208175 Pte. John Henry Miller British Army 5th Btn. Durham Light Infantry from:6 Elmtree Street, Rise Carr, Darlington (d.24th Apr 1915) John Henry Miller is Remembered with Honour at the Menin Gate Ypres
Notes on one man’s background and entry into the Great War. A portrait of the average soldier:
Private 1016 J.H. Miller of the 1/5 Durham Light Infantry, part of the York and Durham Brigade, Territorials, was my Great Grandfather. He was born in 1869 in the parish of St. Johns, Hull; his father Isaac was a stevedore in Hull docks. I have no idea yet, how and why John Henry came to Darlington but on 23rd December 1899 at age 30, he married Susannah Brown aged 21, in the parish church of St. Paul’s in Darlington. Susannah was originally from Brierly Hill in Staffordshire where her father Robert Brown had been a Brick maker. The 1901 census records John Henry as 31 years old and as a Railway Plate Layer; their first child Charlotte was not yet one year old. This new family of 3 lived with Susannah’s parents, Robert and Sarah Brown, and Susannah’s siblings in overcrowded conditions at 10 Boyne Street, Rise Carr in the Harrowgate Hill area of Darlington. By the time of the 1911 census, John Henry is recorded as being 43 and not 41 years of age and now living at 3 Boyne Street, with Susannah and their children, Charlotte (10), Isabel (8), John Robert (6) and Lillian (4). Louise Miller, my Grandmother was yet to be born and in fact was 2 days short of her first birthday when John Henry was eventually killed in action. The same census records my Great Grandad as being a Blacksmith Striker and Puddler in an iron works. In spite of being only 5’ 7†tall John Henry Miller was clearly a fit and strong man involved in heavy industrial labour. Additionally, it is clear that by this time, this man had already become a “Saturday Night Soldier.†Enlistment Papers and Army Medial Reports show Private Miller as fit on 11th March 1908. The same papers also indicate previous military service by John Henry as a gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery Regiment, being discharged from the terms of his engagement at Dover on 9th August 1907. Previous service in the West Indies and Boer Wars are not the focus of attention here and remain the subject of research elsewhere. Suffice to say all indications are that he was a very good soldier and bandsman. Why was my Great Grandad in the T.A.? Perhaps the reorganization of the army in 1908, perhaps a sense of duty and pride, but more likely the need for extra money for a large and growing family. The King’s shilling was of great importance to many struggling working class North Eastern families at that time.
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, Private 1016 Miller was a member of the 5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, in D, E or H company (Darlington) and based at Stockton on Tees as part of the York and Durham Brigade. Kitchener’s Saturday Night Soldiers were the object of scorn and contempt from many senior army officials at that time. Ironic that their contribution to the war effort would prove to be so significant and invaluable. There is to me additional and greater irony that Lord Kitchener should add his stamp to the pro forma message of condolence and sympathy from His Majesty following Private Miller’s eventual death.
On 10th August 1914 the battalion moved from Stockton on Tees up to Hartlepool and by October that year via Ravensworth Park, the battalion were billeted in Newcastle. It is worth noting that during this time many Officers were taken ill due to the apparently poor living conditions in which they were placed. Also during this time Private Miller signed along with thousands of others an agreement to serve overseas. This was a period of increasingly intense preparation and training.
On 16th April 1915 the battalion boarded a train at Newcastle station and departed at 1.30 pm bound for Folkestone via York, Doncaster, Spalding, March and London. 17th April 1915 saw the arrival of the Battalion at Folkestone between 12.45 and 1.00 am. and there began the immediate embarkation on board the Invicta. Records show that by 2.00 am they were underway on a very calm sea. A famous poem by a Sgt. Wilkes notes there was “no merriment or singing.†As an aside the Invicta was a cross channel turbine steamer of 1680 tonnes built in 1905 by William Denny and Sons in Dumbarton, owned and operated by the South Eastern and Chatham Rail Company before she was sold in 1923 to a French company Saga.
The battalion arrived at Boulogne in France shortly before dawn on the 17th April. They disembarked immediately and began a cold and damp march up a steep hill to the outskirts of Boulogne and St. Martin’s Camp. Here the battalion rested until 5.30 pm that day. In the early evening John Henry and his comrades marched some seven miles to Pont de Briques where they entrained for Cassell at approximately 2.00 am.
18th April, the whole battalion marched 8 miles to Steenvoorde and were billeted by company in various local farms. The march had been accompanied by the sound of distant gunfire as a reminder that their 5 day stay was a preparation for war in the trenches.
22nd April was prior to my Great Grandad’s involvement but records (falsely) the first gas attack by German forces on French Algerian and Moroccan troops. Some 5700 canisters/168 tons of chlorine gas were unleashed and the devastating effects are well recorded elsewhere. This new lethal weapon of mass destruction had been in place and prepared since early February and it was only poor weather conditions that prevented its earlier use. At 5.00 pm the same day heavy shelling on Ypres and French trenches recommenced as a prelude to a German Infantry attack. Numerous texts explain in great detail the events of that day and the courageous actions of, for example, Canadian troops near Kitcheners’ Wood. NB: the use of the apostrophe in Kitcheners’ Wood is because it has nothing to do with Lord Kitchener but rather the “Bois de Cuisinieresâ€, and is therefore appropriately placed.
23rd April was as usual St. George’s Day of 1915. At this point the battalion was 103 strong and commanded by Lt. Col. G.O. Spence. Spence had been warned the previous day to be ready at a moment’s notice. The more usual 4 company structure had been adopted and Private J.H. Miller was recorded as one of two official stretcher bearers with C company; he along with a Private Filtcroft and 3 attached RAMC are in evidence. I have no indication at this point why John Henry Miller was a stretcher Bearer – age, inclination, objection, experience and more research is required.
The battalion was moved closer to the action en masse by motor bus to Poperinghe and then marched in silence and darkness to Vlamertinghe. From Vlamertinghe John Henry and his comrades marched to Brierlen where a hutted camp was to be their rest. Brierlen was, however, already under shell fire and the men were forced to lay on open ground during a wet, cold, grizzly night. No casualties are recorded at this time and Brierlen marked the boundary with French and Belgian troops.
On 24th April at 1.00 am the battalion was assembled to move into action. They moved to take up positions on both banks of the Yser canal. From here the men moved to Potijze and in the early daylight they passed refugees and the gassed and wounded soldiers from the Front who warned them of their impending death. Ypres was to their right flank and visibly in flames. In occupying a line of reserve trenches at Potijze the first casualties were recorded and it appears that John Henry Miller was among the six that died that day. Three had belonged to A company and had died at Fortuin in support of Canadian troops. Private J.H. Miller was the only one listed with C company and the only official stretcher bearer killed. It had been noted in dispatches that 2ndLt. E.W. Faber and 2 or 3 of the old bandsmen were doing “splendid work as stretcher bearers.â€
My Great Grandfather was now dead and Susannah Miller was now a widow with 5 children living in 6 Elmtree Street, Rise Carr, Darlington. John Henry Miller had lasted 6 days from landing in France and had made the ultimate sacrifice for his King, Country and Comrades. Thousands had already died and many thousands more were to die on both sides in the following months and years.
To some, 1016 Pte. J.H. Miller may have been mere working class cannon fodder … but to me he was, alongside many others, a hero. To my immense satisfaction and pride his name is recorded at the Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium and his name and contribution are remembered with sorrow and honour. “… At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them.â€
Editors Note: Bandsmen traditionally serve the role of stretcher bearers during combat.
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