Wallace Hickford Mills (7 January 1915 – 24 November 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL).Holmesby & Main (2007).
Family The son of Frederick Mills (1880–1966),Deaths: Mills, The Age, (Tuesday, 26 July 1966), p.18. and Emily Louisa "Emma" Mills (1866–1949), née Hickford,Deaths: Mills, The Age, (Tuesday, 22 March 1949), p.2. Wallace Hickford Mills was born in Middle Park, Victoria on 7 January 1915.Roll of Honour Circular, collection of the Australian War Memorial.
He married Edith Jane Edward (1915–2003) in 1939.
Football He played in one First XVIII match for : against Footscray, at the Junction Oval, on 24 July 1937. He was promoted from the Seconds, and replaced Ken Mackie.Warne-Smith, I., "Aims at Surprising St. Kilda", The Argus, (Saturday, 24 July 1937), p.24.Teams Chosen: St. Kilda v. Footscray, The Argus, (Friday, 23 July 1937), p.17. He was relegated to the Seconds for the next week's match.League Seconds, The Argus, (Friday, 30 July 1937), p.18.
Military service He enlisted for service in the Australian Military forces on 4 December 1939, and served overseas in the Middle East.Service Record.
Death He was killed in a motor accident in Far North Queensland while serving with the 2/41st Light Aid Detachment, Australian Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
On 24 November 1943, Mills was fatally injured when the army truck he was riding in collided with a Royal Australian Air Force truck on the Innisfail-Cairns road. He died later that day at a hospital in Gordonvale.Deaths: Mills, The Age, (Saturday, 11 December 1943), p.9.
He was buried at the Atherton War Cemetery.Warrant Officer Class II Wallace Hickford Mills (VX2998), Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
See also List of Victorian Football League players who died on active service
Notes
References
World War Two Nominal Roll: Warrant Officer Class II Wallace Hickford Mills (VX2998), Department of Veterans' Affairs. World War Two Service Record: Warrant Officer Class II Wallace Hickford Mills (VX2998), National Archives of Australia.
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