems would not have been written by my hand, and because of your care for a stranger-child."

These touching words imply not just the binding and careful treatment of a youth's injured hand, but that Egerton was treated with an overall care and tenderness that would not necessarily have been expected from a stranger. Heart-wrenching tales of orphans such as Oliver Twist and Jane Eyre were well-known, and while they had been around for many decades by the passing of Clarke's father in 1902, the more modern world at the turn of the 20th century still would not have been an orphan's proverbial oyster.

The presence of Nan caring for a "stranger-child" also gives us insight into the lack of mothering suffered by Egerton during his youth. Where he experienced the tenderness of Nan's care is unknown at this point. Perhaps early in France she had been his nurse. Perhaps she was a matron at St Edmund's School in Canterbury who took a liking to the boy—or he to her. Perhaps she was simply someone who watched after him when school was out, someone who allowed him to leave St Edmunds occasionally.

Apparently, at whatever time Nan bestowed her kindness, Clarke had had no mother to provide it for him. Knowing that our best guess right now is that his mother was in the workhouse at Watford in 1911, that would go a long way toward explaining why Egerton so very much needed a "Nan."

By contrast, Egerton's mother essentially is thanked for having given birth, and so, indirectly, having enabled him eventually to write the poems found within the text. There are certainly no immediate thanks for her, just an overall fondness, and a gratitude born of a worrisome life that finally seemed to have turned out well.

Missing from the dedication would be George Mills: A friend but not a powerful influence on Clarke's words and imagery.


"Kezil: A Fantasy" is a languidly alluring, Eastern erubescence of a poem, and well worth reading. Within the brief text, Clarke explains: "'KEZIL' a Persian word meaning 'red,' or sometimes, I believe 'the red one.' — E.C."

But for our purposes here, I've selected a different poem from this volume to share:


IN HOSPITAL.

SEMI-CONSCIOUS.


PALE shadows round my head.
In whispering conference,
Nurses moved, and one said,
"B. one-seven-five ref'rence,
A. F. discharge," like ghosts,
They swayed unreal about
The room, The Red Cross hosts.
I wished someone would shout —
I wanted so to sleep.
A cruel "Hush !" "Be quiet."
Was all I heard and "creep
Like mice ;" and " Special diet."
Now and then a single word,
A phrase, against my brain,
Insistent beat and stirred
The quietude to pain,
Then somewhere slammed a door.
One moment echoed deep
Along the empty corridor,
Outside, I turned and heard no more,
And turned again and fell asleep.


Winchester,
1918.


When last time we read of Egerton's hospital stays in Winchester, it appeared to have been so easy for him: Resting in bed, recuperating, enjoying some time away from duty. In the poem above, written in that bed, we can see that clearly was not the case as Clarke, reconstructing his lack of lucidity, expresses the semi-consciousness of his condition and does his best to capture fleeting and fragmented scraps of his environment.

His volume ends tenderly with this poem:


FINIS.

To M. C.


NOT so much pity, what better an end
Than a night of shadow and quiet sleep,
When there's nothing of love that's left to spend,
Why should we linger to fidget and weep ?

O little's the pity of such a kind,
Let us light our candle and go upstairs
As children do, and dropping down the blind
A comfort make wherein to say our prayers ;

Not so tenderly now, no endless kiss,
Nor hold my hand so long, now love is pain,
But say "sleep well, sweet dreams," and things like this—
"Good-night," laugh too, lest Love find fault again,

Pity can go the way of love, and now,
As though we had nothing of that to mend,
Politely unkissed let us nod and bow,
With a "God bless you, dear," and "Good-night, friend."


Quite a contrast, I think, to The Popular Kerry Blue Terrier ("Teeth set right ensure a strong grip on the terrier's natural foe—vermin"). Perhaps these final verses are dedicated to Madeleine—M. C.—who was probably not his lover, ascending the figurative stairs with him 'as children do.'

