MILLER, Peter Henry
(Service number 16315)
| First Rank | Trooper | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 05/01/1896 | Place of Birth | Totara Valley, Pleasant Point |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Fairlie | ||
| Occupation | Farmer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | |||
| Next of Kin | Mrs Mary MILLER (mother), P.O. Box 31, Fairlie. Also Miss A. F. MILLER (sister), Correspondence Room, Pay Perauch, Defence Dept, Wellington. | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 16th Reinforcements, New Zealand Mounted Rifles | ||
| Date | 10 August 1916 | ||
| Transport | Moeraki. Transhipped to Mooltan at Sydney. | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Suez, Egypt | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 6 September 1967 | Age | 71 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | |||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Salisbury Park Crematorium, Timaru. Ashes scattered | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Peter Henry Miller was born on 5 January 1896 at Totara Valley, Pleasant Point, the younger son of Joseph and Mary Ann (née Copland) Miller. Peter was educated at Hazelburn and Pleasant Point schools. In 1904 at Hazelburn he did well, giving a comic sketch and receiving an arithmetic prize. In 1905 he was first equal in composition and second in reading. He was called up and was farming at Fairlie when he enlisted. On 5 April 1916, the South Canterbury quota for the 15th Reinforcements left by the express for the military camps, the Mounted Rifles – including P. H. Miller - proceeding to Featherston. Before departing Timaru, the men were entertained by the Ladies’ Patriotic Committee at luncheon in the Stafford Tea Rooms. Falling in at the Drill Shed at 3pm, they were addressed by the Mayor, Mr Craigie, M.P., and the Rev. Dean Tubman. The 2nd South Canterbury Regimental Band was in attendance, and the High School Cadets and the Honorary Territorials formed a cordon at the railway station. Bruce Andrew Miller was called up in 1917 and appealed, explaining that his only brother (Peter) was at the front. When he applied for a re-hearing, he said that his only brother had enlisted on condition that he (Bruce) stayed at home. If he went to camp they could not carry on the farm. Private P. H. Miller returned to New Zealand, invalided, in October 1918. Peter married Eva Mary Burt in 1929.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [07 August 2020]; NZ BDM records (Department of Internal Affairs) [08 August 2020]; School Admission record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [08 August 2020]; Salisbury Park Crematorium record [10 August 2020]; Timaru Herald, 30 December 1904, December 1905, 5 April 1916, 4 October 1918 (Papers Past) [03 August 2020; 10 August 2020]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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