ajor Bernard Herbert Gordon Mills was born on 21st February 1932, and commissioned into the Suffolk Regiment twenty years later, serving with them during the Cyprus Emergency. In December 1957 he, along with two men caught the leader of EOKA in Dhavlos and one of his henchmen red-handed as they were haranguing the people of the village. The following April his patrol raided a coffee shop in the village of Meniko capturing three men as they were attempting to hide. On return to the UK he joined 22 SAS, and later served on secondment to the Sultan’s Armed Forces in Oman until he retired from the Army in 1964. He then became a Contract Officer with the Royalist Army serving on the Yemen border. He worked for Save The Children Fund in Biafra in the early 1970s during the Biafran Civil War, and then for a number of other NGOs in Bangladesh. In 1975 he moved to the Middle East to work for a Merchant Bank as their representative in Oman and Jordan. His employer said of him that he was not sure that he would make a successful banker but was particularly good at lunches. Nevertheless, he remained a significant asset to the Bank remaining with them until 1979. Bernard Mills then returned to England to take a three-year Arabic degree at Cambridge University. On completion of his degree in 1982, he applied to join the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and was appointed their officer in charge of South Lebanon. At the time part of South Lebanon was occupied by Israel following the 1982 War. Bernard insisted on living in the occupied area, his local staff were not of high calibre, the rest of his staff lived in Beirut commuting into the occupied zone each day. He visited all the refugee camps in person and would arrive at schools at 0830 to ensure the teaching staff were there at the start of the school day. He very quickly became respected by the Palestinians and feared by those “on the make.” In 1986 he was promoted to Director for Gaza, one of only five in the whole of the Agency. He was in Gaza for the 1st Palestinian refugee Intifada (uprising) and was responsible for bringing a team of International Observers into the Country, to provide independent reports on the atrocities being commit

Obituary for Major Bernard Herbert Gordon Mills CBE

Major Bernard Herbert Gordon Mills was born on 21st February 1932, and commissioned into the Suffolk Regiment twenty years later, serving with them during the Cyprus Emergency.

In December 1957 he, along with two men caught the leader of EOKA in Dhavlos and one of his henchmen red-handed as they were haranguing the people of the village. The following April his patrol raided a coffee shop in the village of Meniko capturing three men as they were attempting to hide.

On return to the UK he joined 22 SAS, and later served on secondment to the Sultan’s Armed Forces in Oman until he retired from the Army in 1964. He then became a Contract Officer with the Royalist Army serving on the Yemen border.

He worked for Save The Children Fund in Biafra in the early 1970s during the Biafran Civil War, and then for a number of other NGOs in Bangladesh. In 1975 he moved to the Middle East to work for a Merchant Bank as their representative in Oman and Jordan. His employer said of him that he was not sure that he would make a successful banker but was particularly good at lunches. Nevertheless, he remained a significant asset to the Bank remaining with them until 1979.

Bernard Mills then returned to England to take a three-year Arabic degree at Cambridge University.

On completion of his degree in 1982, he applied to join the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and was appointed their officer in charge of South Lebanon. At the time part of South Lebanon was occupied by Israel following the 1982 War. Bernard insisted on living in the occupied area, his local staff were not of high calibre, the rest of his staff lived in Beirut commuting into the occupied zone each day. He visited all the refugee camps in person and would arrive at schools at 0830 to ensure the teaching staff were there at the start of the school day. He very quickly became respected by the Palestinians and feared by those “on the make.” In 1986 he was promoted to Director for Gaza, one of only five in the whole of the Agency. He was in Gaza for the 1st Palestinian refugee Intifada (uprising) and was responsible for bringing a team of International Observers into the Country, to provide independent reports on the atrocities being committed. It was here that he really made his name. He was awarded the CBE in the 1989 New Year’s Honours List on his retirement.

Major Bernard Mills was a man who cared, was determined and large of stature. You did not mess with him. He was also a man of many parts and a people’s person. He enjoyed a convivial meal or a drink with friends and was a great raconteur, but never spoke of his own considerable achievements.

He died on 8th September 2021 aged eighty-nine following a prolonged period of ill health.