Folks, I am trying to learn more about the 6 Hiller brothers who all volunteered to serve in the Royal Navy during WW2. I believe they were from Hyndfort Street, Belfast. Artie (Benjamin Arthur) KIA 2nd May 1942 on HMS Edinburgh George - Believe he settled in Plymouth area after WW2. No other details Joe - No other details John - No other details Len. - Served on HMS Voltaire, was POW and survived war. Sammy - Served mostly on HMS Victorious and survived the war. Any other details would be very much appreciated. Andy
Andy, There is a George Spencer Hiller born 12/3/1923 died Plymouth 1 Q 1999. He married Mona S Adams 4 Q 1946 Plymouth
L A Hiller in the UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 Name: L A Hiller Rank: Ordinary Signalman Army Number: P/UDX999 Regiment: Naval Forces : Officers & Ratings POW Number: 103235 Camp Type: Stalag Camp Number: 344 Camp Location: Lamsdorf (Oberschkesein), Poland Section: Naval Forces : Officers & Ratings I assume this to be one of them TD
Benjamin Arthur Name: Benjamin Arthur Hiller Age: 23 Birth Date: abt 1919 Death Date: 2 May 1942 Cemetery: Naval Memorials In The United Kingdom Plymouth Part V Burial Country: England Father: Leonard Hiller Mother: Margaret E Hiller Regimental Number: D/SSX 27599 Region or Memorial: Memorial Register TD edited to add: Birth Info: Benjamin Arthur Hiller in the Ireland, Civil Registration Births Index, 1864-1958 Name: Benjamin Arthur Hiller Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1919 Registration district: Belfast Volume: 1 Page: 329 FHL Film Number: 101078
Basic Info on all Hiller births in Belfast 1905 - 1925 Theodora Hiller Apr-May-Jun 1908 Belfast Robert Hiller Apr-May-Jun 1910 Belfast Joseph Hiller Apr-May-Jun 1912 Belfast Leonard Arden Hiller Oct-Nov-Dec 1914 Belfast Benjamin Arthur Hiller Jan-Feb-Mar 1919 Belfast Samuel Hiller Apr-May-Jun 1921 Belfast TD edited to add: This may take some working out - George appears on your list but not in the births John appears on your list but not in the births Robert appears NOT on your list but in the births There is also the Leonard Arden (b 1914) which is exactly the same name as his father
1911 census Northern Ireland Census Years1911DownVictoria (part of)Church Street EastResidents of a house Residents of a house 81 in Church Street East (Victoria (part of), Down) Surname Forename Age Sex Relation to head Religion Hiller Leonard 30 Male Head of Family Church of England Hiller Margaret 27 Female Wife Church of England Hiller Theodora 2 Female Daughter Church of England From a family tree for Theodora (only, no siblings shown): Parents are: Leonard Arden Hiller Birth 1880 in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England Death 10 Feb 1949 in Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland Margaret Elizabeth Smith Birth 1884 in Barrow in Furnace, England Death 06 Sept 1970 in Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland TD edited to add: Further info from a Family Tree on the parents: Leonard Arden Hiller Birth: 1880 - Staffordshire, England Death: 10 Feb 1949 - Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland Marriage: 11 Jul 1903 - Belfast, Antrim, Ireland (Northern Ireland) Spouse: Margaret Elizabeth Smith
Hi Andy Have been scratching my head around this one for a while. What is the source of info that says these were brothers?? TD
The Leonard Arden Hiller (Senior) seems to have a Naval connection via WW1 Name: Leonard Hiller Medal or Award: Victory Medal, British War Medal Service Year: 1914-1920 Service Location: Europe Campaign or Service: World War I Service number: 699396 Still finding it difficult to tie all those 'brothers' mentioned to the correct parents and prove they are all from the same family. TD
Do they have any further information, service numbers or the like?? It seems that so far we can tie in Benjamin, as he has his parents details. Theodora seems to be the oldest of them but is obviously their sister. Leonard (b 1914 and probably the POW) may be connected as he could have been named after his father. Samuel (b1921), the only other reference I can find is that in 1953 there is a Samuel Hiller returning from Adelaide, noted as 32 years old, and a Carpenter, home address 25 Bangor Road, Newtonards, Co Down, NI That leaves, as such, details for: George Robert Joseph John If any or all are part of the same family, sounds as if you may need to obtain some actual birth certificates to confirm the parents names to ensure they all or some came from the same family. TD edited to add: From post #5 - I think that shows the Hiller family, but that only shows 5 sons: Robert - 1910 Joseph - 1912 Leonard - 1914 Benjamin - 1919 Samuel - 1921 So where the 6th son happens to be is a bit of a mystery