Egerton Clarke would go on to write texts, poems, and a play. Here is as complete a bibliography as I can manage for his works after 1920:


• The Ear-ring: A comedy in one-act. [London: Egerton, 1922]

• The Death of Glass and Other Poems. [London: Egerton, 1923]

• Nature Poems. [Amersharm: Morland, 1923]

• The Death of England. [London: C. Palmer, 1930]

• The Seven Niches: A Legend in Verse. [London: C. Palmer, 1931]

• St Peter, the First Pope. [London: Burns, Oates, & Washbourne, 1936]

• Our Lady of Flowers. [London: Burns, Oates, & Washbourne, 1937]

• Alcazar and Other Poems. [London: Burns, Oates, & Washbourne,1937]


Editions of Who's Who in Literature in 1928 described Clarke in this way:

CLARKE, Egerton A. C. b. 1899. Ed. Clock Tower (KebleColl.,Oxford), 1919. Au. Of Kezil and Other Poems (Stockwell), 1920; The Earring (one-act comedy); (Hugh Egerton), 1922. Sub.-Ed. National Opinion, 1922. C. Morn. Post, West. Gaz., Colour, Even. News, Dy. Mirror, Poetry Rev., Oxford Poetry, Oxford Fort. Rev., Nat. Opinion. 73, EGERTON GARDENS. S.W.3.


So, by 1928 Clarke, who had published with a publisher called Egerton, was living in London, interestingly in Egerton Gardens, situated just across Brompton Road and less than 1,000 feet from the Holy Trinity Church in which George Mills wed Vera Louise Beauclerk in 1925.

Egerton did not attend.

Clarke did follow George into the world of wedded bliss when he returned to Winchester and married Teresa Kelly in the spring of 1926.


[Note: Janine also reports that "Therese received her nurses training from Guys Hopital in 1922." Note the spelling of Mrs. Clarke's name. A photograph depicting her nurse's uniform can be found at Rediscovering Egerton Clarke. (08-17-11)]


We can see from the bibliography and the brief biography above that 1926 was in the middle of a 6 year period during which Clarke did not publish a book, although another edition of The Popular Kerry Blue Terrier would be published in 1927 or 1928.

An on-line reference to this new edition describes it thusly:

Clarke, Egerton.
The Popular Kerry Blue Terrier
Popular Dogs Publishing Company, Ltd, c1928
65b, Long Achre, London, W.C.2.

Egerton Clarke of Narcunda Kennels wrote the “Popular Kerry Blue Terrier”, with a forward by the Rt. Hon. The Earl of Kenmare. Illustrations by Hay Hutchison. Published by Popular Dogs Publishing Company Ltd. in England in the 1920's. There is no publishing date in the book, but advertising for The Bog Kennels on page 71 makes reference to the dates 1925 and 1926. This is the first book published on Kerry Blue Terriers. Addresses breed history, Standard, Points, Breeding, Rearing, Management, Preparation for show, and Sporting attributes. A very scarce book. Hardcover, 78 pages.


All we really know of Egerton at this time is that, after his marriage, he is associated with a place called "Narcunda Kennels," presumably in England. By 1930, however, his wife crops up in the Cruft's Dog Show Catalogue in the category [below, left]: "Class 806—FOX TERRIERS—MINOR LIMIT BITCHES." It reads: "2071 Mrs. England. Colonnade Credit. b. Born 24 Oct. 27. Breeder, Mrs. Egerton Clarke. By Earlington Goldfinder—Selecta Merit."

[Just an aside: In this 1930 catalogue, the first person listed in the "Index to Exhibitors" is "Abbey, Lady Ursula, Woldhurst manor, Crawley, Sussex. 770." Lady Ursula Abbey, a well-known breeder of show dogs, played croquet with and against George Mills and his sisters during the 1950s and 1960s.]

Clarke, if nothing else, obviously shared a love of dogs, and of breeding dogs, with his bride. It's an odd interest for a child, Egerton, ostensibly raised in an orphan school, to have picked up. One wonders what sort of life that "Nan" was able to share with him before he went off to war, or if the school itself had a Kerry Blue Terrier that became a love of Egerton's life.

In fact, could some of Egerton's dog tales (no pun intended) have made their way into the stories of George Mills?


Let's look at an excerpt from an even more informative biography of Egerton Clarke, this time from The Catholic Who's Who & Yearbook: Volume 34, edited by Sir Francis Cowley Burnand in 1941:

Clarke, Egerton — b. 1899, s. of Rev. Percy Carmichael Clarke, some time Anglican Chaplain of Dinard, Brittany; educ. St Edmund's Schl Canterbury and Keble Coll. Oxford; received into the Church 1922; served 5 Devon Regt 1917-8; a Vice-Presdt of the Catholic Poetry Soc.; Sec. St Hugh's Soc. for Cath. Boys of the Professional classes; m. (1926) Teresa, dau. of Joseph Wm Kelly and Clara Kelly (nee Sheil), of Dublin (2 sons, 1 dau.). Publications: The Death of Glass and Other Poems (1923) — The Ear-ring (1923) — The Popular Kerry Blue Terrier '(1927)— The Death of England and Other Poems (1930) — The Seven Niches: a Legend in Verse (1932)— Alcazar (1937).


