Fred Mills (footballer)

Frederick Mills (1910 – 5 December 1944) was an English footballer who played at right-half for Port Vale and Leeds United throughout the 1930s. He was killed during World War II.

Fred Mills

Personal information
Full name	Frederick Mills[1]
Date of birth	1910[1]
Place of birth	Hanley, Staffordshire, England[1]
Date of death	5 December 1944 (aged 33–34)
Place of death	Blerick, German-occupied Netherlands[2]
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s)	Right-half
Youth career
	Middleport
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1932–1934	Port Vale	73	(4)
1934–1939	Leeds United	67	(2)
Total		140	(6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Family

Fred was the son of Frederick and Ann Mills of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.[3]

Playing career

Mills joined Port Vale from Middleport, initially as an amateur, in April 1932.[1] He signed professional forms the next month and scored his first goal in professional football on 10 December 1932, in a 3–1 win over Bradford Park Avenue at The Old Recreation Ground.[1] He finished the 1932–33 season with three goals in 37 appearances.[1] He scored twice in 37 Second Division games in the 1933–34 campaign.[1] He was sold to Leeds United in June 1934, as the club were running short of money.[1]

He made his debut for Leeds at centre-forward, before switching to inside-right.[4] After 16 games of the 1934–35 season he broke his leg, causing him to miss the entire 1935–36 campaign.[4] He played 32 times at wing-half in the 1936–37 season, and scored twice in 12 First Division appearances in 1937–38.[4] He played eight games in 1938–39, but left Elland Road after the outbreak of World War II.[4]

Military career

Mills joined the 6th Battalion King's Shropshire Light Infantry, a new unit formed in 1940, which was converted into 181st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery in 1942. Gunner Mills was known to his comrades as 'Paddy' and was strong member of the regimental football team. On 5 December 1944, after the fighting for Blerick in the Netherlands, the regiment was in convoy and halted in a taped route through a minefield. "The story goes that Paddy had found most of a German Machine Gun and was keen to complete his trophy … Suddenly Paddy was heard to shout 'That's just what I'm looking for' or words to that effect. He jumped out of the lorry, and into the minefield. It's not clear whether he stepped on a mine, or the box he picked up was booby-trapped, but Paddy was killed instantly."[5] He left a widow, Lucy,[3] and is buried in Venray War Cemetery.[6]

Statistics

Source:[7]

Season	Club	Division	League		FA Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Port Vale	1932–33	Second Division	36	2	1	1	37	3
	1933–34	Second Division	37	2	1	0	38	2
	Total		73	4	2	1	75	5
Leeds United	1934–35	First Division	16	2	0	0	16	2
	1935–36	First Division	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1936–37	First Division	31	0	1	0	32	0
	1937–38	First Division	12	0	2	0	14	0
	1938–39	First Division	8	0	0	0	8	0
	Total		67	2	3	0	70	2
Career total			140	6	5	1	145	7

See also

• List of footballers killed during World War II

References

1. Kent, p. 200.
2. Neal, p. 71.
3. Mills at CWGC
4. "Fred Mills". leeds-fans.org.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
5. Neal, pp. 4, 71, 85.
6. Venray War Cemetery at CWGC
7. Fred Mills at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

Sources

• Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
• Don Neal, Guns and Bugles: The Story of the 6th Bn KSLI – 181st Field Regiment RA 1940–1946, Studley: Brewin, 2001, ISBN 1-85858-192-3.