33 Facts About Reginald Miles

Reginald Miles served as an artillery officer in the First World War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his actions during the German spring offensive.

Reginald Miles remained in the military after the war, holding artillery commands for the next several years.

Reginald Miles saw action during the Battle of Greece and later during Operation Crusader in North Africa.

Reginald Miles was born in Springston, near Christchurch, on 10 December 1892 to William and Mary Miles, who were farmers.

Reginald Miles was one of the limited number of officer cadets from New Zealand who, in 1911, enrolled in the Royal Military College in Duntroon, Australia, as part of the college's first intake following its establishment.

Reginald Miles immediately volunteered for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and was posted to the Canterbury Infantry Battalion.

Reginald Miles took ill before the NZEF left New Zealand for the Middle East and was discharged.

Reginald Miles embarked for Egypt in December 1914 with a draft of reinforcements for the NZEF.

Reginald Miles held the rank of captain during the Gallipoli campaign and was badly wounded in July 1915.

Reginald Miles was briefly the adjutant of the 1st Field Artillery Brigade but later transferred to the 15th Battery.

Reginald Miles served on the Western Front with this unit and participated in the Battle of the Somme in the second half of 1916.

In July 1918, Reginald Miles was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, having originally been recommended for the Victoria Cross, for his actions during the German spring offensive.

Reginald Miles's battery had come under threat from an advance by the enemy.

Reginald Miles rounded up nearby infantry to reinforce his position, which had nearly exhausted its ammunition, and manned a fire trench.

Reginald Miles then undertook a reconnaissance ahead of his position but was wounded by sniper fire.

Reginald Miles 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.

Reginald Miles was finally wounded by rifle fire at close range.

Reginald Miles returned to New Zealand in 1926 and, after serving at Army Headquarters in Wellington, was posted to Auckland to command artillery units.

Reginald Miles was then attached to the War Office for three months before returning to New Zealand in 1939.

In January 1940, Reginald Miles was promoted to brigadier and seconded to the newly raised 2nd New Zealand Division as its commander, Royal Artillery.

Reginald Miles's command consisted of three field regiments, one for each brigade of the division, as well as an anti-tank regiment.

Reginald Miles served throughout the Greece campaign and played a key role in the organisation of the withdrawal of the division as it retreated ahead of the advancing Germans.

Reginald Miles's artillery allowed the New Zealand infantry to defend against attacks in daylight and then withdraw at night.

Reginald Miles was mentioned in despatches for his work during this period.

Reginald Miles briefly took command of all New Zealand forces on Crete, to where the bulk of the division had been evacuated from Greece, but after a few days went on to Egypt and missed the subsequent Battle of Crete.

Together with Brigadier James Hargest, the commander of the New Zealand 5th Infantry Brigade and captured around the same time, Reginald Miles arrived in the Italian prisoner-of-war camp Vincigliata PG 12 in 1942.

Reginald Miles settled into camp routine and became a gardener, and was actively involved in escape attempts.

Reginald Miles was one of only three men known to British Military Intelligence to have escaped from an Italian prisoner-of-war camp and make their way to another country prior to the armistice with Italy.

Reginald Miles was buried with military honours, and escorted to his final resting place in the Figueras Municipal Cemetery by members of the British Consulate and a party of Spanish officers.

Reginald Miles was posthumously awarded a bar to his DSO for his efforts in escaping from Italy.

Reginald Miles was survived by his four daughters from his marriage to Aimee Zita Donnelly, whom he had married in Egypt in 1916, and his second wife, Rosalind Georgette Bisset-Smith, whom he had wed in 1940 following the death of his first wife a few years previously.

Reginald Miles's only son was a lieutenant in the Fleet Air Arm; he served in the Second World War and was killed travelling aboard HMS Glorious when the ship was attacked and sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau off Norway on 8 June 1940.

Reginald Miles' medals were held by the family, who had managed to collect them after some had been lost.