Reginald Miles
Born 10 Dec 1892 - Died 20 Oct 1943
- Service number
- WWI 2/1045 AWMM
- WWII 6191 AWMM
- Also known as
- Reggie AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Last rank
- WW1 Unknown rank AWMM New Zealand Field Artillery AWMM
- WW2 Brigadier/Military AWMM Headquarters, Divisional Artillery AWMM
- WW1 Major/Military AWMM
- War
About
- Title
- —
- Forenames
- Reginald AWMM
- Surname
- Miles AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Also known as
- Reggie AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 2/1045 AWMM
- WWII 6191 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
- —
- Religion
- Church of England, Christian AWMM
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 10 Dec 1892 AWMM
Springston, Christchurch, New Zealand AWMM - Date of birth
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- Place of birth
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- Birth notes
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- Address before enlistment
- Pre 21 Nov 1914 AWMM 46 Beresford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand AWMM
- Pre Jan 1940 AWMM C/o Messrs Rudd & Harland, Solicitors, 4A Wyndham Street, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- William Miles, 46 Beresford Street, New Brighton, Christchurch, New Zealand AWMM
- Miss D.E. Miles (daughter), Nurses' Home, Public Hospital, Wellington, New Zealand AWMM
Wars and conflicts
- War
- Campaign
- 1915-1916 AWMM Gallipoli AWMM
- Somme AWMM
- Greece AWMM
- North Africa AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 2/1045 AWMM
- WWII 6191 AWMM
- Military service
- Discharged to regular army in 1918 AWMM
- Promoted to Lt Colonel in 1931 AWMM
- Appointed Commander of the Northern Military District with the rank of Colonel in 1937 AWMM
- Attached to UK War Office for three months in 1938-39 as New Zealand military liasion officer AWMM
- New Zealand Field Artillery, 15 (Howitzer) Battery AWMM
- New Zealand Field Artillery, 6 (Howitzer) Battery AWMM
- New Zealand Divisional Field Artillery AWMM
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
- —
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
- Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) AWMM
CBE. Posthumous 1944 AWMM - Companion of the Distinguished Service Order and bar (DSO*) AWMM
DSO citation: "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He fought his battery until the enemy were within 500 yards, and his ammunition exhausted, at the same time rallying infantry stragglers and manning a fire trench, then made a reconnaissance into a wood sending back valuable information. He was finally wounded by rifle fire at close range." (London Gazette, 26 July 1918). DSO Bar citation: "Escape from Camp 12, P.M. 3200, Italy (General's Camp). This camp was extremely well guarded and in consequence it was decided that the only possible method of escape would be by way of a tunnel. n the 18th September, 1942, tunnelling began. All officers and other ranks worked, with the exception of one officer who was awaiting repatriation. The entrance to the tunnel was through a sealed up chapel which all soil was placed. The work, which consisted of a 3 foot by 3 foot tunnel, 40 feet long with a 10 foot shaft at the entrance and a 7 foot shaft at the exit, was completed by the end of February 1943. At 2100 hours on the 29th March, 1943, Brigadiers Miles and Hargest, in company with four other officers, escaped through the tunnel. The four other officers were subsequently recaptured. Brigadiers Miles and Hargest dressed as workmen and having walked to Florence station, caught a train to Milan where they went to the North station. They caught a train to Como and walked towards Chiasso. 2 kilometres from Chiasso they left the main road and proceeded across country until they reached a knoll south of Chiasso where the frontier lay along the opposite slope of a valley below them. The frontier consisted of heavy cyclone netting 12 foot high interlaced with brambles and with small bells near the top. They cut the wire with pliers at ground level without making much noise and came on to Swiss territory at 220 hours on the 30th March, 1943. They gave themselves up to the police at Mendrisio and were released in Berne on the 2nd April, 1943." (London Gazette, 21 September 1944) AWMM - Military Cross (MC) AWMM
- King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 1935 AWMM
- Coronation Medal 1937 AWMM
- Efficiency Decoration (ED) AWMM
- New Zealand Long and Efficient Service Medal AWMM
- Cross of Valour (Greece) AWMM
- Victory Medal AWMM
- British War Medal (1914-1920) AWMM
- War Medal 1939-1945 AWMM
- New Zealand War Service Medal AWMM
- Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) AWMM
London Gazette 31 December 1918, p15230 AWMM - Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) AWMM
London Gazette 26 July 1918, p8753 AWMM
- Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) AWMM
Training and Enlistment
- Military training
- Commissioned a subaltern in Rangiora school cadets in 1910 AWMM
- Attended Royal Military College, Duntroon, Australia in 1911 AWMM
- Graduated from RMC, Duntroon as the top New Zealand cadet in 1914 AWMM
- Attended Staff College, Camberley, England in 1924 AWMM
- Completed a number of specialist artillery courses before returning to New Zealand in 1926 to serve at Army HQ AWMM
- Attended Imperial Defence College, London, England, in 1938 AWMM
- Branch Trade Proficiency
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- Enlistment
- WW1 21 Nov 1914 AWMM
Age 21 AWMM
Regular soldier/Civilian AWMM - WW2 Jan 1940 AWMM
Age 47 AWMM
Army Officer/Civilian AWMM
- WW1 21 Nov 1914 AWMM
- Age on enlistment
- —
- Occupation before enlistment
