Private John William Miller

Not knowing where or what has happened to a loved one can cause a great deal of emotional stress and anguish.

Ida Miller spent much time wondering about the whereabouts of husband, Private John William Miller, a Tasmanian Aboriginal soldier who enlisted with the 12^th Battalion on 19 October 1914. 

Private Miller, a grandson of well-known Tasmanian Aboriginal woman Fanny Cochrane Smith, was among the Australian and New Zealand troops who landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, but was soon reported missing. 

Back in Tasmania, living in the remote area of Kellavie, Ida worried about her husband. Letters were returned unanswered, prompting her to write to the Officer of Base Records in Melbourne:

“I am living in a lonely place with my little children. I am very anxious to hear from my husband. Will you kindly make enquiries and let me know the result.”

 - Ida Miller 
7 October 1915

Ida knew her husband had landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, as she wrote:

“…on the 25 of April 1915 he was seen on the boats at the landing but he was never seen after I got a notice that he was wounded and missing between the 25 and 28 of April and I never got any different for a long while…then he was declared killed in action at the landing of Gallipoli. He was never seen or heard of after that….”

During 1915, Private Miller’s war records stated that on 3 May 1915 he was reported as missing. On 7 November 1915, he was recorded as “wounded and missing”. 

A Court of Inquiry held on 5 June 1916 reported that Private Miller was “Previously reported missing now reported killed in action”.

After the war, on 28 June 1921, the Australian Imperial Force Base Records wrote to Ida to say the Grave Services Unit had “been unable to obtain any trace of the last resting place of her husband”.

The Australian War Memorial records Private John William Miller as being killed in action on 25 April 1915 and he is commemorated at the “Baby 700 Cemetery, 1860 yards North East of Anzac Cove, Gallipoli”.