By 1941 Egerton and Teresa Clarke had two sons and a daughter. But what's really interesting here, along with the title of the text [right], is that he was "received into the Church 1922." During the mid- to late-1920s, Egerton had become involved in a new religion: Roman Catholicism.

Dogs. The Army Pay Corps. Oxford. Writing. Neither staying at Oxford to earn a degree. Fathers who were Anglican clergymen. And their own conversions to Catholicism.

Yes, there was a great deal that George Mills had in common with his friend, Egerton Clarke.


Next time we'll look at the children's books of Clarke and the final published text of George Mills, as well as reviewing Egerton's contributions to George's own literary work.

See you then…

1919: Army Form Z 11 – PROTECTION CERTIFICATE, Statements of the Services, and a Nice Handwritten Note from George Mills

Our final peek into the World War I army record of Pte. George Ramsay Acland Mills concludes here. We know that Mills was demobilised to the No. 1 Dispersal Unit at the Crystal Palace on 19 February 1919 and presumably was welcomed into the loving bosom of his family. Shown, left, it is actually the back side of a document we've already examined: Army Form B. 103., CASUALTY FORM—ACTIVE SERVICE. Here we clearly see the documentation of the demobilisation of our protagonist.

We don't know who might have met George at Sydenham Hill, or if he made his way home in some other way—Perhaps taxi? By rail?—to his waiting family in Kensington. With one son, Arthur, already having been wounded by the trenches of France and then returned to the Colours to serve once again in Palestine and China, it must have been a joy to Rev. Barton R. V. Mills (who served during the conflict as an Army chaplain) and wife Edith to know that their son, George, was relatively safe in England—although there were air raid drills at the APC in Dover—and now coming home for good.

It was "The War to End All Wars," after all.

Upon his dispersal, George was issued Army Form Z. 11. [right], his PROTECTION CERTIFICATE AND CERTIFICATE OF IDENTITY (SOLDIER NOT REMAINING WITH THE COLOURS). While the information about Mills at the top of this form is what we already know [Except for the line: "Specialist Military Qualification} Nil."], a key phrase stands out: "The above named soldier is granted 28 days' furlough from the date stamped hereon pending [19 FEB 1919] (as far as can be ascertained) which will date from the last day of furlough after which date uniform will not be worn except upon occasions authorized by Army Orders."

It goes on to state in bold-faced print below: "This certificate must be produced when applying for an Unemployed Sailor's and Soldier's Donation Policy, or, if demanded, whenever applying for Unemployment benefit."

So, this document proved Mills was a soldier on furlough until 19 March 1919, and after could be used to apply for unemployment benefits. He needed to hang on to this form. Got it!

It is recorded on the above documents that he was, indeed, "Transferred [to] Class Z [on] 19 – 3 – 1919." George finally became a civilian once again almost 92 years ago to the day. That's a happy ending to a not-always-so-happy tale, is it not?

Or is it the end?

The actual final document in the file of George Mills is a handwritten message, written on stationery imprinted with his grandfather's address and telephone number (3545 Kensington, if you're interested).

Seen to the left and below, right [click to enlarge], it reads:

"April 3, 1919

The Regimental Paymaster, R.A.S.C.

Sir,

I have mislaid my Protection Certificate & cannot, therefore, gain my bounty. All the drafts had been cashed and my 28 days furlough having expired, I suppose I became careless and lost my paper. All the other documents issued to me at my demobilization are safe. Could you tell me if I can obtain another certificate?

I was discharged on the 19th of February this year from the Reserve Supply Personnel Depot at Hastings.

I should be very much obliged to you if you could help me in any way. If, in the meantime, my Protection Certificate turns up I will at once communicate with you.

I am, sir
Yours faithfully,

George R. Mills
(MILLS)

Late Pte,
S/440048"

An inked rubber stamp tells us that this missive was received at the paymaster's post room at Woolwich Common on 7 April 1919. We have no way of knowing if Mills eventually found his Army Form Z. 11., or if it a duplicate was sent to him. It does appear that the copy here in his file is the primary carbon duplicate transcribed on the date of his demobilization.