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Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 14 Dec 1914 AWMM
HMNZT 13 or HMNZT 14 or HMNZT 15 AWMM Vessel was Empress of Canada AWMM Lieutenant/Military AWMM New Zealand Field Artillery AWMM 2nd Reinforcements AWMM - WW2 Brigadier/Military AWMM New Zealand Artillery AWMM
2nd Embarkation AWMM
- WW1 14 Dec 1914 AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
- WW2 POW - P.G. 12, Chandeli, Florence, Italy AWMM
01 Dec 1941-29 Mar 1943 AWMM
Defence of Tobruk AWMM - Days interned
- —
- Liberation date
- —
- POW liberation details
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- Liberation Repatriation
- —
- POW serial number
- —
Medical history
- Medical notes
- Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
Wounded at Ploegsteert Wood by sniper fire, April/May 1918 AWMM - Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWII AWMM
Wounded at Tobruk, 1 December 1941 AWMM - Suicide, Cause of Death AWMM
- Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- WW1 1918 AWMM
Discharged to Permanent Force AWMM
Unknown rank AWMM
New Zealand Field Artillery AWMM - WW2 Brigadier/Military AWMM
Headquarters, Divisional Artillery AWMM - WW1 29 Sept 1919 AWMM Major/Military AWMM
- WW1 1918 AWMM
- Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- Son of William Miles and of Mary Margaret Miles (nee Restell); husband of Aimee, and later Rosaline Georgette Miles
Married his first wife Aimée Zita Donnelly in Egypt on 26 February 1916. They had four daughters and a son. Aimée died in the late 1930s.
After returning to New Zealand in 1918, Miles took charge of the Wellington harbour defences.
Upon his return to NZ, Miles was appointed third military member of the Army Board in 1939.
Appointed Quartermaster General (QMG) in September 1939.
In January 1940, Miles was seconded to 2 NZ Expeditionary Force as Commander Royal Artillery (CRA) of the New Zealand Division with the rank of Brigadier.
Appointed Commander of 2NZEF section in the United Kingdom in May 1940.
Married Rosalind Georgette Bisset-Smith at Westminster, London on 31 May 1940.
Miles' son, Reginald Joseph Braithwaite Miles, was killed on 8-9 June 1940 when the HMS Glorious, on which he was serving as a pilot with the Fleet Air Arm, was sunk in the North Sea.
On 1 December 1941, Miles was involved in the defence of Tobruk, Libya. His unit was overrun and he was wounded and taken prisoner.
Miles escaped from Campo 12 in Florence, Italy in 1943 and made his way to Switzerland and eventually to Spain. His citation for his DSO bar has more details.
Sadly, in a state of depression and exhaustion, Miles committed suicide in Figueras, Spain, on 20 October 1943. According to Haigh and Polaschek (1993) in the DSO book, Miles died on active service in Spain "attempting to reach Gibraltar".
His family spent 20 years collating the medal group and in a special ceremony at Waiouru the medals were donated to the National Army Museum, 13 August 2009. AWMM
About death
- Death
- 20 Oct 1943 AWMM
Age 50 AWMM - Date of death
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- Age at death
- —
- Place of death
- —
- Cause of death
- Suicide AWMM
- Death notes
- —
- Cemetery
- Figueras Municipal Cemetery, Spain AWMM Niche No. 894. AWMM
- Cemetery name
- —
- Grave reference
- —
- Obituary
- —
- Memorial name
- —
- Memorial reference
- —
Memorial
- Memorial name
- Roll of Honour, Officers' Club Auckland, The Northern Club, 19 Princes Street, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
Sources
- External links
- Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Published on Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand online.
http://dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=5M46
Further Reference - Army Museum, Waiouru: Voices from the past
http://www.armymuseum.co.nz/kiwis-at-war/voices-from-the-past.html#miles
Further Reference - Military Personnel File
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R24061755
Further Reference - Military Personnel File
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R24170539
Further Reference - Military Personnel File
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R24170540
Further Reference - Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2814975
Sources Used - Wikidata Entity
http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7308815
Further Reference
- Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Published on Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand online.
- References
- Haigh, J., Polaschek, A. (Eds.). (1993). New Zealand and the Distinguished Service Order. Christchurch, N.Z.: Authors.
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1914-1919). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Volume I. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
Vol1: 502 - Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. (1941). Nominal Roll Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force No. 1 (Embarkations to 31st March, 1940). Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
WW2 1: WW2 124 - Beattie, P.J. & Pomeroy, M. (2013-2020). Onward : portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (vols 1-5). Auckland, New Zealand: Fair Dinkum Publications
Vol. 3: Includes portrait - McDonald, W. (2013). Honours and Awards to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Great War, 1914-1918. (3rd ed.). Hamilton, N.Z.: Richard Stowers.
- Mason, W.W. (1954) Prisoners of war. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Internal Affairs, War History Branch.
- Waite, F. (1919). The New Zealanders at Gallipoli. Auckland, N.Z.: Printed and published under Authority of the New Zealand Government by Whitcombe & Tombs.
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