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Pte. Leonard Lantaff Miller
British Army 13th Battalion Kings Regiment (Liverpool)
from:15 Ross Street, Cambridge
(d.30th September 1918)
I never had the chance to know my grandfather. My father was just two years old when Leonard Miller was wounded. Around 27th September 1918 in the area of the Battle of the Hindenburg Line and particularly the Battle of the Canal du Nord, which is where it is thought he may have sustained his injuries. Although it could also have been in the big attack on Ribecourt. Len was transported to Abbeville at the mouth of the River Somme to the Australian Tented Hospital where, sadly, he succumbed to his injuries and died on 30th September 1918. He was 30 years old. He is buried in the Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension. He left behind his widow, Kate, and his small son, Reginald, as well as his mother Louisa Miller, and six sisters and three brothers.
His brother, Lance Sergeant Stanley Bertram Miller, 325687, served with the 1/1st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment and he had been killed on 31st July 1917 near St. Julien, aged 27 years old. His remains were never found and his name is on the Menin Gate in Ypres. Leonard and Stanley's father died in December 1917, and most likely the loss of Stanley was a factor in Harry Miller's death.
My father took up researching his family and in particular his father in the 1960's with the help of his aunts and uncles, but this was before the records were published online, so much more difficult to find things out. I started researching myself around 2004 with the help of a computer and the huge and ever increasing amount of records to try to find out as much as possible about my grandfather and my great uncle. In 2009 my husband and I, together with friends, made the trip over to Abbeville to visit my grandfather's grave. It was a very moving experience for me to stand in front of his headstone and to know that this was my grandfather's last resting place. The cemetery is beautifully kept and he lies close to fields with a lovely view. I left a tribute there and came away very glad that I had visited his grave because I think that I am the only family member to do so. After that we travelled in a north easterly direction across France and into Belgium visiting many of the cemeteries on the way, including Thiepval and Tyne Cot, before arriving in Ypres to attend the wonderful nightly ceremony at the Menin Gate. We also visited the area near St. Quentin and saw the canal and tunnels.
My grandfather's records were amongst all those which were destroyed in bombing in WW2, including his brother Stanley's records, so it is very hard to be totally sure of exact details. Both Leonard Lantaff Miller and Stanley Bertram Miller are remembered in a Chapel within Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire. This Chapel contains a memorial to the Men of Cambridge who lost their lives in World War One and is in the form of a large book made of wood, where you turn the pages alphabetically to reveal the names in gold letters on the wooden pages. This is a very fitting memorial to all who lost their lives.
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