Arthur Frederick Hobart Mills (12 July 1887 – 18 February 1955) was a British writer and military Captain.
Early life and education Mills was born on 12 July 1887 in Bude, Cornwall to The Rev Barton Reginald Vaughan Mills and Lady Catherine Mary Hobart Hampden (died 1889). Mills' was the maternal nephew of the politician Sidney Hobart-Hampden-Mercer-Henderson, 7th Earl of Buckinghamshire and the paternal grandson of politician Arthur Mills. Mills' had three younger half-siblings from his father's second marriage to Elizabeth Edith Ramsay, including the schoolmaster and writer George Mills.
Mills was educated at Wellington College and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Career Captain Mills was gazetted into the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in 1908 and served in China, India and Palestine. He was wounded in World War I at La Bassée and wrote a pair of books, his first, about that experience: With My Regiment: From the Aisne to La Bassée (William Heinemann: London, 1915) and Hospital Days (T. Fisher Unwin: London, 1916) under the pseudonym "Platoon Commander". At his wedding to Lady Dorothy Walpole, daughter of the fifth Earl of Orford, in 1916, her wedding ring was made from a bullet that had been surgically removed from his ankle.
Despite favourable reviews, frequent impressions, and global translations of many of his earlier books (The Broadway Madonna, The Gold Cat), Mills eventually became known as a genre author of cheap crime and adventure novels. His work has been largely forgotten.
Personal life In 1916, Mills married the explorer, travel writer and memoirist Lady Dorothy Mills. Lady Dorothy Mills filed a divorce decree in 1932, on the grounds of her husband's infidelity. The divorce was granted the following year, and Mills married Monica Cecil Grant Mills () in the October.
On 18 February 1955, Mills died in Milford on Sea, Hampshire aged 67.
Bibliography Title Publisher Date Pseudonym With My Regiment: From the Aisne to La Bassée Lippincott 1916 "Platoon Commander" Hospital Days Unwin 1916 "Platoon Commander" Ursula Vanet Bale 1921 Pillars of Salt Duckworth 1922 The Primrose PathDuckworth 1923 The Yellow Dragon Hutchinson 1924 The Broadway Madonna Unknown 1924 The Gold Cat Hutchinson 1925 The Danger Game Hutchinson 1926 Live Bait Hutchinson 1927 Modern Cameos Hutchinson 1928 White Snake Hutchinson 1928 The Blue Spider Collins 1929 Pursued Collins 1929 The Apaché Girl Collins 1930 Intrigue Island Collins 1930 Escapade Collins 1931 Stowaway Collins 1931 One Man's Secret Collins 1932 Judgment of Death Collins 1932 Gentleman of Rio Collins 1933 Black Royalty Collins 1933 The Ant Heap Hutchinson 1934 Paris Agent Collins 1935 Brighton Alibi Collins 1936 Café in Montparnasse Collins 1936 French Girl Collins 1937 The Broken Sword Collins 1938 Jewel Thief Collins 1939 White Negro Collins 1940 Don't Touch the Body Collins 1947 Shroud of Snow Evans 1950 Last Seen Alive Evans 1951 Your Number Is Up Evans 1952 The Jockey Died First Staples 1953 The Maliday Mystery Staples 1954
References
External links Who Is George Mills? Google Books: With My Regiment