5th (Reserve) Battalion, Machine Gun Corps
John Miflin was born in 1883 (or possibly 1886) in Gloucester and was an old soldier, having enlisted as a regular soldier (number 7198) in the Gloucestershire Regiment, in the first week of March 1905 and he was on the Reserve List for the 2nd Battalion when hostilities broke out in 1914. He was recalled to the Army, from his employment as a railway labourer and was posted to France with ‘A’ Company, 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment on 13 August 1914. He was severely wounded on 17 September 1914, probably by shell fire and was reported to be in Herbert Hospital, Woolwich on 21 September.
He was reported wounded on two further occasions. In September 1915 he was reported to be suffering from gas poisoning and in July 1916 as wounded. At some point he transferred to the 5th (Reserve) Battalion, Machine Gun Corps (MGC) and died of unspecified causes (almost certainly related to his war service) at Grantham, Lincolnshire (the MGC Training Establishment was at Belton Park), on 27 November 1918. He was aged 35.
He may have been married, as the Marriage Register for the third quarter of 1914 records the marriage, in Cheltenham, of someone of his name to Ruth Maynard. Their home may have been at 1 Angel Court, Fairview Road, Cheltenham.
John Miflin was buried in Cheltenham Cemetery, where his grave is marked by a CWGC headstone. He is commemorated on the Cheltenham Borough War Memorial (surname spelt ‘Miffin’) and that at Holy Trinity Church (Portland Street).
Researched by Graham Adams 3 February 2013