Brief biographical memorandum of Alexander Rud Mills

Attachment C: Other known Odinists in Australia

Information about known Odinists associated with Mills will be lodged here as this becomes available.

Friedrich Buettner

Dr Friedrich Wilhelm Buettner, whom Mills had known at University, gave a number of lectures to the Odinist Society concerning Racial Hygiene.

Leslie Cahill

Les Kevin Cahill was born in Port Pirie, South Australia. A member of the Communist party, he moved to Melbourne in 1931 and was a regular soapbox orator at Melbourne’s Yarra Bank. He was expelled from the Communist Party in 1932, and attempted to set up a rival organisation Fourth International.

In 1940 he started his own Australia-First Movement in Melbourne and his reports began appearing regularly The Publicist of W.J. Miles.

In June 1941 Cahill visited Stephenson in Sydney. Cahill had been criticised by right-wing Catholic activist S. J. Ingwersen as an "excellent organiser" but "very ignorant". Stephensen defended Cahill, saying Australia needed men of "rough fibre".

At a meeting in a private flat on 15 October of that year, attended by Cahill and Adela Pankhurst-Walsh, Stephenson circulated his draft constitution and rules for the Sydney-cum-national Australia-First Movement. Ten days later at a meeting in the Shalimar Café, the constitution was agreed to and Stephensen was elected President, and Cahill and Pankhurst-Walsh were appointed as paid organisers.

Walter Eldridge

Walter Rickets Eldridge provided declaration in favour of Mills at his Advisory Committee appeal in 22 November 1942. John Thomas Smith (below) mentions Eldridge as a member of the Odinist Society as part of his evidence before the Advisory Committee.

Evelyn Price

After recent research it appears that Evelyn Mills (nee Price) played no small part in the Odinic circle that Rud established in Melbourne. Evelyn was helping Rud to organise Odinic gatherings in the early 30s, and when Evelyn passed on in 1973 she requested that passages from Rud’s book of rites be pronounced at her burial.

“Reg”

Authorities intercepted correspondence between “Reg” [without a return address] and Leslie Cahill, dated 22 November 1941, noting the planning of a mid-summer festival by Mills. Here is a short extract of the letter.

For some time now I’ve had the idea of taking the Odinist theme onto the stage (“Saga”, gave me the idea). Mills was most enthusiastic about it. He is going to do a score on Hengist and Horsa with opportunity for plenty of dancing …

… Incidentally Mills says Libelius[*] has the true Odinist theme in his music.

… He is getting his clan together again and they are going to support us but we will talk more about it after the big show (which he is coming to) when there will be a midsummer day festival, probably at Croydon.

John Smith

John Thomas Smith, appeared at Mills’ Advisory Committee appeal and stated that he had known Mills for about 5 years and had attended a number of meetings of the Odinist Society.

[*]

I think this is supposed to read ‘Sibelius’. Johan (Jean) Sibelius, 1865-1957, was one of Finland ’s greatest composers. His Kullervo Symphony, completed in 1892, gave birth to a new era of Finnish music celebrating the legends of the national epic, The Kalevala, the Finnish equivalent of the Poetic Edda. His symphonic poem, Finlandia, completed in 1899, became a symbol of Finland ’s bid for independence.

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