By "bounty," Mills must have meant what an on-line source at the WWI website The Long, Long Trail refers to as "additional payments due to him [that] were sent in three installments by Money Orders or Postal Drafts. These could be cashed at a Post Office on production of the Protection Certificate." Terry Reeves at Great War Forum adds: "The serviceman was issued with a Protection Certificate for the period of his leave and a rail warrant. An out-of-work donation policy was also issued, which was effective for 12 months after his demobilization. The benefit was 24 shillings pw for men over 18 with allowances for those with children; women received 20 shillings. This rate was later increased to 29 shillings and 25 shillings respectively."

George also may have wanted the certificate so he could apply for unemployment benefits. Such a need wouldn't last long, however. We already know that Mills then "matriculated from Christ Church on 16 October 1919 [my emphasis]," and by a decree of 9 March 1920, "he was exempted from taking Responsions (preliminary examinations for entry) and the examinations of the First Public Examination," allowing George to enter Oxford, according to their archives.

Anabel Peacock, an archivist at Oxford continues: "This decree stipulated that until the end of Trinity Term 1923 any member of the University who had been engaged in military service for twelve months or more before his matriculation, was permitted to offer himself for examination in any Final Honours School, despite not having met the statutory conditions for admission to that School. This was on condition that he had obtained permission from the Vice Chancellor and the proctors; that he had entered upon the third term and had not exceeded the twelfth term following his matriculation; and that he had paid the fee for admission to the examinations the decree excused him from."

With a well-respected father and grandfather who'd graduated Oxon, it's easy to imagine that all must have been a veritable 'slam dunk' for young George. He easily cleared those hurdles and did pay his fees of £5—2s on 21 May 1921.

George was off to college in 1919 after last having attended classes in 1912 at Harrow. That is, unless you count his stint in the classrooms at S.C.T.C. Fovant at the School of Instruction, where he learned shorthand theory and typewriting—the latter being quite a useful skill for a man who'd eventually become a novelist.

And looking back on the clearly lacklustre military career (thus far) of George Mills, Pte., S/440048, doesn't it seem fitting that the army's newly-minted but almost immediately demobilised clerk did what many of his officers along the way [His various assignments are seen on his Statement of the Services forms, both of which are seen, either left or right] probably would have expected him to do?

He lost a critical piece of the paperwork he was handed on his way out the door of the Crystal Palace on 19 February 1919.

Although there is certainly a warm place in my heart, full of admiration, for George Mills, this final document in his WWI record seems almost fitting: He was a failed clerk who was even forced to admit he couldn't locate a very important military document after becoming a civilian again. I'm sure no one in the Army Pay Corps would have been surprised in the least.

Oh, George…

Better luck at Oxford, lad!

1916: For the Duration of the War, with the Colours, and in the Army Reserve

Still sifting through "piles" of documents and messages on my computer, I think that I'll post this one today: The "Short Service" enlistment form of George Mills, dated 15 January 1916 [the duplicate copy is pictured, left; click to enlarge]. It notes that the service would be "For the Duration of the War, with the Colours, and in the Army Reserve."

Mills, a self-proclaimed student—although he hadn't attended a school at this point since 1912—entered the Rifle Depot as a private. Fast-forwarding three years, Mills would leave the service in 1919 as a lance corporal. After "The War to End All Wars," it must have seemed as if his days 'with the Colours' were behind him.

I wasn't exactly sure what this 1916 enlistment and the term "Army Reserve" might've entailed entirely, so I checked the British Army's website and found this: "When a member of the Regular Army leaves the service, he or she remains liable to be recalled in times of need, and this group of ex-Regular personnel is known as the Regular Reserve," and "All male (but not female) soldiers who enlisted before 1 Apr 97 have a statutory liability for service in the Long Term Reserve until their 45th birthday."

Perhaps Mills wasn't quite as patriotic as I might have thought when, on 13 October 1940, George was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Army Pay Corps. George had just turned 44 years of age and had less than one year to go until, at 45, the army would seem to have been unable to recall him as a "regular reserve." But diud they actually recall him to duty.

Now, in 1941, my father [pictured, right, circa 1942] joined the Navy at the age of 24 because he knew the government was drafting every young man in sight into the army. The whole idea of marching through mud and sleeping on the ground wasn't all that appealing to him. "How far can they march you on a boat?" he said. Certainly not the ten miles or more he'd been hearing about! And he never heard of any sailors sleeping outside on the deck, so he dashed to the enlistment office to sign up for the United States Navy before he could have been drafted.

