Before kick-off, a minute's silence was held in memory of Freddie Lane, a Harwich and Parkeston legend, who passed away on Thursday. Freddie was a key player in their the club's squad that reached the FA Amateur Cup final in 1953. He shone in every round prior to the final but suffered an injury a week before that game which caused him to be unable to play at the national stadium in front of the non-league record crowd of 100,000.
Mildenhall started well, forcing Harwich to concede a series of corner kicks. Although the Shrimpers cleared their lines successfully, this was a warning and in the 20th minute Town again won another corner, which this time Harwich failed to challenge, and Cameron Hynes' header nestled in the roof of the net to give his team the lead.
Harwich then enjoyed a better spell and from skipper Gareth Heath's corner, Louie Bloom had a header cleared off the goal-line.
It seemed that Mildenhall would take a narrow lead in at half time but Harwich had one more corner kick to defend and when the ball was headed against the crossbar, Marley Delgado followed up with another header which was scooped clear but the assistant referee correctly flagged, indicating Town had scored, with the ball having just crossed the line.
Shrimpers managers Matt Carmichael and Sean Tynan used their substitutes during the second half, bringing about some improvement in attack, with Leo Carty and Jack Milne making progress down the flanks.
However, Mildenhall were strong in defence, being well organised by Karl Saffery, an experienced player whom they signed this season from Step 4 Histon.
One of the Shrimpers' best efforts, again from Bloom, saw Town's goalkeeper Ryan Dunne get down well at the near post to save his shot.
Harwich goalkeeper Oliver Pipa also did well to prevent Town adding to their tally when he beat out a fierce drive from Joe McNeil and later he also made an excellent stop from a free-kick taken on the edge of the penalty area when Joe Greenslade-Cross' effort was destined for the corner of the net.
Harwich had a late chance when they won a free kick which saw Heath's shot from 20 yards well dealt with by Dunne.
At the final whistle Mildenhall had earned a deserved victory and our best wishes go with them to make progress in the next round of the cup.
Next up for the Shrimpers is a home Essex Senior League game against Hullbridge Sports on Tuesday night, kick-off 7.45pm.
Harwich team: Oliver Pipa, Jeremiah Ajisafe, Charlie Canham, Jenson Goode, Charlie Carr, Tyler Sullivan, Josh Hawkins, Gareth Heath (captain), Liam White, Louie Bloom and Joe Wood. Substitutes, Leo Carty, Jack Milne, Oakley McNair, Jack Cosby (all used), Tom Watkins and Sam Felgate (not used).