Herbert Millington was born in York, England, and arrived in Adelaide in early 1913. Immediately joining the St Peters soccer club, he was hailed as a promising inside right after scoring two goals on his debut. In early 1914 he was playing for Hindmarsh reserves but switched to the Locos club before the end of the season.
He enlisted in the AIF in December 1914 at the age of 24, giving his occupation as “tram conductor”, although his immigration record said he was a “motor driver”. His infantry unit, the 10th Battalion, was amongst the first ashore at Anzac Cove, and Millington joined them on the peninsula on 30 May 1915 as a reinforcement. His service was punctuated by the usual bouts of illness and some serious misdemeanors.
He married Ellen Edgar in Lancashire soon after his arrival in England. Sometime after his arrival in France he was designated as “Driver”; he would then have been involved in driving supplies and ammunition from depots towards the front line.
Millington returned to Adelaide in July 1919, but did not continue his involvement with soccer. In 1935 Herbert Millington filled in a statutory declaration at Coolangatta, Queensland, reporting the loss of his war medals.