Is it possible George Mills was simply recalled as a regular reserve and plopped into a position as a lieutenant in the RAPC? Or is it more likely that, after clearly seeing that the Second World War wasn't going to be just a skirmish, he volunteered to return to the military in a more self-selected position he might've been able to negotitate as a "volunteer," much like my Dad?

Perhaps it's simpy a coincidence, but I went into George's enlistment papers with Adobe Photoshop and pulled out something interesting. Amid all of the scrawling, cross-outs and number changes, and remnants of departmental stamps on this duplicate copy, the ghost of one bit of writing became easier to see as I tweaked the brightness and contrast of the document.

You can see it, reading "MY PAY CORPS" in block letters above the handwritten assignment to the "Rifle Depot Res" on the "Corps" [pictured, left]. Presumably, those typed block letters in their entirety would have spelled out "Army Pay Corps."

Maybe it's unrelated to the fact that Mills later became a paymaster in that very same corps. Harrow School's archivist, Luke Meadows, has already told us that according to the school's records, after leaving Harrow, "we know that he was in the Rifle Brigade and then transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps (R.A.S.C.) during the First World War between 1916-1919." Oxford's Anabel Peacock affirms George's rank in the RASC as having begun as a private and concluded as lance corporal.

That's the only documentation of George's WW I service that I can find short of spending the £30 or more to acquire his entire service record, and, as a schoolteacher, that would be a frill I simply can't afford. Since there's only a 40% chance George's military record wasn't at least partially destroyed by bombing, it simply doesn't seem a good financial risk for me right now.

Might George, during the First World War, have transferred into the R.A.P.C. instead of the R.A.S.C.? It certainly wouldn't have been the first typographical error we've run into in our study of George Mills and family—RAPC possibly having been misinterpreted as RASC!

The skimpy Wikipedia article [just 3 sentences] on the RAPC isn't much help, but includes one useful sentence, a sentence that would be even more useful if its reference wasn't unrelated to its content. It reads: "Before the Second World War, the RAPC did not accept recruits directly from civilian life, but only transfers from serving soldiers who had been in the Army for at least six months."

What's difficult to determine is the meaning of "before the Second World War." Mills, still a regular reserve in 1940, indeed may have been able to transfer into the RAPC [the Reading barracks from 1942 is pictured, right] without having been serving currently. Rules, at the time, seemed to changing quickly as the conflict escalated.

More information about the situation at the time is be found in the following memory of a WW II paymaster archived by the BBC and dated 21 October 2004:

"I was born into the Army and, when young, lived in married quarters. Therefore when war was declared in 1939, I enlisted in the Army Territorial Service (A.T.S.). Before Christmas I received orders to join the Royal Army Pay Corps at Leicester.

"Factories, some two or three storeys high, had been taken over by the army to store all the pay records. Regular soldiers of the Royal Army Pay Corps were training both newly enlisted men and women and we were all housed in guesthouses or the homes of local people. We worked from 9 a.m. until 7p.m every day except Sunday, when we were allowed to finish at 4 p.m. It was a few months before we were able to have a half-day on Sunday, and, later, we did appreciate having the full day off. As more people enlisted, in addition to some local people being employed as civil servants, we were able to work normal office hours.

Gradually, the regular soldiers were transferred overseas. Then, when women were called up to register for war work, the enlisted men, except for a few on special work, were also sent abroad. When I joined up in 1939, there was one woman to about 30 men. By 1941-42, the position had gradually changed to the women outnumbering the men."

It's likely the gentleman who wrote this memoir was somewhat younger than George Mills, but he also had apparently returned to the service at the onset on World War II, much like Mills himself.

Perhaps George was trained by this fellow. Perhaps George had previous experience in the RAPC that I can't verify and quickly became a fellow trainer.

One thing is for sure: This part of the military experience of George Mills has been kept under wraps. Both Harrow and Oxford have records of Mills' WW I service, but I can't find any authorities boasting of George's WW II service.

Did George Mills spend time overseas during the Second World War? Or was he involved in some "special work" that kept him from being deployed abroad? How did the death of his wife, Vera, in Exmoor in January of 1942 affect George and his military career? Did the "ill-health" that forced Mills to relinquish his commission in 1943, retaining an honorary rank of lieutenant, occur in Great Britain, or had he been assigned overseas when his health declined at age 46?

