Biography

Angus John MacMillan, Aonghas Iain a' Mhuilleir, was born on the 7th of November 1918 in Liniclete, Benbecula, the second youngest of a family of six. His mother was Màiri Anna 'Illeasbaig Dhòmhnaill Ruaidh from Benbecula and John MacMillan, Am Muillear Ruadh, was his father. His father had a mill in Liniclete until he moved to Carnan in South Uist with his family.

Angus John was only twenty years old when the war began, and he went with the Camerons to fight in France. His mother was told that he was missing in action but the Reverend Donald Caskie later reported that he was alive and had escaped from the Germans. The Reverend Caskie, from Islay, helped many British soldiers and servicemen of the Allied Forces in their attempts to escape from the Germans. Eventually, Angus John got home on a boat from the Port of Gibraltar. After returning to Britain, he spent a while in hospital in Surrey.

After the war, Angus John went to sea and continued in that line of work until he married Mary Magee from Glasgow in July 1963. Mary was originally from Ireland and had spent holidays in South Uist in the fifties and had come to know Angus John's relatives before they had met. They had three children who still live in Glasgow. After they married, Angus John got a job as a clerk in the Zoology Department at Glasgow University and he and his family lived nearby on Bank Street, on the west side of the town.

While at sea he made a recording in New Zealand but unfortunately none of his relatives can find that recording. He came from a family of singers: the singer John MacPhee from Glasgow is the son of Angus John's sister Kate (Ceit a' Mhuilleir), while Mary MacInnes is the daughter of Catrìona Dhòmhnaill a' Mhuilleir - Donald being Angus John's brother.

Angus John died in Glasgow on the 28th of May 1987, aged 68.

We thank John MacMillan of Glasgow, Catriona MacInnes of South Uist, and John MacPhee of Glasgow, for this information.