Pat Mills
He was a man the American sportswriters referred to as a
"scholar and a gentleman" and from such a group of hardened journalists that
was praise indeed! His name was Pat Mills and he was the younger
brother of Fred Mills, the boxing bootmaker. Pat led such a varied
life that it would be easy to write a book about him, but nevertheless I
shall attempt to give you an insight into his interesting and colourful
career.
In the streets of Gosport in the year of 1901, tradesmen
were whistling the hit-song of the day, "After the Ball". And the ball
was certainly over for our beloved Queen Victoria, who died that year.
It was the start of the Edwardian era. It was into this period that
Pat Mills was born, and it was a good day for the boxing world.
He grew into a pleasant lad with a nice nature that made him many friends and he also developed a liking for sport. During the First World War, he joined the Royal Flying Corps as a boy entrant. Those days were well remembered by Gosport resident Bill Crockford who joined the same outfit as Pat.
They went through their initial training together at Halton. Bill recalled what an easy going chap Pat was, but even in
those days he was a champion of the underdog. He had no time for the
barrack-room bullies that always abound in the services. Many such
types learnt to their cost only too late that they had picked the wrong chap
to goad into a fight. Pat may have been only a lightweight, but he was
more than a match for many a heavier chap.
Allowed to pursue sports, he developed into a first class sprinter, but it
never overcame his love of boxing. He was posted to Uxbridge and it
was there that his boxing ability won him the L.S.B.A. and the Allied
Service championships. I might add that at this time he was a pretty fair
footballer. He was given a trial with Fulham F.C., but boxing won
again.
After leaving the R.A.F. he toured the world, boxing in China, Japan and
Australia. In Australia, he had fourteen fights and lost only twice.
He also won the Australian lightweight title. He won the Championship
of the East in the Philippines before going on to America.
1.
Evening News,
Portsmouth report
2. Solution of the "Pat Mills" Mystery
3. Pat Mills - Down Memory Lane with Ron Brown