I invite you to weigh in on these questions with any information, ideas, or informed speculation you may have—and many thanks!

Mills Arrives at Harrow

On Wednesday, March 17, 2010 10:18 AM, I received the e-mail message below from Luke Meadows, an information officer of the Harrow Association of Harrow School, following a request for information about George Mills.

Here's what Harrow knows about Mills:

Dear Mr Williams,

Thank you for your message, I am able to tell you that George Mills did attend Harrow and the initials R.A stand for Ramsay Acland. George came to the school in 1910 and left in 1912. We know that he was in the Rifle Brigade and then transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps (R.A.S.C.) during the First World War between 1916-1919. After the War was over he went onto study at Oxford between 1919-1921. The only other thing I am able to tell you is that we have his occupation as being a Preparatory School Master.

Georges Father, Rev. Barton Mills was also at Harrow. He entered the school in 1870 and left in 1871. He obtained a BA at Oxford in 1880 and an MA in 1883. he then became Chaplin at san Remo 1886-7, then Vicar of Poughill, Cornwall 1887-9 then of Bude, Cornwall 1891-1901 and was also Assistant Chaplin at the Savoy 1901-8.

Unfortunately I cannot find anything about a brother by the name of D. Mills but I will pass this message onto our school Archivist who might be able to give you some more information on the Mills family!

Good luck with your research,

Kind Regards,

Luke Meadows

Information Officer Harrow Development Trust and Harrow Association

5a High Street Harrow on the Hill Middlesex HA1

So! Not only are we incrementally gathering information about Mills, but his family history is gradually coming into focus as well. Tracking the movements of the family during Mills's lifetime, we find him born in 1896 in Cornwall. In 1901, however, Barton R. V. Mills moves to "the Savoy" [right], presumably the "Great Hospital of St Bernard de Monte Jovis in Savoy" run by the Congregation of Canons of the Great Saint Bernard.

And as we saw in an illustration in a prior post, St. Bernard becomes a huge point of academic interest for George's father—more on that another time.

We learn that G.M. transferred from the Rifle Brigade to the Royal Army Service Corps during his time in the military, which we find ended in 1919.

It's noted that Mills "went on to study at Oxford between 1919-1921", but I find that less than definitive. How loosely is the word "at" used here? At Oxford, the place, or at Oxford, the university, one wonders? If Mr. Meadows simply means Oxford as a location, it likely means that Mills first attended Christ Church, one of the colleges at Oxford in 1919, matriculating to the Final Honours School in 1921?

That seems especially likely given that Ms. Peacock has already informed us that Mills "was exempted from taking Responsions (preliminary examinations for entry) and the examinations of the First Public Examination, under a decree of 9 March 1920." Mills would not have been exempt from examinations yet had he entered the university in 1919. His studies during the years Mr. Meadows mentions must have been at Christ Church.

In addition, it's interesting to note that Mills, at some point, informs Harrow that his occupation is Preparatory School Master. What I wonder is: Could Mills have attained that title legitimately at any other prep school without the "B.A. Oxon" he claimed to have at Windlesham House?

Anyway, on my time line of George Mills, his life and career, let's go ahead assume he finally entered the prestigious Universitas Oxoniensis itself in 1921. How long did he remain there? It's hard to say.

As we know, the dedication to 1933's Meredith and Co. reads: "To MR. J. GOODLAND, sometime Head Master of Warren Hill, Eastbourne; to the STAFF AND BOYS OF THE SAME SCHOOL, and to those of WINDLESHAM HOUSE, BRIGHTON." Is this sequence intended to imply that he taught at Warren Hill before Windlesham House. Or is it simply sequenced to move an individual, J. Goodland, to the top of the list?

Dr. Houston, in a prior post, cites Mills as having taught at Warren Hill after Windlesham. This makes it possible for Mills to have spent all or some of 1921-1924 at Oxford. Or was something else fitted into those years?

And that still leaves another set of four years—1912 through 1916—unaccounted for. What happened during those "missing years"? Where was Mills between his departure from Harrow at 16 and the onset of his hitch in the military that began in 1916, when he was 20? And is it at all unusual he started as a private? Why would it have occurred to me that the grandson of an M.P. and the son of a Master's Degree holder from Oxford might've started on a higher rung?

As always, if you have information, or even some intriguing speculation, please let me know!

"Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself" -- Wittgenstein

On Tuesday morning, I replied to Annabel Peacock at Oxford seeking more specifics about the fact that George Mills apparently had never actually earned an Oxon B.A. Here's the message I sent:

Ms. Peacock, thank you so much for taking the time to send me this information so promptly. I really do appreciate your effort, and I now have so many paths to follow that I hardly know where to begin!

Incidentally, the first employer of Mills listed him as "BA, Oxon" when he taught 'English or English subjects' there in 1925-1926. What is your professional opinion of the fact that he may have, um, told an untruth in that case? Is there any record of when Mills might have finished taking his last class at Oxford? What would have been his 'major', if any? Would there have been a chance that he finished his degree elsewhere, but continued to use his knowledge of Oxford and the university's name to open doors for him? Has it ever happened?

I know these must seem like hopelessly stupid questions, but I hope you'll continue to bear with me and take a moment to reply!

Thanks once again and best regards,

Sam W.

Her reply arrived early the next morning:

From: Oxford University Archives [enquiries@oua.ox.ac.uk]

Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 5:45 AM

To: Williams, Harry (Sam)

Subject: Re: Enquiry: George R. A. Mills

Dear Sam

Thank you for your email. As we have no record of Mills passing any examinations in the Final Honours School or obtaining a degree, it appears that he was not telling the truth about his academic background.We have come across cases before of people without Oxford degrees using the University's name to help open doors. However, often they have no link at all with Oxford whereas Mills had actually matriculated from the University. It was not usually possible to transfer your status toanother university in order to complete a degree course. Members of Oxford were able to 'incorporate' at Cambridge University, which enabled them to move there and maintain the same rank, status or degree as they had held at Oxford. However, this seems unlikely with Mills, especially as he claimed his BA was from Oxford. I have been unable to find any record of the subjects Mills studied during his time at the University.

The colleges in Oxford maintain their own archives and it is possible that Christ Church may hold some additional information about Mills. They may be able to give you more details of when he left the University. Should you wish to contact them, enquiries should be directed to Judith Curthoys, the College Archivist, at archives@chch.ox.ac.uk.

Best wishes

Annabel

So, it's off to Christ Church for information. It looks like Mills was trading on his Oxford experiences by at least leading potential employers to conclude he'd been awarded a degree. It seems that might've been a reason he'd been offered a "junior appointment" at Windlesham House, and may have factored into his "sudden (?) departure" from there in 1926.

And let's not forget, that seemed a place he probably had intended to stay for a while: He'd married and purchased a home in the neighborhood! Those aren't behaviors I'd associate with a man who's uncertain about his immediate.

It was suggested in an earlier post that Mills disappeared because junior appointments were "seldom held for long" or that Mills may have been involved in "the General Strike (that term)", but neither seems to completely resonate with the fact that he was a new husband and homeowner.

One could make the case, however, that fabricating a degree from Oxford wasn't exactly the safest thing for him to do in his situation either.

It's possible Mills did just drift away as apparently junior appojntments are wont to do. Perhaps he had simply become overly excited and went out on strike [pictured, left], never to return. Or, perhaps because he was apparently a good egg and well thought of in Portslade, he was allowed to depart amicably even after it was determined he in fact didn't hold any degree after all.

Are there any other possibilities I am overlooking?

Meanwhile, I'd sent a request to Harrow School for anything they might know about George Mills.

We'll take a look at the word from Harrow next time.

Until the peacock led him in...

Just a couple of hours after I'd sent off an e-mail to the Oxford University Archives requesting information on George R. A. Mills, I was impressed that I'd already received an reply. Despite the fact that in the United States we like to think of ourselves as an "instant gratification" society, I have to admit that if I'd sent an e-mail at 10:33 AM requesting information into my own school district here in Florida, I'd be quite pleased if I finally had a response by the end of the day. And I sent an information request to Keele University on February 21 and I wonder when I might receive a reply—if I ever do at all.

In this case, however, I had a detailed reply from an archivist at arguably the most prestigious institution of higher learning in the world waiting for me in my in-box by 1:07 PM. Quite impressive!

As you may recall from yesterday's post, George Mills had found his missing middle initials, his wife, his university, his brief but inspirational tenure at Windlesham House, and the colleagues [and pets] who had inspired many characters from the books he'd go on to write several years later.

