Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

Derek Mills-Roberts, (23 November 1908 – 1 October 1980) was a British

commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

who fought with the

1st Special Service Brigade The 1st Special Service Brigade was a commando brigade of the British Army. Formed during the Second World War, it consisted of elements of the British Army (including British Commandos) and the Royal Marines. The brigade's component units saw a ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. In a quirk of military history, he became the only Allied soldier to strike a German field marshal with the latter's own staff-of-office – when Mills-Roberts beat

Erhard Milch Erhard Milch (30 March 1892 – 25 January 1972) was a German general field marshal ('' Generalfeldmarschall'') of Jewish heritage who oversaw the development of the German air force (''Luftwaffe'') as part of the re-armament of Nazi Germany fo ...

over the head with the just-surrendered marshal's baton.

Early life

Derek Mills-Roberts was born on 23 November 1908 in England. During the 1930s, he trained to become a lawyer at

Liverpool College Liverpool College is a school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' Conference (HMC). History Liverpool College was the first of many public schools founded in the Victorian ...

and the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. On 3 October 1936, he was commissioned into the

Irish Guards ("Who Shall Separate s") , colors = , identification_symbol_2 Saffron (pipes), identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = Tactical Recognition F ...

Supplementary Reserve of Officers as a second lieutenant, having been an

officer cadet Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University Ai ...

of the University of Oxford contingent of the

Officer Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

. It was at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

that Mills-Roberts met his good friend

Lord Lovat Lord Lovat ( gd, Mac Shimidh) is a title of the rank Lord of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1458 for Hugh Fraser by summoning him to the Scottish Parliament as Lord Fraser of Lovat, although the holder is referred ...

. Mills-Roberts and Lord Lovat had actually got off on a bad start. They had a rivalry which involved a heated argument and an exchange of blows. From that time on, however, they became close friends. After graduation from Oxford, Mills-Roberts worked for his father's law firm.

Second World War

Mills-Roberts began his military service in the No. 4 Commando Unit. His good friend Lord Lovat was given command of the unit, while Mills-Roberts served as second-in-command. On 3 March 1941, Mills-Roberts, in the No. 4 Commando Unit, launched a raid on the German-occupied

Lofoten Islands Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvæ ...

in Norway. In the successful raid, the commandos destroyed a significant number of fish-oil factories, petrol dumps and 11 ships. They also seized encryption equipment and codebooks. In addition to the destruction of materials, the commandos captured 216 German troops, and 315 Norwegians chose to accompany the commandos back to Britain. In August 1942, Mills-Roberts was involved in the disastrous Dieppe Raid. The raid, a small scale invasion mounted by Canadian

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

and British commandos against

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's Atlantic Wall, was a complete failure and the units involved suffered very heavily. Lovat and Mills-Roberts's involvement in the raid was to secure the opposing flanks of the landing area and to destroy coastal batteries. Mills-Roberts was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

on 2 October 1942 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the combined attack on Dieppe". By October 1942, Mills-Roberts was a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

( temporary captain) ( acting major). He was shortly after promoted to lieutenant colonel and given command of No. 6 Commando Unit; he was then stationed in North Africa. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

(DSO) on 22 April 1943 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in North Africa". During the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

in 1944, No. 6 Commando Unit captured the port of

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders the ...

and linked up with the 6th Airborne Division on the eastern flank of Sword. Mills-Roberts was awarded a Bar to his DSO on 21 June 1945 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in North-West Europe". Later in the war, Mills-Roberts took part in the

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentra ...

's liberation. When ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

'' field marshal

was captured and surrendered his command baton to Mills-Roberts, the latter vented his anger about the atrocities he had seen at Bergen-Belsen, marching Milch around the camp and demanding to know his thoughts on the terrible sights witnessed. Milch's reply (who spoke English) was along the lines of "these people are not human beings in the same way as you and I!" This infuriated Mills-Roberts, who took Milch's field marshal's baton from under Milch's arm, and then proceeded to brutally strike it over Milch's head until it broke and then repeatedly beat Milch with a champagne bottle. Mills-Roberts went to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery the following day to apologise for losing his temper with a senior German officer and Montgomery put his hands over his head in mock protection jokingly saying "I hear you've got a thing about Field Marshals", and nothing more was said. This incident left Milch with several contusions and a fractured skull. The broken pieces were retrieved by his batman and the remains were given to Mills-Robert's wife Jill, who had the baton restored at Swayne Adeney Brigg in London, but the replacement shaft was slightly longer than the original. In later years, Jill sold the baton at auction. Before the auction, an injunction was put on the sale by the Milch family, who contested ownership, saying that the baton was 'stolen' from Milch. A local magistrate in the United Kingdom decided that the baton was legitimate war booty and the sale continued; eventually the baton went to an American collector in Florida. By June 1945, Mills-Roberts was a

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

(temporary). In the 1950 New Year Honours, Mills-Roberts was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE).

References

External links

TracesOfWar.com
*http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/derek_mills_roberts.htm

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills-Roberts, Derek 1908 births 1980 deaths British Army brigadiers of World War II British Army Commandos officers Recipients of the Military Cross Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Recipients of the Legion of Honour People educated at Liverpool College Irish Guards officers