The Soldier's Details

Surname:
Miller
First Name:
Reginald James
Nick Name:
Windy
Rank:
Lance Corporal
Regimental #:
WX13338
Company:
‘A’ Company, No. 4 Platoon
Enlisted:
21.05.1941
Discharged:
9.05.1946
DOB:
6.02.1916
Place of Birth:
Waroona, Western Australia
Father's Name:
Richard Herbert Miller
Mothers's Name:
Matilda Miller (nee Hawes)
Religion:
Methodist
Pre-war Occupation:
Butcher
Singapore:
Selarang Camp Changi; Mount Pleasant Camp; Selerang Barracks Changi
Force:
‘D’Force Thailand, Captain Fred Harris Party
Camps Thailand:
Kinsaiyok, Tarsau
Camps Japan:
Fukuoka sub-Camp No. 17, Omuta
POW#:
3/ 8703 and 542
Japan:
Aramis Party
Return Details 1945:
Nagasaki‐Okinawa‐Manila; Manila-Sydney, HMS Speaker

General Description

Miller enlisted AIF 21 May 1941 and later joined ‘A’ Coy No 4 Platoon, under CO Lt McCaffrey promoted to Lance/Corproral. He had previously enlisted with the 25th Light Horse Militia at Merredin.  He worked at the Merredin Meatworks.
Reg was with A Coy No. 4 Platoon
Reg Miller was at Mt Pleasant Camp, Singapore with Gwynne.
He was selected to work on Burma Thai Railway with ‘D’ Force T Battalion which departed Singapore Train Station March 1943 for Thailand.
Read further about ‘D’ Force Thailand T Battalion
He first worked at Tarsau Camp before moving to Hellfire Pass Cutting area.
We do not know when Miller joined Capt Harris Party.
Read about Capt. Fred Harris Party
In 1944 Miller was selected by the Japanese as fit to work in Japan with ‘Aramis’ Maru Party and arrived Japan June 1944.
Read about ‘Aramis’ Party
He worked Fukuoka sub-Camp No. 17 Omuta
Returning home to Australia, Reg sailed from Manila to Sydney on the HMS Speaker

Please read about HMS Speaker

 

Below:  25 Oct 1945

Returning from war Reg married in Perth about 1947 to Daisy Spencer.

 

Reg Miller was youngest of eight children born to parents Richard Herbert Miller and Matilda Hawes who married 1903 Fremantle.
‘Richard Herbert’s youngest brother Corporal Charles Frederick Miller born 1888 Stawell enlisted from Seymour, Victoria  WW1.  He died 11 April 1917.   He is remembered at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Department de la Somme, Picardie, France.  Charles Miller enlisted July 1915, Service No. 4265 joined 13th reinforcements, 14th Battalion.  He was then 26 years old and had been working as a foundry hand.
Charles was appointed Lance Corporal in France 1 Sep 1916.  He was to be promoted to Corporal when he was reported missing in action 15 April 1917.  It was soon confirmed Charles was reported KIA.’
(Following their arrival in France in July, 14th Battalion’s first major engagement came in August 1916 when they were committed to the fighting around at Pozières. Over the course of next two and a half years, it was involved in a number of other battles. During April 1917, it took part in the fighting around Bullecourt
To assist the Arras operations, an attack was launched on Bullecourt on 11 April 1917 by 4th Australian and 62nd British Divisions. The attack was hastily planned and mounted and resulted in disaster. Tanks which were supposed to support the attacking Australian infantry either broke down or were quickly destroyed. Nevertheless, the infantry managed to break into the German defences. Due to uncertainty as to how far they had advanced, supporting artillery fire was withheld, and eventually the Australians were hemmed in and forced to retreat. The two brigades of the 4th Division that carried out the attack, the 4th and 12th, suffered over 3,300 casualties; 1,170 Australians were taken prisoner – the largest number captured in a single engagement during the war.)
In 1914, Reg’s father Richard Miller was a railway employee at Coolgardie.
Two of Reg’s brothers also enlisted WW2 Walter George WX28453 and Herbert Alfred Stawell Miller enlisted with RAAF 29948.
His mother Matilda Miller was born Victoria, died 1958. Reg’s father Richard Herbert Miller was also born Victoria at Stawell, died June 1965 Perth.

 

Reg Miller died 18 May 1997 Perth.

 

 

 

 

Below:  Reg was a successful competitive cyclist.

 

Below:  it is unknown how long Reg was a member of Merredin’s 25th Light Horse.

Below:  1945 – Eric Teasdale & Reg Miller visit Merredin.

 

 

 

Below:  Reg’s uncle Charles Miller’s WW1 record shows his concerned mother at Stawell seeking answers about her son.  Mrs Miller had heard her son had been KIA via another soldier’s letter to his mother, in which he had written Charles Miller was KIA before official news was sent to Mrs. Miller.

Camp Locations:

  • Mount Pleasant Camp - Singapore
  • Selarang Barracks Changi - Singapore
  • Selarang Camp Changi - Singapore
  • Kinsaiyok Main, 170.2k - Thailand
  • Omuta Miike, Fukuoka #17-B - Japan
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