This is what the Archives at Oxford added to the mix [my emphasis]:


Dear Mr Williams

Thank you for your email enquiry. I have searched our card index of those who matriculated (ie were admitted to the University) between 1891 and 1932 and have found an entry for George Ramsay Acland Mills. This records that he matriculated from Christ Church on 16 October 1919. According to the form that he completed at his matriculation Mills was born on 1 October 1896 in Bude, Cornwall. He was the second son of Barton Reginald Vaughan Mills, a cleric in holy orders and a scholar [see illustration, right], of 7 Mawson Place, Queens Gate. Before attending Oxford Mills had been educated at Harrow School.

I have also found Mills' entry in the undergraduate register. This records that he was exempted from taking Responsions (preliminary examinations for entry) and the examinations of the First Public Examination,under a decree of 9 March 1920. This decree stipulated that until the end of Trinity Term 1923 any member of the University who had been engaged in military service for twelve months or more before his matriculation, was permitted to offer himself for examination in any Final Honours School, despite not having met the statutory conditions for admission to that School. This was on condition that he had obtained permission from the Vice Chancellor and the proctors; that he had entered upon the third term and had not exceeded the twelfth term following his matriculation; and that he had paid the fee for admission to the examinations the decree excused him from. Mills' entry in the undergraduate register records that he paid the fee of £5 2s on 21 May 1921. However, I have been unable to find any record that Mills went onto pass any examinations in the Final Honours School or that he obtained a degree.

I have also checked the 'Oxford University Roll of Service', a printed register of members of the University who served in the First World War. This records that Mills commenced military service on 16 June 1916. He was a Private in the Royal Army Service Corps. His highest acting rank was that of Lance Corporal.

I have been able to find evidence that Mills' father, Barton Reginald Vaughan, was also an Oxford graduate. He appears in Joseph Foster's 'Alumni Oxonienses', a printed register of those who matriculated between 1715 and 1886. This records that he matriculated from Christ Church on 13 October 1876, aged 18. He was the first son of Arthur, armiger (ie esquire), of London. He was awarded second class honours in History in 1880. The degree of BA was conferred in 1880, and that of MA (which at this time required no further study or residence) in 1883. He was rector of Poughill in 1887. I regret that without names and dates I am unable to search our records for any other relatives of Mills who may have attended the University.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Yours sincerely
Annabel Peacock
Archives Assistant

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oxford University Archives
Bodleian Library
Oxford OX1 3BG
web: www.oua.ox.ac.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ms. Peacock, you are amazing! I simply can't thank you enough, not only for your prompt assistance, but for leaving me simply awash in total "Millsness"!

So, let me see if I have this time line correct thus far [and, British readers, please check my educational suppositions for accuracy]:

George Ramsay Acland Mills was born in Bude, Cornwall in 1896, the second son of a holy cleric and Oxford grad, Barton R. V. Mills who had been a rector in Cornwall. It's believed that George attended Parkfield, a school in Haywards Heath as a boy. After then attending Harrow School [pictured, left] in London and apparently living with the family in Queen's Gate, he joined the army in 1916 and fought in the First World War, reaching the rank of Lance Corporal.

After the war, Mills apparently attended Christ Church and from there matriculated to Oxford in 1919, where as a veteran he was exempted from Responsions, and finally paid his required fee for them 1921 without receiving a degree.

In 1925, he and his "B.A. Oxon" are engaged as a junior appointment at Windlesham House, the same year he married Vera Beauclerc and purchased a home near the school in Portslade. His name seems to disappear suddenly from the staff list by the end of the summer term in 1926 after having spent the year teaching the boys English or "English subjects" and having been involved in extracurricular music and drama.

Meredith and Co. is published by Oxford University Press in 1933, and is dedicated to boys and staff at Windlesham House, Warren Hill School in Eastbourne, The Craig in Windersmere, and the English Preparatory School in Glion, presumably in Switzerland, among whom he "spent many happy years."

In 1935, Mills visited the wife of his old headmaster at Windlesham, telling here he'd written a book "largely about Windlesham" and that he'd "been at 2 or 3 schools since."

He then published a sequel to Meredith and Co. in 1938 [King Willow], and two more in 1939, Minor and Major [also about prep schools] and St. Thomas of Canterbury, the latter being a text in which Mills is listed in the British Library as author along with St. Thomas himself [pictured, right].

That's where the trail goes absolutely cold: 1939. After the most prolofic 1-2 year span of his life as an author.

It's actually been far easier to work backward into his family's past than it's been to turn up any clues about them after the onset of the Second World War.

Next time, though, let's take a peek at the fact that Mills supposedly earned a "B.A. Oxon"—something the facts don't seem to corroborate.