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James Brian Millar
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Born at Snowflake on 26 June 1924, one of five children of Scottish immigrants John Millar and Wilimina Amelia Moodie, he graduated grade 12 from United College in 1942. He studied engineering and joined the Canadian Officer Training Corps at the University of Manitoba for three months. In the summer of 1942, he worked as a part-time beater/press operator at the Cordite Plant. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force on 8 December 1942.
He qualified as a Pilot and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on 21 November 1943. On 21 April 1944, he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer and on 21 October 1944 he was promoted to the rank of Flying Officer. He departed Canada for England on 22 December 1944 and on 4 March 1945 he joined 357 Squadron at Digri in Bengal, India.
Less than a month later, on 1 April 1945, he was a pilot in Liberator KH323 when it took off from the air station at Jessor, Bengal, for a night supply-dropping operation. The crew comprised eight Canadians, and there were six army personnel of Force 136, three British officers, and three Burmans on the aircraft. The aircraft appeared to lose power or stall after take-off and it blew up when it crashed three miles from the upwind end of the runway. All remains were buried on 2 April 1945 in the local churchyard, with full military honours.
He is buried in the Chittagong War Cemetery in Bangladesh. In 1993, the Province of Manitoba named Millar Peninsula on Elvyn Lake in his honour.
This page was prepared by Robert Nash.
Page revised: 24 May 2024
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