Blackmore Area Local History

Bertie Millbank

War Memorial: Place and inscription
Unknown

Rank:
Private

Regiment:
Essex Regiment. 2^nd Battalion.  Service No: 8544 [CWGC]

Service Details:
Private Bertie Millbank
Born: Blackmore 13.1.1887
Lived: Romford, 29 Richmond Road
Enlisted: Romford
Died of Wounds. France. 23.9.1914
Age: 27
Next of Kin: No *
[source: Essex Regiment Museum database]

Personal and family information:
Bertie Millbank was baptised at Blackmore on 13th February 1887 (born 13/1/1887), parents William, a labourer, and Emma [ERO D/P 266/1/11].

The name appears in the ‘Sunday School Admission Register’ as Bertie Millbank. No age is recorded other than ‘7yrs’  [ERO D/P 266/28].

1891 census:
Hay Green, Blackmore –
William Millbank. Head. [Age] 39. Agricultural Labourer. [Born] Margaretting
Emma Millbank. Wife. [Age] 40. [Born] Blackmore
Arthur Millbank. Son. [Age] 18. Agricultural Labourer  [Born] Blackmore
Frederick Millbank. Son. [Age] 16. Agricultural Labourer [Born] Blackmore
William Millbank. Son. [Age] 14. Agricultural Labourer [Born] Blackmore
Herbert Millbank. Son. [Age] 12. Agricultural Labourer [Born] Blackmore
Walter Millbank. Son. [Age] 10. Scholar [Born] Blackmore
Ernest Millbank. Son. [Age] 8. Scholar [Born] Blackmore
Bertie Millbank. Son. [Age] 4. Scholar [Born] Blackmore
Eliza Clare Millbank. Daughter. [Age] 2 [Born] Blackmore
Harry Millbank. Son. [Age] 4mo.  [Born] Blackmore

1911 Census. Bertie Milbank (spelt with one ‘l’) serving in ‘Military’.

To suggest Bertie Millbank had no next of kin (see above *) is not quite true. 
Burial Register:
William Millbank (otherwise Brown). Blackmore. March 25^th 1948. 72 years
Ernest Millbank. Swan House, Blackmore. September 5^th 1934. 49 years
[source: Burial Register in church safe]

Date of Death:
23^rd September 1914

Age:
27

Where died:
Died of wounds France & Flanders [SDGW]

Place of Burial or Commemoration:
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: 4. 17. 8. Neuilly-Sur-Seine New Communal Cemetery

The war cemetery occupies a small percentage of a municipal cemetery, which itself is set against a backdrop of the Défense skyline, with its many towers and "Grande Arche" in the modern business district of Paris. 

List of Sources:
Church Safe with grateful acknowledgement to the Vicar and churchwardens, Commonwealth War Grave Commission  (CWGC), Essex Record Office, Military-genealogy.com (Soldiers who Died in the Great War).