Private Sidney Mills

Private Sidney Mills. 2nd Battalion ,Scots Guards. He was killed in action in France on 18th May 1915 aged 23. He had been born in Minto, Roxburghshire and was the son of James and Isabella Mills of Hutton and is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial, France.  He had been working as an engineer in Hamilton, Lanarkshire when he enlisted in October 1914, joining his Battalion in France in April 1915. He fell during the Battle of Festubert where the Battalion, in taking their objectives, suffered heavy casualties. 6 Officers and 219 Other Ranks were killed  or missing and 4 Officers and 182 Other Ranks were wounded. Some of the missing turned out to have been taken prisoner. Most of” F” Company was surrounded during the fight and fought to the last man inflicting severe casualties on their opponents.  The photographs show Festubert during the Battle.