Tom McMillan was a miner, originally from Western Australia but active at various times in the Broken Hill and the Boulder Locals of the IWW. He, and his son, took part in a good number of the IWW fights of the WW1 period including the Port Pirie free speech fight where he summed up his attitude:
We are hoboes and scamps and tired tramps,
But we love our Union well;
Our spirit wont fail, we will die in gaol,
And smile in the flames of hell.
Tom McMillan Direct Action: July 15th 1914
Although he does not seem to have died in jail he certainly saw the inside. As well as the free speech fight he was arrested in 1917 both for being involved in the industrial disturbances at Broken Hill and, in the same year was given, with his son, a six months sentence for being a member of an illegal organisation – as the IWW then was.