We may be able to delete Robert from the list Robert Hiller in the Ireland, Civil Registration Deaths Index, 1864-1958 Name: Robert Hiller Estimated birth year: abt 1911 Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1911 Death Age: 0 Registration district: Belfast Volume: 1 Page: 286 FHL Film Number: 0101605 TD
Please see this picture. I was sent it by the Royal Naval Association and have been trying to find more details since. I know the KIA date is wrong. Andy
Hi Andy Thanks for the photo. I have to say that something between the photo and the birth records available doesn't seem to ring true. As I mentioned earlier one way to try and tie down some hard facts would be to obtain copies (or at least see the originals) of their birth certificates which should provide a Mothers name (Margaret) and hopefully a Fathers name (Leonard) to ascertain if they do all come from the same parents. So far from records I can only find the possibility of Artie (b 1919), Joe (b 1912), Len (b 1914) and Sammy (b 1921) being related. As yet I cannot find any record of George or John Hiller being born in NI, they may have been born elsewhere of course, but where? TD minor edits
Andy, it might be worth finding out where to get the 1939 I.D. Register details from. I know the approach is different for their records. Info on their register is collated by street address I believe, where as in Scotland and the in English/Welsh records they are searchable by name instead. Where you apply and how much it costs I've no idea and as you have at least one address to check it might be worth a try. The only downside is they might not be in it, if they were already enlisted when the survey took place in '39, they wouldn't show up on it.
Andy Re death of Benjamin Hiller: http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1942-05MAY.htm 2 May 1942 Edinburgh (right - NavyPhotos), ship loss HILLER, Benjamin A, Able Seaman, D/SSX 27599, MPK TD edited to add: Link to ship - http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-06CL-Edinburgh.htm Link to U boat attack - http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1579.html Ships site - http://www.hmsedinburgh.co.uk/crew.php This site has a statement: Crew members with the icon next to their name have contact email addresses from the Relative who has sent their information in.If you would like to request information about this crew member click on the email icon to contact them through the website. Due to the risks of spam the contacts email address WILL NOT be given out but your email - if appropriate - will be forwarded on to them. Andy - Benjamin Hillers name has this icon next to his name so I presume someone from the family has provided further information. You can possibly contact them via the site.
We know that Leonard (Snr) married Margaret in 1903, and that their first (?) child was: Theodora Hiller Apr-May-Jun 1908 Belfast We also know from Naval records and death info on Benjamin (b 1919) that he has the same parents as Theodora i.e. Name: Benjamin Arthur Hiller Age: 23 Birth Date: abt 1919 Death Date: 2 May 1942 Cemetery: Naval Memorials In The United Kingdom Plymouth Part V Burial Country: England Father: Leonard Hiller Mother: Margaret E Hiller So I think it is safe to assume that Leonard (Snr) (d 1949) and Margaret (d 1970) were still as husband & wife until at least 1919/1920. As to the facts that the others were all part of the same family is the difficulty, in that Mothers maiden names were not required to be added to birth certs until after 1916, and even then that only applied I think to England & Wales, if the info was documented at all. The only real way to know what constituted the Hiller family i.e. numbers of sons and daughters will be a slog of checking original birth certificates I'm afraid. Assuming that Robert b 1910 and died 1911 (prior to the census)was a part of the family, the parents, if the story is true of 6 sons in the Navy, had a minimum of 1 daughter and 7 sons between 1903 and 1921, not impossible. TD